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What Does An Airplane Pilot Know About Ocean Energy?  Everything!    

OceanBased Perpetual Energy Ocean Energy CEO Nasser M.N. Alshemaimry Pilot Through the Years

Many in the clean energy business these days are focused on turbines and turbine engineering—an unexpectedly vast science with numerous applications, especially in powering new technologies for the growing renewable energy space.   

Among those alternative fuel markets is ocean energy, which OceanBased Perpetual Energy is working to harness from Florida’s powerful and ever-flowing Gulf Stream.   Indeed, knowledge of turbines, flight dynamics, physics and engineering is exactly why our executive team comprises a substantial roster of aerospace engineers and pilots.

OceanBased is led by CEO Nasser M.N. Alshemaimry, himself an engineer and former test pilot and commercial airline pilot who even received the Boeing Key Award for his role in developing the Boeing 737 electrical system in 1974, among many other honors.

“Let’s start with the fact that pilots who flew or still fly airplanes with reciprocating engines know more about torque than any group of engineers because pilots live, feel and must physically deal with torque every time they fly,” Alshemaimry explained in regard to the powerful propellers’ constant torsional load, which pilots must continually monitor to keep the aircraft flying straight.  

Aerodynamic engineers design, test and supervise the manufacture of turbine blades and rotors, and conduct aerodynamics assessments.   

“Engineers know about torque in physics and mechanics,” Alshemaimry added.  “Torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force.  It is a function of physics that affects propellers.  We refer to it as ‘the moment,’ meaning the moment of force, rotational force or turning effect, depending on the field of study.” 

During the OceanBased Perpetual Energy Power Demonstration in May 2020, the company tested three separate turbine configurations and made history by successfully generating electricity for a full 24 hours by using only the power of the water current to turn the turbine.     

Alshemaimry, a Saudi-American, flew the historic DC-3 aircraft early in his career as a Captain for Saudi Arabian Airlines for thousands of hours across miles of the Arabian desert.  He later flew missions to assist in freeing the Saudi southern border from control by Communist South Yemen. 

“With my experience as a pilot, I knew every hill, mountain and landmark across the entire country of Saudi Arabia as well as Iraq and Kuwait,” he recalled.  

Given his specialized knowledge, Alshemaimry years later subsequently volunteered with the Saudi-American efforts to free Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s occupation.  He met with U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf and flew the famed Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt Warthog along with American pilots into the Iraq War, for which he later received a medal from Saudi Arabia’s Armed Forces.  

 

 

Photo:  OceanBased Perpetual Energy CEO Nasser M.N. Alshemaimry as a young pilot and still flying today!