Posted on 07/11/2018 6:28:27 AM PDT by shove_it
"Link & Fly" is Akka Technologies’s new flagship aircraft design, with wings that come off to hasten turnover at airports and make boarding easier and closer to passengers’ homes.
It sounds like something Q, the tech guy in James Bond movies, would create: A plane that lands on a runway, shrugs its wings off, turns into a train and rolls on to rails to drop you off at your local station. That’s what a French entrepreneur, who’s made millions by connecting engineers with industrial groups, is pitching to Boeing Co. and others. “Link & Fly” is Akka Technologies’s new flagship aircraft design, with wings that come off to hasten turnover at airports and make boarding easier and closer to passengers’ homes.
“After cars go electric and autonomous, the next big disruption will be in airplanes,” Akka’s chief executive officer, Maurice Ricci, said in an interview in Paris. Boeing is among prime customer targets for Akka, as it seeks to limit its dependence on the likes of Airbus SE and Renault SA in Europe.
With Akka’s futuristic concept, passengers would board a train-like tube at a neighborhood station and have their retinas scanned for security during the ride to the airport. Wings would then be attached to the pod for take-off. The company has showcased the idea in a 3D mock-up video, gathering interest from potential customers in Asia, Ricci said, without naming any company...
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(Excerpt) Read more at financialexpress.com ...
Ful title= “Flying trains for real? This French entrepreneur proposes maverick flagship design to Boeing”
I don’t see where this is necessary. The expense would never offset the cost of stacking containers on a ship. Piggyback trains exist, and that model works well and makes more sense.
It’s a container.
Fortunately the wings don’t really come off. And that’s a good thing.
Although the seats are removable, it seems this concept is aimed at accommodating passenger cargo.
Although I haven't seen the blueprints for this flying train, I will say that I trust the plan.
Lost me at the wings coming off part
Because we aren’t spending enough time in a cramped airplane.
That's not the aspect that I would want to highlight in my marketing material, unless accompanied by reassuring words about how that can not occur during flight.
(New pilot-in-training on first flight: "What happens if I push this big red button now?")
First thing I thought of as well...
The tricky part is landing that container on railroad tracks.
I would be worried about accidental deployment of the cargo while in flight...
Well there is Air-bus.
Sorry. Although the jet engines probably supply ample thrust for forward motion; that box they’re attached to generates NO lift. So it either needs wings or wheels. Not to mention a cockpit or some apparent mose of guidance. What’ve I missed?
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