https://www.duffelblog.com/2020/03/armys-new-coal-powered-tiltrotor-gaining-traction-in-congress/
Though the Pentagon declined to answer specific media inquiries, an Army spokesperson acknowledged that there were challenges to the program such as the aircraft’s weight, the limited cabin space, and the service’s difficulty in recruiting stokers, coal trimmers, and boilermakers.
I didn’t think we had arrived at April Fool’s day yet.
It’s always April Fool’s day at the duffelblog.
Old technology … GM did it a long time ago.
Google tells me steam-powered aircraft have been flow as well. I think what’s cutting-edge here is the hp/weight needed for VTOL.
More than one simple boiler in a power station could do one VTOL
Progress is overrated. Watch at 2:50. Your Cessna 172 can’t walk backwards like this.
The so called Super Emu ( a bird which can not fly) in the OP is said to use " twin coal-fired steam boilers, each capable of producing more than 7,000 horsepower". conventional boilers, not direct coal-fired turbines.
That’s older technology of course.
Seems to me it was a Stanley Steamer that came apart on a speed run on a beach (they held a 127 mph speed record for a number of years) and after it finished shedding parts the only thing left rolling along the beach was the boiler. I’m quite sure I remember seeing a photo of that boiler on the beach.
The Stanley brothers, they were from Kingfield Maine. There is a museum there, took the kids one time a few years back.
Before:
After:
