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I applaud Siemens for venturing outside their comfort (profit?) zone instead of just incrementally improving whatever they did for decades already (and did not

by usrusr 10y ago

I applaud Siemens for venturing outside their comfort (profit?) zone instead of just incrementally improving whatever they did for decades already (and did not sell for having a bad quarter), but they are really overdoing milking this little plane for publicity. An electric motor being lighter, per Watt, than an ICE, who would have guessed. That being said, a hybrid setup could well be worth it, even with the abysmal specific energy density of real life batteries: keep just as much conventional engine as needed for cruise flight only and have some form of electrical assist for the few minutes of a flight that need more power than that. Battery density isn't a problem at all when you don't need endurance.

phire 10y ago
For a hybrid setup, regulations will likely require that both the conventional engine and the electrical system to be powerful enough on their own to still take off if the other system fails after V1. Still, that's massive savings over the current twinjets, which require two engines, both powerful enough to take off after a failure of the other at V1.
- usrusr 10y ago
  Sounds reasonable. But in an unlikely best case scenario, the electric part might somehow be certified for single engine reliability, capable of everything except endurance. A wave of comparatively liberal cruise engine development might then catch up with a few decades of combustion engine refinement.
vlehto 10y ago
Sounds absolutely perfect idea for Eraknoplans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_vehicle Typically these vehicles have 4X as much engine power for liftoff as they need for cruising. The reason is high water resistance and then very economical flight above the water body. Lift off being cancelled due to engine malfunction is less of a problem, as the "runway" is practically endless.

by usrusr 10y ago

phire 10y ago

For a hybrid setup, regulations will likely require that both the conventional engine and the electrical system to be powerful enough on their own to still take off if the other system fails after V1. Still, that's massive savings over the current twinjets, which require two engines, both powerful enough to take off after a failure of the other at V1.

usrusr 10y ago
Sounds reasonable. But in an unlikely best case scenario, the electric part might somehow be certified for single engine reliability, capable of everything except endurance. A wave of comparatively liberal cruise engine development might then catch up with a few decades of combustion engine refinement.

vlehto 10y ago

Sounds absolutely perfect idea for Eraknoplans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_vehicle Typically these vehicles have 4X as much engine power for liftoff as they need for cruising. The reason is high water resistance and then very economical flight above the water body. Lift off being cancelled due to engine malfunction is less of a problem, as the "runway" is practically endless.