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Greetings from Paris!
Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) is definitely on the descendant now. Lillium and Volocopter are gone. China displayed the kneecapper eHang.
Archer's Midnight was very pretty.
But not the real article - which has just been redesigned again. Which is why what they displayed is not their certification version.
Boeing's Wisk was there. So was Embraer's Eve. And Beta flew their Alia aircraft with conventional power and conventional (runway) takeoff. This airplane has the peculiar distinction of looking far uglier and more ungainly in person than in photographs. And it is no beauty queen even in photos.
More here.
I am on record saying (many times over) that eVTOL will fail colossally. All of them. Without exception. Wisk. Eve. Joby. Archer. Supernal. And countless others.
Why? For a host of reasons - but here's the nub: helicopters are better in every respect. And the eVTOL technical hurdles are insurmountable. Which is why not a single eVTOL has flown a single mission with the advertised payload and range - let alone repeatedly (which will be crucial - and much harder on batteries).
Discussion (29)
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Rather like a concrete canoe competition-possible, but not really practical other than for educational purposes.
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Yet another application for very high energy density batteries. But instead of spontaneously combusting your $60,000+ runabout recharging in your garage, it will be in a pilotless vehicle flying over your neighborhood.
That'll be ... entertaining.
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That first one looks like it is modeled after a food processor for humans.
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Oh the unyielding B***h that is the periodic table and the unnegotiable physics that the available elements in this universe cannot get us to the energy density of the simple hydrocarbon.
The breaking the bonds between the parts of the elements is the density leap we should focus on. We need to reduce the current infrastructure overhead to get at that energy.
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I have packed my bags for the plane flight and have removed the dreaded lithium batteries banned from carryon suitcases even though they are merely contained there and not electronically connected to the suitcases. Oh, I can still carry them in my backpack. The logic seems to be I would notice a fire quicker in my bag stored under my seat than in the overhead. Explain to me how these flying machines with batteries are safe.
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