"Pete Lynn" wrote in message ...
Time for some extravagant claims for people to challenge. :-)

The numbers infer that such wind turbines should produce electricity for
around 0.1-0.25 cents per unit.

Such aircraft, in addition to having VTOL and being half the price,
would have around twice the range, (or payload), and twice the
efficiency, being half the weight including payload. This makes a great
many things possible, one could directly fly people, cars, small ships,
and all sorts.

Heavy lift into the thousands of tons should be quite possible, not that
this is really desired for air launch for which this approach seems
almost ideally suited.

As a recovery system for launch vehicles, weights can be far lighter
than an equivalent parachute, less than one percent by weight, with high
cross range, gentle vertical landings, and full control. Power could
also be added far more cheaply than alternatives.

Development cost and time should not be great, perhaps a year or two for
most applications, effectively they are just UAV's.


Pete.

An interesting concept!
Modern computer and control technologys might just be able to handle
it.
The cables would have to be very long to accomodate a transfer from
VTOL to standard flight mode, however, (you would have to reverse half
your 'kites`), and those cables could not be as light, or offer the
low wind resistance you seem to contemplate.
a. You have to carry electrical power to your engines, (pumping enough
fuel to run engines through even moderately long thin lines is out of
the question, you would very quickly reach the point where pressure
would require too much wall thickness), and both insulation and cable
size are not insignificant. You can decrease the weight by operating
at very high voltage, but then the insulation grows in size.
b. Critical loadbearing components of aircraft are overdesigned by
neccessity, (gust loads can pile on the Gs don't ya know), and a kite
design with fast moving elements would be especially vulnerable.
The connections between the 'kites` and fuselage, (or groung station
in the generators), would be troublesome. You would need to carry
electrical power at very high voltage, and control circuits, (you
don't want to try 'wireless` for critical flight control), through
rotating, (you can't let your cables twist), loadbearing, critical
assemblies.
Have you looked at these details?
Pragmatist