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Plans For London-Paris Electric Flight in 'Next Decade' Unveiled (telegraph.co.uk)
A start-up has unveiled ambitious plans to offer an electric-powered commercial flight between London and Paris in the next ten years. From a report: Wright Electric believes the proposed low-emission electric plane would offer a cheaper alternative to jet fuel for airlines and consumers. However, the start-up's bid to revolutionize short-haul flights relies on the continued advancement of battery technology. The company, who pitched to investors this week, would be forced to switch to a hybrid of aviation fuel and electricity if the advances in battery technology fail to materialise.
You know what will happen... I'd rather fly Apple airlines, only 1 type of drink is offered (Apple juice), 1 movie to watch (Pirates of Silicon Valley) & only 1 phone allowed onbaord (iPhone gold members club)
They would have to have the airplane largely designed and in early initial prototype to have it certified for commercial service in 10 years. This is pure bullshit seeking dumb investor money.
I approve: 'A fool and their money were lucky to get together in the first place.'
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
In my experience, planes fly better than plans, so when they turn their plain plan into a plane, then I'll be pleased, but until then, I'll.... plass.
10 years you say?
Let me consult the chart.
I think for what they'll need the batteries will come out a a really huge factory. A Megafactory if you will.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
May make the sanctimonious eco-liberals happy though.
We'll just 3D print an EM drive in it the plane, right?
Base it out of Reno. On outwards legs it will carry Tesla Battery packs from the Tesla Reno Battery factory. On inwards legs it will use Jet Fuel. So Battery Packs get delivered to where they are needed while doing something usefull
**Life is too short to be serious**
aviation fuel and electricity as the advances in battery technology fail to materialise for 50, Alex.
Bullshit.
They also have plans for antigravity-powered service between New York and Paris in 10 years. If antigravity fails to materialize, they'll use jet fuel.
Short hops on passenger planes might be perfect for batteries now in development. Less noise and less pollution and maybe quite a weight reduction due to not carrying fuel and engines might make quite a difference. I do wonder if a bad landing would be more lethal than in a liquid fueled craft.
The problem with all battery operated vehicles is that as the batteries get depleted, their mass never changes. With Jet fuel, gasoline, etc, as the fuel gets depleted, the mass is reduced, and thus the energy required to move the vehicle is reduced.
I hope you filed a patent on this so you can have a Startup too!
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Just launch the aircraft into the upper atmosphere from a railgun catapult built up the side of a mountain. Then it could use electricity generated by the propellers during descent to move the control surfaces.
Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
Didn't they build the chunnel so electric trains could make that run? Seems silly to try and compete on that particular route.
The whistle blower produced hard evidence that shows Comey or Mike Rogers was lying or completely incompetent in sworn testimony to congress.
Oh don't give flying fuck if it is off topic, Slashdot editors are blocking the story.
I don't know the answer to this, so please be gentle. What about using hydrogen fuel cells for airplanes? The big problem with hydrogen fuel cells is that they require energy to breakdown water and different tubes for refueling. On the upside, it's high density chemical energy and you could safely jettison all of it before a crash which would save lives since (to my knowledge) the majority of fatalities in (survivable) plane crashes are from smoke inhalation from burning jet fuel.
Since power can be derived from Sol and they would be changing equipment anyway, why not use hydrogen fuel cells?
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
If this thing ever comes to pass. I hope they break up the battery in smaller sizes and distribute them throughout the plane. I can't imagine the horror of a single huge battery hitting something on a crash landing.
This sounds great although I'm pretty sure my teleport startup will cut into their margins significantly. We will be offering London to Paris trips that are instant and cost only a few dollars.
We're just waiting for the technology to get us across the line but we've done a lot of thinking about the business model and we're pretty confident!
(BBC journalists feel free to call)
Maybe the plane could be powered by distributed AA-size batteries?
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-ni...
There is already an electric train between Paris and London that takes between 2:16 and 3 hours + 30 min checkin time: The Eurostar through the channel tunnel.
As a rule of thumb, any train journey faster than five hours is faster from city-centre to city-centre than getting on a plane.
That is because there is so much time overhead before and after the actual plane ride - most of all, the journey to and from the airports.
The only benefit for taking this plane would be if you would change to another plane at the airport or if your actual destination is not in the city proper but closer to the airport.
"We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley