Electric aircraft leave no carbon footprint, but the methods of making and charging the batteries probably do.
I know that this and other companies working on these are competing for contracts with Uber and similar companies.
What could go wrong?
I still think “the loop” is going to be the safest and most efficient way to commute. This aircraft is designed with the commuter in mind, so depending on who can afford it, the 50 mile commuter one way would work, however the logistics of where to land and where it will be parked is another matter. Will it be allowed regular parking lot access? Along with a lot of other host of questions to be answered if indeed this catches on need to be defined.
I have a Hyperloop t-shirt. I think there are major issues there too, besides the usual worries.
Questions like "I don’t want helicopter drones or piloted hovering all over the place and crashing into each other and killing people.
Or, “let’s build hyperloops everywhere until the dynamo effects knock the earth out of orbit.”
I don’t know about that. They don’t have to be built everywhere just connected major hubs. There is already one being built on the way,
I welcome the technology and the idea of having such vehicles available. With sufficient control reliability and electronic navigation systems they could be quite useful as commercially operated for-hire transportation using licensed pilots just as we do today with private fixed wing planes and helicopters.
But to make them easily available to untrained operators or pilot-free automated craft would present problems.
- failure may result in craft striking occupied property located on the ground
- kidnapping would become a breeze
- there are no parking places in the sky
- mid-air electrical failure turns the flying craft into a rock with no gliding or autorotation remedies. (perhaps they all need to have automatic parachutes…but that increases the weight)
Before the SR 71 was the Lockheed A 12. They resemble each other, but the later was lighter, faster and flew higher. Used in Vietnam for strategic reconnaissance it had one close call with a SAM missal. Its true capabilities and missions are still secret. Great tutorial.
That’s what you get when you first design a gun and then build a flying tank around it.
1 Like
1 Like
Another great concept aircraft that never went into production.
The Good News is there’s still ongoiing work on upgrading the remaining F-15’s and 16’s instead of shelving them all to be replaced with the much more expensive F-22’s and 35’s.
In any serious conflict we need the best stealth tech we can for covert and first strike capability but those platforms could still play a vital role in the air dominance equation for decades to come with a few upgrades.
1 Like
Here is an example of a failed project.
Can this be considered part of aviation?
I wouldn’t really call it a failure. It proved to be a very good aircraft and performed very well.
Like a whole lot of other aircraft though it simply came along too late in the war to play a major part in the war.
A study in ground effects flight.