Electric Planes, Once a Fantasy, Start to Take to the Skies

The New York Times ^ | November 7, 2023 | Nirraj Choksi

[aculeus]

How a small plane’s 16-day trip from Vermont to Florida might foreshadow a new era of battery-powered air travel long considered implausible.

[aculeus]

Aren't batteries heavy?

[gymbeau]

Couldn’t one walk that distance faster?

[DarrellZero]

Ain’t getting on that thing,

Let the “math is racist” crowd ride on them.

[Reno89519]

16 days?! I can drive in a day.

[joshua c]

really bad solution to a nonexistent problem

way to go!

[alternatives?]

Where do you get all the electricity?

[Red Badger]

RELATED:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4192737/posts

[Jim W N]

[Leaning Right]

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
Heck, you can pedal-power a plane. But I wouldn’t want to be a passenger.

[Olog-hai]

Possibly; the average speed of this journey by electric plane is around 4 mph. Was the plane flying in circles?

[DallasBiff]

16 days?! I can drive in a day.

That what it takes to charge the batteries.

[Jim W N]

I didn’t know they had cords that long...

[dfwgator]

[Jim W N]

Idiotic government + compliant industry + NYT = DISASTER!!!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

"long considered implausible"

"Plausible" is NOT a synonym for "practical."

I see a good market for quiet military surveillance and MAYBE there's another market for urban short-haul trips. Urban VTOL/STOL with reliable and accurate collision avoidance and nav could change how you think about weekend jaunts or where you want to live. I had a most interesting discussion with the CEO of Aska a year ago on potential applications. He envisions people from the SF Bay Area living in the foothills of the Sierras and commuting to work in their aircraft.

Flying Car Manufacturer Aska Nabs FAA Flight Test Signoff
Aska’s A5—a car, eVTOL, fixed-wing glider hybrid—received the FAA's blessing to proceed with expanded flight testing.

By Jack Daleo
June 30, 2023

[thegagline]

Aviation Week keeps touting electric airplanes. However, despite the hype, there are two fatal flaws with this technology: range and turnaround time.

[lee martell]

I just had this wackiest vision showing exactly that;
a plane in the air, but with it’s long cord still dangling down. Somebody forgot to use the wench and roll the cord back up before takeoff.

[Bayard]

Not economically viable. I don’t think this one goes anywhere.

[NWFree]

Rubber band power is best

[Reno89519]

Well, maybe like George Washington, so long as there,is a pub and wench at each stop, all will be okay. :)