Silent As A Whisper, The Future (?) Of Flight Just Touched Down at Duke Field. Meet Alia, The All-Electric Aircraft Promising To Change The Skies.


https://midbaynews.com/post/beta-alia-arrives-at-duke-field

Wonder how they charge it? Must have a team carrying their charging equipment following along on the ground or a support plane flying along with a charging system.

I was wondering about the charging process too. It may work as a steady commuter plane between two dedicated regional airports. ATL to MGM or something like that.

I could also see some covert military applications making a lot of sense.

Even with jet fuel powered planes, weight is the biggest issue! Not sure that type plane will be able to haul much cargo or passengers with luggage! Maybe a disposable covert option would work for a one-way in flight at low level to minimize detection but probably would need several to transport in a team of operators and their equipment.

Solar power?

They had to make 20 stops on a 2000 mile trip so guessing they weren't using solar.

Apparently they installed this charger at Duke Field for the planes arrival. Wonder if they did this at all 20 stops??

You are not getting much capacity in this plane.




God Bless,
David B.

aww hell no......when the batteries catch fire in the air it will look like a mini Hindenberg.

That's a big NO for me. I don't like to ride in the ones we have now.

I am building several avionics electronics/cards/boxes for 100% electrical planes. All in the personal/private jet market space. Last couple years was the space race this year is electrical planes. As Andalusia states weight is the killer. The lead engineer for one of my customers told me it is a 1/6 ratio. Every pound saved is 6 in lift.

Oh, heck no! I have enough anxiety when I fly on a normal plane.

And it appears a diesel generator is probably in or behind the charging station/container.

Bout time for them advanced gravitics..this is gitn silly

its pretty interesting. If you think back to the first computer or battery. It was pretty impractical. Now a days we have more capability in our pocket than what they could fit in a large room. (cell phone}

chemical electricity (batteries) have made drastic improvements in the last 10 years. I imagine it will only improve. At some point electrical mechanical generation(generator) will outpace chemical electrical output. In other words, the power required to turn props will be less than the power the props can generate. A motor and generator are very close in comparison. Essentially made of the same parts, just reversing the rotor and stator.

I don't like flying now. So, I doubt I'll be flying in an electric plane.

One thought I had...electric vehicles are very heavy due to the batteries needed to run the vehicle. I am guessing the battery weight limits how many batteries they can fly with and thus the distance of travel. To travel further or carry more weight the number of batteries and their weight would negate the benefit.

essentially there a 4 forces to flying
<drag
>thrust
^lift
weight

Yes, my fighter pilot buddies always tell me you don't need lift if you have plenty of thrust!

Lol.

One of the funniest movies ever.