Posted on 09/28/2022 1:00:50 PM PDT by Red Badger
A historic moment for zero-emissions flight, as the 9-seat Alice commuter plane makes its first test flightEviation
After showing off with some extravagant runway wheelies last week, Alice, the "world's first all-electric commuter aircraft," lifted off overnight on a historic first flight. It's another major milestone toward zero-emissions medium-range air travel.
Alice took off at 7.10 am local time from Grant County International Airport in Washington state, and made a short, 8-minute circuit, reaching an altitude of 3,500 ft (1,067 m) before coming in and touching down.
"Today we embark on the next era of aviation – we have successfully electrified the skies with the unforgettable first flight of Alice," said Eviation President and CEO Gregory Davis. "People now know what affordable, clean and sustainable aviation looks and sounds like for the first time in a fixed-wing, all-electric aircraft. This ground-breaking milestone will lead innovation in sustainable air travel, and shape both passenger and cargo travel in the future."
Eviation is targeting 2026 for FAA certification and entry into service Eviation is targeting 2026 for FAA certification and entry into serviceEviation It is indeed a significant moment, although there's a way to go yet. The Alice we see flying in the video below is still an experimentally registered prototype, rather than a fully certified production aircraft. Eviation still has to run it through a full and rigorous flight test regime, and jump through the many hoops of FAA certification, not just for the aircraft and all its systems, but also for the company itself as a design organization and a production facility. The company hopes to have this all squared away and get Alice into service by 2026.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
I won’t even get on real airplanes anymore you think I’m getting on that thing?
How long does it take to wind up the rubber bands?
How many battery chargers at 3500 feet I wonder
Nice looking plane.
Zero emissions? So they never plugged it in to charge it?
“8-minute circuit”
cool, that’ll get me to almost to the grocery store ...
though, don’t think 3,500 altitude will do the trick when you start off at 5,000 feet ...
(Typed in my best EV-hatin' FReeper voice LOL)
It’s an interesting experiment, and really quite an achievement to get the bloody thing off the ground at all. I’m happy for them in that regard.
But selling it, or battery powered cars, as “zero emissions” is lying. It’s fraud. The people who do that should be ashamed of themselves.
Since composting corpses is now authorized in California, I see a win-win business proposition here.
Try insuring it? Nope.
And how will it do loaded, much like we’ve seen with Ford EV truck.
“local commuter and air taxi service”.
At this stage, that’s pretty much all that’s aspired to. Reserve capacity, as is required of all certificated transports, is an issue. The issue that concerns me most is the possibility of a battery pack fire. Often times, an enroute mechanical or electrical issue in a turbine aircraft leads to an unscheduled landing, but no true emergency. On the contrary, a battery pack fire will lead to a lost aircraft and fatalities every single time. Be my guest.
Wings appear to be aft of C.O.M. but then they are very thin so maybe all the fuel is near the tail. Along with being thin they don’t appear to have a large amount of surface area. Fuselage much be built very light.
It can take off and immediately land just before the batteries run out.
What am I talking about. No Fuel. Batteries can’t be light tho. So same concept. Plus, you wont get mass changes with fuel consumption. The design just seems off to my eye and I am thinking it must have something to do with weight distribution.
“250 nautical mile range at 260 knots true airspeed.
Well, I guess it’s a start...”
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
That it is. But it won’t mean much until they start building nuclear fission plants again.
If we are going to try to run these off wind and solar generation plants, forget it. It will never happen.
If we are going to run these off hydrocarbon fuel generation plants, forget it. There would be no point.
If and when they can do nuclear fusion, THEN we may really have something.
Zero emissions my ass... Every bit of that plane was built on fossil fuel vehicles from all the mining required for all the metals used to make it including the wiring and plastics not to mention rubber tires, hydraulic fluid and oils for the engines and coal fired and fossil fuel powerplans to run all the machinery that made it and the asphalt and cement taxiways and runways it uses.
They’ve also cut the original range in half.
“Slingshot Airlines”
How will it do in a thunderstorm?
The perfect mandated air carrier type for service in and out of Washington DC. Our nation’s problems will be solved.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.