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SkyLifter is an eVTOL air crane

skylifter.eu

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Re: SkyLifter is an eVTOL air crane

#2

Post by H8crilA »

This will be a pain in the ass to manage in controlled airspace because it's so much slower than anything else. But I guess it would also use different flight levels, so maybe not a problem at all.

I wonder how does the fuel usage compare to a plane, that's the real measure of green-ness.

Re: SkyLifter is an eVTOL air crane

#3

Post by doikor »

H8crilA wrote: post #2

This will be a pain in the ass to manage in controlled airspace because it's so much slower than anything else. But I guess it would also use different flight levels, so maybe not a problem at all. I wonder how does the fuel usage compare to a plane, that's the real measure of green-ness.

Just fly it close to the ground and the only controlled airspace is near airports (and some big cities, military stuff, etc). Should not be that hard to stay out of those for the most part if you are transporting stuff like windmill parts to the middle of nowhere.

Re: SkyLifter is an eVTOL air crane

#5

Post by krisoft »

H8crilA wrote: post #2

This will be a pain in the ass to manage in controlled airspace because it's so much slower than anything else. But I guess it would also use different flight levels, so maybe not a problem at all. I wonder how does the fuel usage compare to a plane, that's the real measure of green-ness.

I think comparing it to a plane is misplaced. They call it a crane. Presumably the load and the craft arrives on a truck and you use it to hoist the load up the last few maybe hundreds of meter max. Do i read that wrong?

Edit: yes! I was reading that wrong. To quote the relevant part: “SkyLifters fly from job to job, so they can do work in locations that would be challenging for land cranes.”

Re: SkyLifter is an eVTOL air crane

#6

Post by 0x_rs »

Lighter-than-air is still largely untapped territory today, and it's a shame because it should scale in size very well. Without going straight away into more ambitious projects that were fantasized the past century [0], I'd love for a resurgence of it.

0. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Nine_(sphere)

Re: SkyLifter is an eVTOL air crane

#7

Post by Roritharr »

Thomaschaaf wrote: post #4

In germany there was a similar project the "CargoLifter" which sadly never succeeded: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CargoLifter

CargoLifter for me personally marks the beginning of the German Decline in Engineering. The reasons for why it failed are the same reasons why we have such large problems with infrastructure projects and are falling behind in innovative technology.

It's a very sad read.

Re: SkyLifter is an eVTOL air crane

#8

Post by Already__Taken »

krisoft wrote: post #5
H8crilA wrote: post #2

This will be a pain in the ass to manage in controlled airspace because it's so much slower than anything else. But I guess it would also use different flight levels, so maybe not a problem at all. I wonder how does the fuel usage compare to a plane, that's the real measure of green-ness.

I think comparing it to a plane is misplaced. They call it a crane. Presumably the load and the craft arrives on a truck and you use it to hoist the load up the last few maybe hundreds of meter max. Do i read that wrong? Edit: yes! I was reading that wrong. To quote the relevant part: “SkyLifters fly from job to job, so they can do work in locations that would be challenging for land cranes.”

If you rent a crane though you're also paying for the crew to drive the thing to you. This really has a chance of just auto-piloting over to the job to be then be run by an operator.

Re: SkyLifter is an eVTOL air crane

#9

Post by CoChiefResident »

Roritharr wrote: post #7
Thomaschaaf wrote: post #4

In germany there was a similar project the "CargoLifter" which sadly never succeeded: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CargoLifter

CargoLifter for me personally marks the beginning of the German Decline in Engineering. The reasons for why it failed are the same reasons why we have such large problems with infrastructure projects and are falling behind in innovative technology. It's a very sad read.

If I remember correctly, Cargolifter failed to have a straightforward loading and unloading method. The airship is designed to lift a certain amount of weight, which has to be replaced as soon as you dismount the cargo. Cargolifter used water which was transported to the destination site via trucks. I only had a quick glance at the SkyLifter website, but I did not find any solution for that problem.
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