Military, Aviation, Spacecraft Technology that won't necessarily replace us

[Vertigo]

34 minutes ago, BFM this said:

So is “Don’t Panic” the canned message displayed in a Tesla in the event of a collision, or just what they chose to put on the screen?

They chose that. They're also blasting David Bowie through the speakers and have "Made on Earth by humans" imprinted on the circuit boards.

I think the coolest thing was watching those twin side boosters come in for a simultaneous landing autonomously. Too bad the main booster was lost.  

[Clark Griswold]

It was insanely cool.

SLS / Orion is gonna be impressive when it comes to be (fingers crossed) in Dec 2019.

https://spacenews.com/nasa-sets-december-2019-date-for-first-sls-launch/

I'm hoping this interest and optimism given the successful launch can be sustained.  We can get to Mars orbit sooner rather than later (maybe 6 years from now) get a solid win and ask the for the big, big mission(s) - Mars landings with a permanent outpost.

https://hom.planetary.org

Also, give NASA one penny at least...

https://www.penny4nasa.org/mission/

Edited February 8, 2018 by Clark Griswold

[Tonka]

"The Sun Flyer 2's three dollar hourly operating costs are 10 times lower than traditional piston-engine flight trainers, with no carbon emissions and significantly reduced noise."

https://sunflyer.com/2018/04/11/bye-aerospace-announces-first-flight-of-sun-flyer-2/

 

$3!!

[Tonka]

pretty freaking cool

[jice]

https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2019/08/08/cape-air-eviation-alice-electric-plane

Cape Air Seems like a cool little airline, but I hope they’re making the right bets on their new Tecnam and this thing with props on the wingtips. How do you think it will handle the island winds?

[Tonka]

On 9/8/2019 at 10:10 PM, jice said:

https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2019/08/08/cape-air-eviation-alice-electric-plane

Cape Air Seems like a cool little airline, but I hope they’re making the right bets on their new Tecnam and this thing with props on the wingtips. How do you think it will handle the island winds?

I wonder if the wingtiprops are tied into the flight controls somehow, or at least utilizing an FADEC/FCC to minimize Beta.  Probably will work fine, until it doesn't.

[Blue]

On 9/8/2019 at 9:10 PM, jice said:

https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2019/08/08/cape-air-eviation-alice-electric-plane

Cape Air Seems like a cool little airline, but I hope they’re making the right bets on their new Tecnam and this thing with props on the wingtips. How do you think it will handle the island winds?

When Cape Air announced their "orders" for Eviation's electric aircraft, both companies got a ton of positive press.  I'd assume both Cape Air and Eviation were ecstatic about all the exposure.

However, I wouldn't equate Cape Air's "order" of the Alice as any kind of indication of the aircraft's feasibility.  Eviation has a "prototype" that was shown at the Paris Air Show this year, but they have yet to fly.  Poking around the net, it seems like they're projecting a first flight late 2019, and certification in 2022.  Three years from first flight to certification is attainable for a conventional aircraft, but it seems like an incredibly optimistic schedule for something with such an unconventional design and power source.

I'd bet that Cape Air's "order" has no real teeth to it, and allows either company to back out at any time, with no financial penalties at all.

The aircraft really sounds like a whole lot of vaporware.

Edited September 14, 2019 by Blue

[Tonka]

Sounds like they started putting together a production facility...
https://leehamnews.com/2021/01/18/pontifications-electric-aircraft-builder-poised-to-start-production-near-everett/

8,200 lb (3,720 kg) of lithium-ion battery!

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/eviation-alice-magnix/

first flight... "soon"

pretty: https://eviation.app.box.com/v/public-media-kit/file/796960354198

[Tonka]

at least its sister company flew a caravan electric only:

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/electric-aviation-startup-magnix-opens-new-headquarters-and-production-facility-in-everett/