3 ms·

Related - first electric commuter jet, that everyone on HN thought was a scam, just had its first flight: https://tcrn.ch/3frler3 https://tcrn.ch/3frler3

MichaelCollins 4y ago
(Electric props, not a jet.)
ck2 4y ago
Blows my mind we are going to have commercial electric planes BEFORE they bother to get poisonous lead out of avgas for decades after knowing it was deadly
- hef19898 4y ago
  As crazy as it sounds, getting a conventional (as opposed to eVTOL) aircraft in the air is easier than replacing the fuel thousands of legacy aircraft engines.
- DarmokJalad1701 4y ago
  FAA has approved G100UL though. Now it is just a matter of scaling up + distribution.
- RC_ITR 4y ago
  Sure, but that’s a lobbying thing. AVgas isn’t what runs jet engines (as I’m sure you know), it’s what runs hobbyist planes. And given how many other externalities there are to hobbyist flying (noise, airports on prime land, etc.) US hobby pilots find their way onto various political committees almost as matter of survival. It also doesn’t hurt that the average hobbyist pilot is a wealthy white man above 40.
  - akiselev 4y ago
    Lobbying by pilots might redirect some money to upgrade someone's favorite small airport but their influence pales in comparison to long standing national security doctrine. Pilots and airports are part of our emergency infrastructure, the kind you don't think you need until the worst happens like a natural disaster. The FAA, FEMA, and the DoD take that kind of preparedness very seriously so they pretty much refuse to come down on private aviation as long as there's not enough PPLs for their liking.
Semaphor 4y ago
Unrelated, but wow. From having a super crappy popup, TC and friends went to 3 clicks to turn off all "legitimate" interest permissions. That’s actually quite impressive.
benj111 4y ago
But why did they think it was a scam? The linked article only claims an 8 minute flight, so if it's concern about battery weight (which is the only concern I can think of) then the test flight still doesn't really answer that.
- carabiner 4y ago
  Apparently the company had pivoted from a completely unrelated industry and had very few employees with aerospace backgrounds: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18620766 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18620766

MichaelCollins 4y ago

(Electric props, not a jet.)

ck2 4y ago

Blows my mind we are going to have commercial electric planes BEFORE they bother to get poisonous lead out of avgas for decades after knowing it was deadly

hef19898 4y ago
As crazy as it sounds, getting a conventional (as opposed to eVTOL) aircraft in the air is easier than replacing the fuel thousands of legacy aircraft engines.
DarmokJalad1701 4y ago
FAA has approved G100UL though. Now it is just a matter of scaling up + distribution.
RC_ITR 4y ago
Sure, but that’s a lobbying thing. AVgas isn’t what runs jet engines (as I’m sure you know), it’s what runs hobbyist planes. And given how many other externalities there are to hobbyist flying (noise, airports on prime land, etc.) US hobby pilots find their way onto various political committees almost as matter of survival. It also doesn’t hurt that the average hobbyist pilot is a wealthy white man above 40.
- akiselev 4y ago
  Lobbying by pilots might redirect some money to upgrade someone's favorite small airport but their influence pales in comparison to long standing national security doctrine. Pilots and airports are part of our emergency infrastructure, the kind you don't think you need until the worst happens like a natural disaster. The FAA, FEMA, and the DoD take that kind of preparedness very seriously so they pretty much refuse to come down on private aviation as long as there's not enough PPLs for their liking.

Semaphor 4y ago

Unrelated, but wow. From having a super crappy popup, TC and friends went to 3 clicks to turn off all "legitimate" interest permissions. That’s actually quite impressive.

benj111 4y ago

But why did they think it was a scam? The linked article only claims an 8 minute flight, so if it's concern about battery weight (which is the only concern I can think of) then the test flight still doesn't really answer that.

carabiner 4y ago
Apparently the company had pivoted from a completely unrelated industry and had very few employees with aerospace backgrounds: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18620766 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18620766