It’s funny they tell you the weight at takeoff. That’s uh not changing.
Presumably the generators have fuel that can be depleted
Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
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Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's regular DEN to COS flights by United, every hour on the hour. Sometimes can be faster than driving, would be a great one to replace. Also ORD to MKE. A lot of small routes that are about 100 miles that are equally inconvenient to drive.
ORD to MKE is a 60-90 minute drive depending on traffic. When you account for going through ORD security, boarding, taxiing at ORD, etc. I'm not so sure that it's a win for travel time. Depends on where you're starting from in the Chicago area, I suppose. Your DEN to COS suggestion would probably be quite popular for skiers coming in that want to avoid renting a car and would enjoy the electric hop to avoid a 2hr dri…
ORD to MKE is a (mostly) silly flight if that's your whole trip.
ORD to MKE is reasonable as part of a X -> ORD -> MKE one stop; at least when I was using MKE, I'd always need a stop (Midwest was too expensive for me) and ORD was an option, although I think I always went through DFW or PHX.
Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
#63At 120 miles of useful pure electric range, I can't imagine there are many US corridors where that pure electric range makes sense. That's still a range where the door to door time of a car can still win. I wonder why they don't push the idea of it being a hybrid more, as it seems to me a lot of useful routes are going to rely on the generators. I'd love to see something that can do around 250mi. It would be nice to…
GE along with BETA, NASA, and Boeing showcased a hybrid aircraft at the Farnborough airshow last month that's worth checking out!
https://investors.beta.team/news-events/press-releases/detai...
Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
#64could we relax the security around electric planes, because they don't carry as much highly explosive material? that could make it much more convenient and appealing as a travel method
You don't see megawatt-hours of energy in batteries as potentially dangerous?
I'd be stunned if they put a MWh of battery on a plane. This plane in particular only has a range of 120 miles electric-only, so it probably has a pack roughly similar to a modern electric pickup. 200 kWh plus or minus.
By comparison, a regular regional jet probably has around 40 MWh of energy in jet fuel.
Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
#65could we relax the security around electric planes, because they don't carry as much highly explosive material? that could make it much more convenient and appealing as a travel method
Total energy is going to be comparable for aircraft with similar ranges, I don't think a lithium fire is any less unpleasant than a Jet-A fire for for anyone nearby. Even if the batteries could be made entirely inert, the ability to deliver a plane sized slug of kinetic energy to a building of your choice retains most of the danger. Even if that could be avoided, a plane must remain operational enough throughout all…
> lithium fire
Nit: a lithium ion battery fire isn't a lithium fire, it's the electrolyte. Lithium ion batteries don't use elemental lithium. Thankfully.
Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
#66At 120 miles of useful pure electric range, I can't imagine there are many US corridors where that pure electric range makes sense. That's still a range where the door to door time of a car can still win. I wonder why they don't push the idea of it being a hybrid more, as it seems to me a lot of useful routes are going to rely on the generators. I'd love to see something that can do around 250mi. It would be nice to…
The best use case might be short flights over water or other geographic obstacles where driving routes might be much longer or impossible. Like Kahului Airport to Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport for example.
What happens when a large amount of these batteries get submerged in fresh or salt water?
Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
#67At 120 miles of useful pure electric range, I can't imagine there are many US corridors where that pure electric range makes sense. That's still a range where the door to door time of a car can still win. I wonder why they don't push the idea of it being a hybrid more, as it seems to me a lot of useful routes are going to rely on the generators. I'd love to see something that can do around 250mi. It would be nice to…
There are like 10,000 flights between Milwaukee and Chicago every year. Personally I would take the train, but a lot of people do not.
Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
#68Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Island hopping is the usual sales pitch for these planes.
Maybe from mainland to islands if there's enough range for the round-trip. Otherwise many islands are not going to have the electrical infrastructure to handle the charging demands.
I would not expect the charging demands to be that big a deal on a plane this small, at least. I would guess the battery is about the same size as a modern long range electric pickup. A garden variety 400 kW fast charger would probably be sufficient. Surely any island big enough for a proper airport could handle that.
Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft
#70Lots of places have water or mountains preventing car or train travel or making it go the long way around. Ferries are slow. Those would be natural applications for this. Tallinn-Helsinki city pair for example.
I wonder, if this can get approved or certified somehow now, if then modifications and improvements are relatively easy, as long as many aspects like the pilot interface stays the same. Battery technology improves constantly after all.
As an example, going from the current 200 km range to 400 could make it very useful in numerous regions certainly.