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Post by PB on Feb 12, 2021 22:42:55 GMT
United Airlines plan to buy up to 200 electric air taxis. The new era maybe takes a step nearer? US airline United is partnering with startup Archer Aviation on the development and roll-out of a fleet of up to 200 electric air taxis. Archer is one of several players in the emerging ‘urban air mobility’ segment, looking to shake up short-hop city transport using eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft. Its four-passenger vehicle ‘Maker’ has a range of around 100km and can fly at speeds up to 240km/h using six five-blade tilt rotors and six two-blade VTOL-only rotors. Archer claims Maker will be able to fly from Manhattan to JFK Airport in seven minutes at a cost of just $50 per passenger. The concept of fast quiet green shuttles linking to major airports and city centres from strategic points of origin continues to roll toward reality with United Airline's major investment in Archer. Chicago based United Airlines have stated regarding the Archer's design and prospects, "has the clear potential to change how people commute within metropolitan cities all over the world" With the ever growing interest and investment in e-power aircraft and their benefits it does perhaps not require too great a stretch of the imagination to see such craft providing fast, quiet transits from strategic locations within perhaps 20 minutes flying time of city centre ports to downtown drop offs or to major airport drop offs avoiding the cost and congestion of airport parking. In the UK it should be noted that Coventry is to host world’s first airport for electric aircraft! Regarding the Coventry project "The Engineer" states, "The project has been launched by Urban Air Port, a subsidiary of sustainable tech company small (Six Miles Across London Limited) in partnership with Hyundai Motor Company, Coventry City Council and the UK government.
Announced today as the winner of the government’s Future Flight Challenge, Air One is described as a fully operational hub for future electric vehicle take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with the potential to ‘holistically decarbonise transport’, reducing congestion and air pollution. The site is planned to launch later this year, with an ambition of developing more than 200 sites in the next five years to meet global demand.
Ricky Sandhu, founder and executive chairman of Urban Air Port said: “Cars need roads. Trains need rails. Planes need airports. eVTOLs will need Urban Air Ports. Over a hundred years ago, the world’s first commercial flight took off, creating the modern connected world. Urban Air Port will improve connectivity across our cities, boost productivity and help the UK to take the lead in a whole new clean global economy.”Without wishing to get too far ahead, it is tempting to see a future where an airport such as Blackbushe might be an excellent base for e-flights connecting to city locations be they London or elsewhere? Military drone operations have rapidly advanced the technology incorporated in many drones, precision flight and simple to operate, very high quality photographic capability, and now able to deliver peaceful payloads as already demonstrated on the Isle of Wight and the Scottish Isles. Maybe one day passengers will board their pilotless 'commuter' at Blackbushe ready for their fifteen minute flight to a VTOL port in the City? Far fetched? Maybe, but the future will continue to see the exponential development of autonomous flight.  Archer project destined to join United Airlines... |
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Post by davidallum on Feb 13, 2021 8:53:56 GMT
It would be very interesting to see some of these parked alongside B777's & B787's @ Chicago-O'Hare.
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Airnautic
Cadet
Former apprentice 1959 at Eagle Airways on South side of A30 the moved to Heathrow till 1968
Posts: 5 
Date of Birth: 6/4/1944
Location: Cheltenham
email address: airnautic@mail.com
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Post by Airnautic on Feb 19, 2021 10:11:09 GMT
My own view of battery power and I speak as a licenced avionics engineer that its a non starter in the large passenger aircraft with a 14 hour flight and a 90 minute stopover. We should support hydrogen power. Last year a six-seater Piper Malibu plane completed the 20-minute flight using zero-emission hydrogen as part of the HyFlyer project supported by a Government grant. Developer ZeroAvia operated the flight from its research and development facility at Cranfield Airport in Bedfordshire.
