Posted on 03/02/2021 12:34:46 PM PST by Winniesboy
Rolls-Royce has announced it has made progress towards creating the world's fastest all-electric plane.
The aerospace company has successfully completed the taxiing of its ‘Spirit of Innovation’ aircraft, marking the latest milestone on its journey towards the record-breaking achievement.
For the first time, the plane powered along a runway propelled by its electric powertrain and the latest energy storage technology developed to set world speed records.
Rolls-Royce said this means the aircraft passed a critical test of its propulsion system, making major steps towards actual flight-testing.
The first flight is planned for the spring, when the firm hopes the combination of its 400kw electrical powertrain and advanced battery system will power the aircraft to more than 300mph, setting a new world speed record for electric flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at derbytelegraph.co.uk ...
More pics here:
First look at Rolls-Royce's electric plane targeting the record books
Horsepower, adequate
Solar or long extension cords? 😂🙌
Excuse me, but I believe that I hold the record for fastest electric flight.
I was 2 or 3 and stuck the car key into an electric outlet.
Blew me across the kitchen.
Dad called me Sparky after that.
probably takes 10 days to charge
Some day the fans in current day turbofans will probably be driven by electric motors. The question is how much will battery manufacturing pollute.
I am not anti-electric plane, but doing it to “combat carbon emissions” as its selling point is an asinine thing.
That said, I do like the look...it is quite sleek!
Very cool looking for sure!
IOW, they have an electric car....................
Horse-something is adequate................
Will the batteries last on a non-stop flight from London to San Francisco at 600 MPH?
That’s nice, until the motor quits in flight.
There is no ‘restart procedure’ for an electric motor, unlike a jet turbine.
From the folks who gave the RAF the Merlin V12 engine during WWII.
Ha! The joke will be on them. Once I get my latest invention scaled up to full size, both hydrocarbon and electric-powered planes will be obsolete.
Something to keep in mind.
Personally, I have always felt there will be some kind of breakthrough in something like room temperature superconductors or something like that which will revolutionize the field...
I wouldn’t mind seeing that.
But I do love the sound of a meaty radial engine, or the roar of an afterburner.
Back in 1994, I went to the Oshkosh air show, and they had all the living Apollo astronauts in the outdoor pavilion one night...it was incredibly memorable, listening to them tell jokes, skewer each other (like teasing Frank Borman about his...”gas problem”) when this huge roar sounded on the runway behind us.
The entire audience, in mid-sentence from a reminiscence from one of the astronauts, turned in unison to watch the four blue-flamed afterburning engines of the Concorde take off right behind us!
The noise...how I love the noise! The louder the better!
The thing that was REALLY cool about it was the interrupted astronaut implored everyone to watch, saying “We are watching up here, too!”
Here, these men had travelled through space, many walking on another planet, but the spectacle of a fire-breathing monster taking off still filled them with interest and entertainment!
Okay, NOW you must post that picture again! My interest (in humor, at least!) is piqued!
Co-pilot: “What does this one say? It looks like the one my car has when I exceed the 300 mile range.”
Pilot: “Help me look for a flat farm field or maybe a freeway under construction.”
Very oddly, this morning I had a vivid dream of an electric plane. It looked like a small DC-3, painted in old United Airlines livery and it was open topped. The pilots had a small windscreen and pilots and passengers had no roof over their heads like riding in a convertible. Very odd for me to remember and even odder for me to see this story.
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