3 ms·
Aviation is notoriously resistant to change. For both good and bad reasons. Look at how long it's taken to get leaded fuel on the way out for light aircraft ope
by lukeify 10d ago
Aviation is notoriously resistant to change. For both good and bad reasons. Look at how long it's taken to get leaded fuel on the way out for light aircraft operations.
It seems like there should be a solution to this though, either battery-electric or fuel-cell auxiliary thrust for ground operations and taxiing, or utilising tractors more to do the full aircraft ground movement, not just pushing back from the gate.
Unfortunately it's impossible to suggest such changes without getting a horde of aviation nerds thinking of reasons to tell you why something isn't possible, instead of imagining how it _could_ be possible.
So it's exciting to see companies like Heart Aerospace innovating in this area.
- shrubby 10d agoBack in the day I was questioning operational tankering in my organization,but to no avail. Not in aviation anymore, but luckily that practice seems to be forgotten now?
- mschuster91 10d agoIt's making a resurgence now thanks to the various wars messing with pricing worldwide.
- shrubby 9d agoOh ffs. Of course it is.
- cjrp 10d agoVirgin Atlantic trialled this at Heathrow in 2006[0]. It looks like it didn't gain traction because the airport would need to be resigned to support it, and the landing gear might have been damaged by so much towing. [0] https://simpleflying.com/throwback-virgin-atlantics-fuel-saving-tug-trial/ https://simpleflying.com/throwback-virgin-atlantics-fuel-sav...
- folmar 10d agoAt least in Europe, except for the largest airports, the start slots are well organized enough that the taxi+wait time is just enough to warm up the engines, eliminating the saving.