4 ms·

From the article: "...Harbour Air is in the "sweet spot" in the industry as its flights are short, meaning battery technology as it stands today makes the proje

From the article: "...Harbour Air is in the "sweet spot" in the industry as its flights are short, meaning battery technology as it stands today makes the project viable." While batteries may not be viable for longer commercial flights, these short hops make sense.

Scoundreller 6y ago
With the Canadian/US land border closed, but 5m (minute or meter) flights over the border being kosher, the sweet spot right now is temporarily massive.
- lytfyre 6y ago
  Looking at their website, Harbour has actually cancelled their usual Vancouver/Seattle flights due to Covid - they don't seem to be running cross border at all right now.
  - Scoundreller 6y ago
    Interesting. But when? The snowbird business would have died off a month ago. It probably was a good business for them, and something that popped up in areas that didn’t already have short-haul flights. Maybe they still do them as charters for those that don’t want to sit with rando pax. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/snowbirds-canada-u-s-border-drive-winter-travel-covid-19-1.5810104 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/snowbirds-canada-u-s-border... But I’m sure many/most just flew down deeper into US and forwent their Canadian car (possibly buying a beater/long term rental for US).
    - lytfyre 6y ago
      Appears to have been at least initially cancelled back in March, initially until the end of April - https://www.vicnews.com/news/harbour-air-cancels-all-seattle-flights-amid-covid-19/ https://www.vicnews.com/news/harbour-air-cancels-all-seattle.... I haven't seen any announcement of them resuming between now and then, but nothing that rules it out. I'm sure there are folks on HN who could tell us from public flight records. Not to say there haven't been problematic purposes for charter flights to non-us destinations going on, either - https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-couple-charged-after-chartering-plane-in-yukon-and-getting-covid-19-vaccine-say-officials-1.5279469 https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-couple-charged-after-charter...
      - Scoundreller 6y ago
        Better info on that one here: https://www.yukon-news.com/news/former-ceo-of-great-canadian-gaming-actress-charged-after-flying-to-beaver-creek-for-covid-19-vaccine/ https://www.yukon-news.com/news/former-ceo-of-great-canadian... Unsure why any law gets passed with max $500 fines and 6 months jail if they’re not going to throw jail time at the most egregious cases.
- myself248 6y ago
  The "5 meter" comment has me wondering -- what's the shortest flight that's legally considered a flight? Is it the moment your gear is no longer touching the ground? The moment your wings leave ground-effect? (Is the ekranoplan technically a plane or a boat?) The moment you cross the property-line of the departing airport? (And how would that work for bush planes?)
  - diet_mtn_dew 6y ago
    Perhaps it is this one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westray_to_Papa_Westray_flight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westray_to_Papa_Westray_flight
  - Scoundreller 6y ago
    In reality, the 5meter thing wouldn’t work as they’d need to land at an international airport.

Scoundreller 6y ago

With the Canadian/US land border closed, but 5m (minute or meter) flights over the border being kosher, the sweet spot right now is temporarily massive.

lytfyre 6y ago
Looking at their website, Harbour has actually cancelled their usual Vancouver/Seattle flights due to Covid - they don't seem to be running cross border at all right now.
- Scoundreller 6y ago
  Interesting. But when? The snowbird business would have died off a month ago. It probably was a good business for them, and something that popped up in areas that didn’t already have short-haul flights. Maybe they still do them as charters for those that don’t want to sit with rando pax. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/snowbirds-canada-u-s-border-drive-winter-travel-covid-19-1.5810104 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/snowbirds-canada-u-s-border... But I’m sure many/most just flew down deeper into US and forwent their Canadian car (possibly buying a beater/long term rental for US).
  - lytfyre 6y ago
    Appears to have been at least initially cancelled back in March, initially until the end of April - https://www.vicnews.com/news/harbour-air-cancels-all-seattle-flights-amid-covid-19/ https://www.vicnews.com/news/harbour-air-cancels-all-seattle.... I haven't seen any announcement of them resuming between now and then, but nothing that rules it out. I'm sure there are folks on HN who could tell us from public flight records. Not to say there haven't been problematic purposes for charter flights to non-us destinations going on, either - https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-couple-charged-after-chartering-plane-in-yukon-and-getting-covid-19-vaccine-say-officials-1.5279469 https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-couple-charged-after-charter...
    - Scoundreller 6y ago
      Better info on that one here: https://www.yukon-news.com/news/former-ceo-of-great-canadian-gaming-actress-charged-after-flying-to-beaver-creek-for-covid-19-vaccine/ https://www.yukon-news.com/news/former-ceo-of-great-canadian... Unsure why any law gets passed with max $500 fines and 6 months jail if they’re not going to throw jail time at the most egregious cases.
myself248 6y ago
The "5 meter" comment has me wondering -- what's the shortest flight that's legally considered a flight? Is it the moment your gear is no longer touching the ground? The moment your wings leave ground-effect? (Is the ekranoplan technically a plane or a boat?) The moment you cross the property-line of the departing airport? (And how would that work for bush planes?)
- diet_mtn_dew 6y ago
  Perhaps it is this one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westray_to_Papa_Westray_flight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westray_to_Papa_Westray_flight
- Scoundreller 6y ago
  In reality, the 5meter thing wouldn’t work as they’d need to land at an international airport.