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    HammerheadFistpunchCollin Krum
    6/12/15 4:29pm

    “The E-Fan dramatically improves safety by totally eliminating flammable aviation fuel from the equation. Fewer combustibles onboard an E-Fan significantly reduces the risk of injury or death for pilots, passengers, first responders and others.”

    Yup, nothing is safer than a LiPo battery.

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      SullyHammerheadFistpunch
      6/12/15 4:31pm

      came here to say this.

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      Urambo TauroHammerheadFistpunch
      6/12/15 5:16pm

      Not that it will matter at X-thousand feet...

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    Brian, The Life ofCollin Krum
    6/12/15 4:38pm

    Welp, if an electric car doesn’t give you range anxiety, I imagine an electric airplane will.

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      nermalBrian, The Life of
      6/12/15 5:07pm

      Nah, I’m sure there will be an altimiter. That will at least tell you how far away from plummeting to death you are when the batteries run out.

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      BuckusBrian, The Life of
      6/12/15 5:54pm

      If you’ve got enough altitude and favorable winds, it could probably glide another 5-10 miles.

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    No, I don't thank you for the fish at allCollin Krum
    6/12/15 4:39pm

    Electric Airbus Kills Your Excuses For Not Having A Pilot’s License

    Oh I have a number of excuses that my pilot instructor gave me.

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      The TransporterNo, I don't thank you for the fish at all
      6/12/15 5:11pm

      Left rudder. Left rudder

      YOUR OTHER LEFT! YOUR OTHER LEFT!!!!

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      No, I don't thank you for the fish at allThe Transporter
      6/12/15 5:28pm

      Yup, that’s what ended my pilot career. Not even kidding.

      Also when I signed up to be an air traffic controller and I killed over 600 virtual people on my final exam.

      And I still scored over 90% in that class.

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    CalzoneGolemCollin Krum
    6/12/15 4:25pm

    What if my excuse is that I am blind, terrified of heights or a clumsy and dangerous driver of a car?

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      Jeff-God-of-BiscuitsCalzoneGolem
      6/12/15 10:14pm

      Mr Darwin says your ready for your solo

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      StarlionblueCalzoneGolem
      6/15/15 6:12am

      Somewhat surprisingly, quite a few pilots are scared of heights, including myself. Flying doesn’t seem to trigger it at all.

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    HammerheadFistpunchCollin Krum
    6/12/15 4:25pm

    Waiting for puns on the “kills you” headline.

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    PrismatistCollin Krum
    6/12/15 5:08pm

    This tech eliminates neither fuel costs, emissions, or flammability risk. LIon batteries are quite dangerous when damaged. Electricity isn’t free, and generating electricity carries an environmental cost.

    With these three glaring omissions, it makes the rest of the kitten-smiles and unicorn-farts in the article somewhat suspect. What other negatives were left out?

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      BuckusPrismatist
      6/12/15 5:49pm

      You probably hate electric cars, too, don’t you?

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      BlueVillainPrismatist
      6/12/15 6:32pm

      I’d imagine they’re only dangerous when at extreme temps and/or impact. I’ve never been outdoors at 30,000 feet, but I’d imagine it’s pretty chilly. Also, if you’re in a plane and you hit something hard enough to damage the battery then... really... were you walking away from that anyway?

      Also: Black Boxes. If they can make them survive a multi-ton crash, then I’m sure they can make another box strong enough to keep the magic battery goo on the inside.

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    rayJoyalCollin Krum
    6/12/15 6:31pm

    1 hour of flight time? That’s going to pretty useless if it doesn’t include the reserve time.

    In Canada, for flying a prop plane using visual flight rules during the day, I need enough fuel to fly to my destination and 30 minutes of extra flight time.

    With this plane that means I can only go 50 miles between takeoff and landing.

    Why the extra 30 min? Because airports get busy sometimes and you might have to literally fly in circles waiting for your turn to land. Weather happens. Tthe idea is that the FAA or Transport Canada don’t want to see you hypermiling your plane down to the last 1/2 gallon in the tank only to reach your destination and be 8th in line for landing at a small airport where it takes two minutes per plane to clear the runway. Running out of fuel in a car is a pain in the ass. Running out of fuel in a plane ...

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      Ken MoromisatorayJoyal
      6/12/15 6:46pm

      Just like the Wright brothers did a world tour in their first airplane...

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      olprayJoyal
      6/12/15 11:23pm

      Um.....you realize it’s just a prototype, right?

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    JcarrCollin Krum
    6/12/15 4:40pm

    Any idea how the weight of the batteries stacks up against an equivalent flight times’s worth of jet fuel?

    If we’re ever able to make completely electric large-scale flight viable it will be interesting to see how this issue is addressed since, typically, a plane will take off heavier than it can land, but will eventually end up within an allowable touch-down weight due to fuel burn or jettison.

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      BOB JACOBSONJcarr
      6/12/15 5:03pm

      An hours flight time would be about 15 gallons in a light single with take off and a short cruise. That equates to approx 110lbs.

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      Bunkie21Jcarr
      6/12/15 5:07pm

      Similar size and weight gas-powered aircraft burn about 4-5 gallons of avgas per hour in level flight. Avgas weighs about 6 pounds per gallon. So the fuel for one hour’s level flight weighs between 24 and 30 pounds. I would expect that the batteries weigh somewhere between 250-450 pounds given the stated weight of the airplane and its construction (carbon fiber). In this class of gas aircraft, the engine weighs about 175-185 pounds, an electric motor is much lighter, which makes it possible to carry more battery. If you look at the pictured of the ducted fans, it’s clear that the electric motors are very small and, therefore, very light.

      Your point about landing weights is well-taken. A related consideration is that one advantage of liquid-fuel aircraft is the ability to trade payload for fuel to increase range.

      I’m very excited about electric trainers. Lowering the cost of ab initio training would be a major boon to both commercial and general aviation. I got lucky and ended up in a flying club where our C150 rents for $50/hour wet and the instructors (who do it for the love of it) charge only $30/hr. That’s less than half what I was paying at a local flight school.

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    toneredCollin Krum
    6/12/15 4:30pm

    A-10 Warthogs for the homeboys.

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      JasonHtonered
      6/12/15 4:46pm

      I was thinking this would look sweet painted like an A10

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      toneredJasonH
      6/12/15 5:18pm

      I’m wondering if a fake gatling gun would screw up the aerodynamics really badly?

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    chartguyCollin Krum
    6/12/15 11:34pm

    A whole hour of flight time with a max speed of 136 mph and cruising speed of 99 mph. What a joke. A good glider could probably get further in one flight, albeit with a tow.

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