4 ms·

Does anyone have more specifics about the actual capabilities of the prototype? I'm skeptical they're able to get 3 hours of flight time out of a battery pack

Does anyone have more specifics about the actual capabilities of the prototype? I'm skeptical they're able to get 3 hours of flight time out of a battery pack without sacrificing just about all the weight capacity for things like... a pilot. It's great to see that companies are actively working on electric-powered flight, though, especially in the small aircraft space where it has high potential. Also a small beef with the article - it makes it seem like there just aren't enough pilots to fly commercial planes, which simply isn't true. There are plenty of pilots, they just don't want to work for the terrible pay and life-destroying hours most carriers are offering, while at the same time often having to cover their own massive training costs. Some more info on the situation: http://time.com/4257940/pilot-shortage/ http://time.com/4257940/pilot-shortage/

ams6110 10y ago
Agreed, very little real information here. Nothing about range, top speed, weight, etc. A big part of training is doing "touch and goes" to practice approaches, landing, and taking off (the most dangerous phases of flight) which I would think would tax the battery a lot more than just cruising around for three hours.
throwaway_xx9 10y ago
> There are plenty of pilots There used to be plenty of qualified pilots before the knee-jerk Colgan 1500 hour rule. Now an ATP is required to start as an airline pilot, so there's basically no qualified pilots available who aren't already flying for an airline. All of the regional jet airlines will be filing bk in the next year because of this - their planes will sit on the ground for lack of pilots.
highd 10y ago
It's not stated very directly, but it appears the article is referring to hybrid propulsion systems much like in hybrid cars. That certainly makes sense for reducing fuel costs, as well as reducing the volume of fuel you'd need, thus reducing weight as well.

ams6110 10y ago

Agreed, very little real information here. Nothing about range, top speed, weight, etc. A big part of training is doing "touch and goes" to practice approaches, landing, and taking off (the most dangerous phases of flight) which I would think would tax the battery a lot more than just cruising around for three hours.

throwaway_xx9 10y ago

> There are plenty of pilots There used to be plenty of qualified pilots before the knee-jerk Colgan 1500 hour rule. Now an ATP is required to start as an airline pilot, so there's basically no qualified pilots available who aren't already flying for an airline. All of the regional jet airlines will be filing bk in the next year because of this - their planes will sit on the ground for lack of pilots.

highd 10y ago

It's not stated very directly, but it appears the article is referring to hybrid propulsion systems much like in hybrid cars. That certainly makes sense for reducing fuel costs, as well as reducing the volume of fuel you'd need, thus reducing weight as well.