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Boeing Readying Fuel-Cell Aircraft For Tests

Posted by timothy on from the whoooosh dept.

Makarand writes "An experimental one-person aircraft built by Boeing and powered by fuel cells could be ready for trials in Dec 2003. Once in the air the aircraft will be propelled by two 25-kilowatt fuel cells and will still rely on batteries to accelerate before taking off. If the propulsion system fails for any reason the aircraft will be capable of gently gliding back to earth. Boeing also has plans to replace re-chargeable batteries used on larger airplanes by fuel cells to cut down on pollution."

4 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. Gently gliding back to earth? by crstophr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Remember it's not the descent that kills you, it's the landing.

  2. Simple innovations by Rares+Marian · · Score: 4, Funny

    No it's the sudden stop.

    The safer you are the longer it takes to come down. Which means you are not really safe on the ground for a longer time.

    So I propose we install rocket boosters in parachutes that bring people down quickly to the a certain point then divert that energy to the horizontal plane reducing the vertical velocity vector to zero. At that height we let the parachute go and people can quickly get to the ground safely. Just watch out for that tree.

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    1. Re:Simple innovations by Rares+Marian · · Score: 2, Funny

      Informative !=Funny

      Wha? This is slashdot? oh...

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  3. Re:fuel cell-powered aircraft by chargen · · Score: 2, Funny

    >If I were a betting man, my money would be on wind >power [google.com] and fuel cell storage systems >[protonenergy.com].

    So we'll use wind power to power an airplane?

    Ummmmm..... ;-)

    -Pete