scarier

13 ms·

91.
by scarier 5y ago
Yeah, I have the feeling that they're still very much in the initial design phase, but even so 100% electric doesn't even imply battery-electric (and even if Venturi does plan on doing battery-electric, as their site vaguely impli
92.
by scarier 5y ago
I think what OP meant by "serious airplane" was something that could compete with at least a regional jet for short-distance passenger transport (~50-100 seats with at least 500nm range). Almost all battery-electric aircraft in pr
93.
by scarier 5y ago
I mean, you can get deep into epistemology and argue that it's impossible for anyone to truly know anything, and tautologically all of engineering requires approximation in some way, but our modern understanding of aerodynamics is abso
94.
by scarier 5y ago
I'm sure you didn't mean it quite so bluntly, but characterizing the history of aviation safety as a triumph of computer control systems over analog ones misses the mark by a pretty wide margin--even if we're just talking abo
95.
by scarier 5y ago
Steel bodywork on modern cars is typically galvanized very thoroughly and/or given other protective coatings prior to painting, so dents generally aren't at risk of rusting. That said, people tend to not like having even cosmetic
96.
by scarier 6y ago
There's a fantastic book called Augustine's Laws where the eponymous author extrapolates trends in defense spending to reach the conclusion that "in the year 2054, the entire defense budget will purchase just one aircraft.&qu
97.
by scarier 6y ago
Yeah, it's a fantastic cockpit. For what it's worth, just pressing either of the red buttons on the stick won't operate any of the weapons systems--there are plenty of other safety interlocks in place to prevent a bomb coming
98.
by scarier 6y ago
A lot of the references you use to land on carriers are outside the aircraft, and the process is becoming largely automated. Besides, we've been flying single-engine aircraft blue-water for decades--it's not THAT bad in the grand
99.
by scarier 6y ago
The issue is less the confirmation that a thing happened and more the ability to locate the right thing to begin with. It's easy to count buttons by feel and be sure you have the right one, but almost impossible to locate an arbitrary
100.
by scarier 6y ago
Hand rests are only half the problem--even with a totally steady finger, it's tough to consistently find a small area on a touchscreen (and that's even ignoring the level of customization the F-35 allows) without looking at it. Th
101.
by scarier 6y ago
>I'm curious if they use a throat mike or something bone conducting. No, and no. Just good, old-fashioned microphones and speakers. If you're lucky, you have a set of "communication ear plugs" wired up to your helmet
102.
by scarier 6y ago
It's cool to be able to do a back-to-back comparison. I guess I've always been more worried about cabin pressurization failing than OBOGS--oxygen lights are pretty chill, but I've heard some horrifying DCS stories.
103.
by scarier 6y ago
OBOGS is supposed to be a relatively mature technology at this point, but many military aircraft have had significant issues with it over the last decade or so, and it's interesting to see similar issues crop up in civilian aircraft. I
104.
by scarier 6y ago
>I believe technically if they followed the runaway trim in memory checklist the system would have been disabled? This is how the pilot of the Lion Air flight the day before prevented disaster. Yes, but the failure they experienced feels
105.
by scarier 6y ago
Tangentially related: "The Screwfly Solution" by Raccoona Sheldon is a fantastic (but pretty dark) short story.
106.
by scarier 6y ago
Well, yish. It wouldn't be a big stretch from what we've seen perennially in the South China Sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan_Island_incident
107.
by scarier 6y ago
The nice thing is they still likely have a number of years before the full-scale passenger version goes into production. I doubt COVID will have a significant impact on their long-term success or failure.
108.
by scarier 6y ago
Part of the problem: medical software isn't designed to facilitate efficient patient care. It's designed to facilitate billing.
109.
by scarier 6y ago
This isn't a fundamental issue with composites. Although they do require more stringent process control than traditional metal structures, with good procedures and QC they are extremely strong (and have significant advantages over meta
110.
by scarier 6y ago
>Is this a problem with joining carbon fiber? Fundamentally? No. That said, I imagine there's a lot of pressure from the management to make big, expensive, slow-to-manufacture subassemblies fit together, even when they maybe don&#x2
111.
by scarier 6y ago
$328/hr is the advertised operating cost of the aircraft (fuel and maintenance), not anything close to what a charter would actually charge. Commercial airline operating costs, including crew salary and overhead, are roughly an order o
112.
by scarier 6y ago
That's fair--400 miles is on the shorter end of the spectrum. Still, "low cost" is relative to a chartered private jet--which, emphatically, is not a service that people purchase because it's the most economical option--
113.
by scarier 6y ago
Also, a 3300' take-off roll doesn't mean you need a 3300' runway to operate--if you lose the engine just before rotation speed, you might need a few thousand more feet to stop the aircraft.
114.
by scarier 6y ago
There have been a number of experimentals running Mazda rotary engines, air-cooled VWs, Subaru boxers, and Corvair engines. I think there's a company that fairly recently started making some good-looking Suzuki engine conversions, as w
115.
by scarier 6y ago
I mean, their patent application also claims an SFC of ~30-42 MPG at 460-510 mph... A design cruising altitude of FL500 implies that they're seeing nearly all of their efficiency improvements due to the thin air at altitude (flying aro
116.
by scarier 6y ago
Still, a plane with half the aerodynamic drag and twice the BSFC is only getting 4x the fuel efficiency, not the ~10x they're claiming. Even if they're making a bit of "free" thrust from their cooling system (which has b
117.
by scarier 6y ago
I wouldn't be surprised by a long-range cruise altitude around FL300, but if it was FL450 I'd be extremely surprised. If the plane achieves the advertised 20mpg on a hypothetical 4500-mile flight at FL500, but only makes a small f
118.
by scarier 6y ago
All of that helps, but a pilot flying an unpressurized experimental can still get up to 17.5k' VFR on oxygen. Assuming the Celera cruises around FL250, you're talking the difference between ~300KTAS and ~350 KTAS at 200 KIAS. I&#x
119.
by scarier 6y ago
The CG question is really good, but considering the very conventional tail on the prototype, I imagine it has about the same acceptable CG range as a similar passenger aircraft. The wing just looks like it's way too far back since the
120.
by scarier 6y ago
For some perspective, the Scaled Composites Catbird (powered by a 210-hp V6) achieved just over 20 mpg at 200 mph with close to 1000 lbs of payload (it could carry a pilot and four passengers) in the late '80s and early '90s. Amat

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