Posted on 03/24/2023 9:38:37 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Chicagoans may soon be able to fly over airport traffic on their way downtown.
In two years, Chicago will become the debut city for the first commercial electric air taxi route, according to a joint press release by Archer Aviation Inc. and United Airlines.
Archer and United announced plans to launch the commercial electric air taxi service on Thursday, saying they chose Chicago because it “is the third most populous city in the United States, a center for business, innovation and investment, and home to United’s headquarters. This makes it a unique city for Archer and United to build out.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Couldn’t get me in one of those things. The Chicago Rod and Gun Driveby Gangs will be using them for targets.
An aerial Waring Blender.
What could possibly go wrong?
So you don’t like it just because it is electric. Why?
Avoid the Chicago traffic by avoiding Chicago.
It’s electric, I get it.........but what’s wrong with a standard helicopter?
As a long ago helicopter pilot (mostly AH-1F), I am a sucker for all things vertical lift.
My concern for these new designs, however, is their engine-out capability. Many of these designs seem to have none, and the emergency procedure would be “have your affairs in order”.
The one at least has a fixed wing and might be able to glide, provided it was at, or could get to, horizontal flight speed.
This one at least...
My first thought is how many motors can go out and keep flying? How much redundancy is there? What’s the minimum number of motors needed to fly?
I would imagine the risk of bad fuel killing all engines (motors) would be greatly reduced, but how often is bad fuel a problem these days? Wouldn’t measuring “fuel load” be simpler with batteries than liquid fuel?
In vertical mode, it seems like losing one motor would be a major issue since you would immediately lose 1/6 of the lift on one wing? How much roll would that motor loss immediately induce? I imagine the control system would automatically compensate for that.
Losing a motor in horizontal flight would probably be less serious and would induce less roll. Just my guess.
Truly progressing to the future, the first gang related “fly by” may happen in Chicago in my lifetime!
A solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
So... Instead of a single Jesus nut to worry about, we now have 10 of them when it’s taking off and landing.
I guess auto-gyrate is out of the question with those little props as well. I wonder how much of their start up capital came from banks that are failing right now due to their investments in green energy, that or by government grants for R&D on electric vehicles.
At $100/150 a ride to and from they better be making a lot of trips per day to cover the costs and make a decent profit. When Detroit put in the People Mover downtown by the time they were done with the costs even if they sold every seat for every tram that ran it still would lose money, I’m thinking this will be the same way.
Even if it does have glide capacity, if it’s on a path between one of the airports and the Loop, it’s going to have a hell of a time finding a clean glide path to use to touch down.
I owned and flew airplanes for many years.
I think this one will never be practical nor safe.
My experience was (now retired) that electrics were the most troublesome part of the aircraft.
True those electrical problems were rarely life threatening, only annoying, but then neither were they responsible for keeping the aircraft flying. Even so aircraft have two or ore of everything electric so that there are multiple backups.
What happens at your house when the electric power goes off?
Everything stops.
And take note: On the map Chicago is not in the Arctic Circle but even so it is one of the worst places you can be in the dead of winter. Batteries will not be happy.
The rear propellers will suffer in icing conditions, especially in Chicago, even though they remain fixed in the vertical position.
"This is WZAZ in Chicago where Hip-Hop Lives Forever!"
I think the reasons for not wanting them may become apparent after putting them in regular service. The airports will need the special charging facilities for them & maybe some special facilities for normal takeoffs & landings as well. They will also need specialized service personnel for them & maybe even different emergency equipment. Beyond that...I may even be overlooking something else.
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