Simple solar assist

[prState]

Possibly file under wacky.

I don't know what the largest RC model airplane brushless motor is, but I suppose those guys have been working for years to get them as light and powerful as possible.

So, I hook one to a series of solar cells (99 days out of hundred here are sunny), put an appropriate propeller on it, and afix it in some way to my panier, blowing air thrust-wise backwards.

At stoplights, I tilt it up to blow air on me for cooling, as it won't be any good spinning while I'm stopped. By gosh, if I need to, I can use it to intimidate cyclist who might want to swerve too close or cut me off)

 

[Ian]

Definitely wacky, I'd stick to using it for cooling. Even better, get one of those caps with a solar powered fan in the peak, I could have done with one today as we have had a rare hot sunny day. However we can only dream about 99 out of 100.

 

[flecc]

Our sunshine this year is in inverse proportion to yours prState.

Experiments in all forms of low power air propulsion on land vehicles have been unproductive, it being impossible to build the necessary air pressure "wall" to drive against at low thrust speeds, all of the power dissipating without effect.

Only very high thrust speeds can create the necessary conditions, and even then are very inefficient at low speeds. Jet aircraft are notoriously slow accelerating initially if doing it without a preload. That's why they apply the brakes and build up jet turbine speed first to build a compressed air pressure wall to drive against before releasing the brakes when commencing a take off.
.