NASA Will Soon Start Testing Its First All-Electric X-Plane (engadget.com) 21
The first all electric X-plane, the X-57 Mod II, has arrived at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California and is now ready to undergo some rigorous testing. Engadget reports: X-planes are the aircraft the agency uses to test and evaluate new technologies -- NASA plans to put this plane's electric propulsion system through testing, with the intention of sharing "valuable lessons learned along the way" in order "to inform the growing electric aircraft market." NASA will begin by conducting ground tests on the Mod II to prepare for the project's next phases, which will include taxi and, eventually, flight tests. It's not entirely clear when those will take place, but the Mod III and IV configurations of the plane will have wings unlike the current iteration. When a flight test does happen, it will make history as the first crewed X-plane in two decades. X-57 Project Manager Tom Rigney said: "The X-57 Mod II aircraft delivery to NASA is a significant event, marking the beginning of a new phase in this exciting electric X-plane project. With the aircraft in our possession, the X-57 team will soon conduct extensive ground testing of the integrated electric propulsion system to ensure the aircraft is airworthy. We plan to rapidly share valuable lessons learned along the way as we progress toward flight testing, helping to inform the growing electric aircraft market."
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That's an electric glider. It uses the electric motor to launch and get you to the next thermal. The NASA aircraft is a conventional plane.
Re:Kind of behind the curve, aren't they? (Score:5, Informative)
Where did you get this idea? It's a trainer [pipistrel-aircraft.com]. It's continuously powered during flight. [youtube.com] It doesn't even look [google.is] like a glider [google.is].
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They have 2 different electric aircraft.
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Oh yeah of course they are behind the curve. Just like: Mattel has been selling electrified Barbie-cars for years why is Tesla such a big deal? The Pipstrel Alpha's range is 95 NM, its endurance is an hour.
Exactly... PLUS... a Tesla does not come in a compact and hot pink version!
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I agree that they should have been working on this long ago, but I'm not sure NASA is the right agency. They might have the smartest aeronautical engineers, so they should be involved, but this isn't really space research.
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You do know what that first A in NASA stands for, don't you?
(Aeronautics, in case you didn't.)
Pipistrel's Alpha Electro can't fly Americans. (Score:2)
Its max payload is 182 kg.
That's two athletic guys and maybe a light breakfast.
Most Americans probably couldn't even fit in the cockpit.
NASA is putting electric engines into a Tecnam P2006T. Which has 280 kg + fuel payload.
Which is defined as 3 passengers.
Plus, P2006T has a range of 1374 km and cruising speed of 250 km/h while Alpha's range is 138.9 km and its cruising speed is exactly that much - per hour.
No info on the batteries (Score:3)
Which is disappointing because they're still the main the limiting factor to electric aircraft by a big margin, whereas electric motors and their control systems are pretty much a solved problem now.
I can't help thinking that for flight fuel cells are the way forward since unless there's some MAJOR breakthrough in battery technology - ie a 10x increase in energy density (which is not going to happen with current battery tech) then electricity will never replace kerosene for large transport aircraft.
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Lithium Air [researchgate.net] batteries actually could offer that kind of increase, 1200 Wh/kg is getting up towards gasoline energy densities. But they'll have to solve the durability issues first.
Re:No info on the batteries (Score:4, Interesting)
The median US business flight is 816 miles, and the average (couldn't find median) number of passengers is about 80.
If these numbers are representative, a massive amount of current air travel could be taken over by electric aircraft with only moderate technological improvement in battery technology.
Fuel cost is 20-30% of your ticket price, and wage costs are even higher.
In conclusion: Short/medium-range autonomous electric aircraft are quite likely to be viable and could potentially massively reduce the cost of air travel.
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Props at the ends of wings seem like awful idea (Score:2)
If that things tilts, even slightly, during take off or landing, it is going to be a helluva mess.
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Those are winglets.
Engines and propellers are situated near the fuselage. It's a Tecnam 2006T [wikipedia.org] rebuilt as an electric aircraft.
Fork Lift Operator (Score:1)
Jesus, how stressed do you think that person is?!
Let me... (Score:2)
Let me X-Plane.
I'll see myself out.