What's up with electric aviation?
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CEO Kyle Clark of BETA Technologies walks us through the details of how to design, build, and operate electric planes — first for relatively short light-cargo flights, but eventually, he says, for all of aviation. I loved this conversation so much.

Electric vehicles that can take off and land vertically, but then fly like a plane, are already being sold and used by hospitals and shipping companies. These vehicles have 5 batteries that give it a range of over 350 miles using current battery technology, though the batteries are intended to be swapped over the life of the aircraft, much like the engine of a traditional aircraft, however, future batteries could feature improvements, meaning the vehicle gets better over time. The redundancy that Electric motors allow more easily than mechanical motors means this aircraft is far safer than anything else in the air.

    • ramble81@lemm.ee
      9·
      5 days ago

      Maximum Landing Weight and Maximum Takeoff Weight. Because of the stress put on the airframe when landing you don’t want a heavy plane. It’s easier to control when taking off because it’s smoother. So having the same weight on landing means the airframe will need to be beefed up, or you fly with less overall since more goes to the plane.