3 ms·

There's already a startup developing an electric passenger ground-effect seaplane, perhaps the design will scale? https://www.regentcraft.com/ https://www.rege

• jeffreyrogers 4y ago
  The problem with batteries is they don't lose weight as they discharge[1]. With fuel powered aircraft the fuel is used up over the course of a flight, so that the average weight of the aircraft is substantially less than the starting weight. This means that as flight times increase the advantage shifts more heavily towards fuel powered aircraft. [1]: actually they do but it's a trivial amount.
  • murderfs 4y ago
    > actually they do but it's a trivial amount. That depends on the type of battery. There are battery technologies that aren't closed systems (e.g. iron-air batteries are pure iron when charged, and iron oxide when discharged, pulling the oxygen from external air).
• mateo1 4y ago
  The problem with ground effect planes is that flying at 1000km/h a few meters above ground (or sea) is never going to be safe. Terrain (and even worse, sea) is unpredictable. It might make sense for the military but not for commercial passenger flights.