3 ms·
> it means that the airplane could have very small wings, which are usually good for efficiency This is all well and good under normal flight conditions, but t
by scoot 10y ago
> it means that the airplane could have very small wings, which are usually good for efficiency
This is all well and good under normal flight conditions, but the glide ratio in the event of motor failure would not lend itself well to commercial flight.
Short wing aircraft are fine for military use where low occupancy and ejector seats provide emergency egress.
Passenger aircraft - not so much.
- nickff 10y agoIt depends on the reliability of the motors and how many of them there are. With electric aircraft, you could have many more engines spread along the wing (which has some benefits), so the redundancy may be enough to guarantee some power for landing. In addition, there is no 'safe' aircraft, and all of them can fall out of the sky; glide ratios don't help you if the wing breaks at the fuselage. If the motors are as reliable as the wings, then making them more critical seems reasonable.