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Post by rocky14 on Feb 19, 2021 11:09:03 GMT
My own view of battery power and I speak as a licenced avionics engineer that its a non starter in the large passenger aircraft with a 14 hour flight and a 90 minute stopover. We should support hydrogen power. Last year a six-seater Piper Malibu plane completed the 20-minute flight using zero-emission hydrogen as part of the HyFlyer project supported by a Government grant. Developer ZeroAvia operated the flight from its research and development facility at Cranfield Airport in Bedfordshire. Great to hear some opinions from others on the Forum. It is very refreshing to see that we 'seniors' are right up to date with what may be happening in the, not too distant, future. In a few years people may be asking for refunds for cancelled 'beam-me-ups' to Mars. Progress is unstoppable, what is known won't be forgotten - hopefully for the better of mankind. Worth a ponder! “I’ve become death, the destroyer of worlds.” – Julius Robert Oppenheimer |
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Post by PB on Feb 19, 2021 12:19:48 GMT
My own view of battery power and I speak as a licenced avionics engineer that its a non starter in the large passenger aircraft with a 14 hour flight and a 90 minute stopover. We should support hydrogen power. Last year a six-seater Piper Malibu plane completed the 20-minute flight using zero-emission hydrogen as part of the HyFlyer project supported by a Government grant. Developer ZeroAvia operated the flight from its research and development facility at Cranfield Airport in Bedfordshire. No argument at all, all electric big 'jets' if that's what they'd be called are filed under "Unlikely"... Followers of the Forum's contribution to 'tomorrow' and our keeping an eye on its unfolding technology will recall a detailed account of events at Cranfield and the hydrogen powered Piper under the "Non Blackbushe News" department.. To refresh the memory it read like this.... 28/09/20
The wheels, or wings, of progress continue to move toward the 'greener' sustainable future so talked about nowadays.. An American company now in the UK and backed by British Government support has flown their Piper airframe powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology..
As reported in today's AvWeb....
"With pure battery powered aircraft still short on endurance, hydrogen fuel cell technology is gaining traction. And in the U.K. this week, ZeroAvia flew the first commercially viable aircraft—a Piper M-class airframe—on a combination of batteries and fuel cells. The flight took place at the company’s R&D headquarters at Cranfield, northwest of London.
The flight was part of the U.K.’s HyFlyer R&D project that’s aimed at creating reduced-carbon aviation powerplants. ZeroAvia has previously flown the same M-class on pure battery power, but this week’s demonstration marked the first time hydrogen fuel cells have been added to the power mix. The flight was a short one, but ZeroAvia CEO Val Miftakhov said that by the end of the year, the company will demonstrate a 300-mile flight at about 200 knots.
With support from the U.K. government—about $3.5 million (£2.75 million)—ZeroAvia’s short-term goal is to prove the technology is suitable for short revenue flights in aircraft like the M-class, but it will eventually be suitable for a 20-seat regional airliner such as the Twin Otter, Dornier 228 or the Cessna Sky Courier, now undergoing certification in Wichita. Such fuel cell powerplants would be in the range of 800 horsepower and would be comparable to Pratt & Whitney’s ubiquitous PT6 turbine.
Aware that the hydrogen infrastructure is critical to the concept, ZeroAvia is addressing that at Cranfield with its own hydrogen production station. It uses solar energy to drive electrolytic converters to produce gaseous hydrogen for use in the cold fuel cells ZeroAvia is using. This week’s demonstration flight used some battery power, but not as a power buffer. Miftakhov said at a press conference on Friday that it is possible to fly solely on hydrogen.
Zero Avia’s goal is develop reliable and scalable hydrogen powerplants that airframers can use in place of fossil fuel engines. “We believe that there are a lot of aircraft manufacturers that know what they’re doing. What’s needed in the industry is to build powerplants that can use clean fuel. And that’s what we’re focusing on,” he said.
ZeroAvia started as a U.S. company but moved to the U.K. this year because of a more favorable investment climate and serious government interest in low-carbon energy sources".Developing battery technology and autonomous flight techniques seem certain to have a future alongside hydrogen power. If we can land with precision on Mars and then fly drones up there there can be little doubt that private, club, and short haul commuter flying, electric or hydrogen, will offer rapid green alternatives to slower land locked methods of getting to work or simply remaining able to enjoy the glory of flight..Perhaps the images of small vertical take-off craft in Dan Dare comics focused on the brave new world of tomorrow are marching closer to reality? Time will tell. PB |
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