Get ready for the ELECTRIC SKY.....Here they come I know your all waiting...
Now we know how close it is....
https://www.dhl.com/global-en/home/press/press-ar ... ation.html
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/electr ... you-think/
BigBarney
DHL orders 12 electric Alice airplanes
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The first line of the second link says it all. Electric airplanes could be closer then you think.....same thing said about flying cars and other amazing things 50 odd years ago....
Kevin
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A year or so ago the nephew of a friend had purchased an electric plane.
He was approaching the airport for a landing and his instrument said he had 20 minutes of flight time left, when the motor stopped.
He crashed onto the roof of an old house by the airport.
When the homeowner came up into the attic to see what had happened, he was asked by the pilot to help find his glasses which had gotten lost.
No one was hurt and I don't know the rest of the story, except the plane owner had the resources and know how to fix the house, being a builder ,developer.
Two years ago I had mined some coal from an old farm house on 50 acres he was developing.
He was approaching the airport for a landing and his instrument said he had 20 minutes of flight time left, when the motor stopped.
He crashed onto the roof of an old house by the airport.
When the homeowner came up into the attic to see what had happened, he was asked by the pilot to help find his glasses which had gotten lost.
No one was hurt and I don't know the rest of the story, except the plane owner had the resources and know how to fix the house, being a builder ,developer.
Two years ago I had mined some coal from an old farm house on 50 acres he was developing.
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They should be safer, less *censored* to break.
The planes are an enormous hurdle because of the energy density where weight is a very big concern, currently it's about 100:1. Sans some enormous leap in battery technology I wouldn't go holding my breath waiting for them to replace conventional airplanes in any real way.
This will be niche services for short flights running a handful of passengers or small amount of freight. If you look further into the article that plane will only carry a little over a ton... Probably be used for Short hops between major cities for overnight packages.
A little off topic but there is a solar powered plane that circumnavigated the globe. It only took them about a year to do it. In ideal weather conditions it could sustain flight but to achieve that the plane was very fragile. Basically a very light weight glider with solar powered propulsion. They would climb during the day and charge the batteries, at night they would have to lose altitude but had enough battery power to get to sunrise when they could climb again. They got grounded in Japan for months waiting for the right weather window.
While there may not be a lot of commercial applications the military applications are clear. A reconnaissance plane that can loiter over an area indefinitely is a pretty big deal.