Arthur_Foyt
Paul, the Segway is the best analogy I’ve heard regarding flying electric urban mobility vehicles.
Paul, the Segway is the best analogy I’ve heard regarding flying electric urban mobility vehicles.
Elmo Maurer, the iconic 60’s and 70’s era director of Spartan School of Aeronautics flight school at RVS used to pontificate in his strong Scandinavian brogue, “If it don’t look like an airplane it won’t fly!” Being a devotee of Elmo’s, I’ve always believed that. So though I’m clean cut, clean shaven with no frayed pearls to twist, I’m given to declaring that Opener BlackFly flying is not real flying. However I’ve also undergone the transformation of flight decks from steam to magenta, so I’ve come to realize that anything is possible, not the least of which is electrically powered levitation. But I’ll age out before I become involved, much less interested in trying it. Go for it, those of you who don’t care for rudders anyway!
As for the Chinese Money paragraphs; Paul, I love you but I just couldn’t watch yet another video report on Icon. I just can’t. Sorry.
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Ditto
Given the scant payload and range of these vehicles, the weight penalty of a human pilot seems unjustifiable.
I’ve been flying R/C models for 49 years (airplanes, helis, and multicopters with a Part 107 certificate) and GA for 36. As long as I can remember the electronics in my models were more advanced than those in the GA planes I’ve flown.
Paul B - I also get nauseous when using VR. I have discovered that my nausea is motion-cue related. I have the same issue on a boat on the water. If I am in a cabin without windows, I get nausea instantly. I handle it by stepping outside - if I can see the horizon, I’m fine, presumably because the visual motion cues match the vestibular ones. It is the opposite problem with VR - I can see the horizon move with my eyes but absent of vestibular input. I built an $8k helicopter simulator which I am only able to use by taking motion-sickness pills. Bob
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I’ve long felt that the lack of growth of GA was related to the difficulty of learning to fly and the huge primary-interest and energy required to remain a skilled and safe pilot as much as the high cost. Automated flight (full or with some input from the “pilot”) would solve that difficulty-part, making flying as easy as (or easier than) driving. I probably won’t be around for it, but it will and should come.
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Segway analogy only works for electric planes because people don’t know the history. Kamen did not set out to revolutionize pedestrian travel for the masses. He set out to make a wheelchair that could climb stairs and bring more freedom to those in chairs. The Segway was a derivative of that successful project using tech they had already developed.
Walking is good for you, so there wasn’t quite the market they hoped, but they delivered as promised. It didn’t sell, and the Chinese bought Segway. There’s likely a good analogy in that part of the story if you want one.
I think the challenge is a feature rather than a bug, at least until you get into some of the silly test questions and minutiae that have less to do with flying than they ought.
I’ve been saying forever the reasons beyond cost are a combination of flight schools being terrible businesses which practically require talents in contradiction to marketing, and aircraft that simply do not appeal. You take the risks and make little money while waiting for fate or the FAA to come for your money while your soul disintegrates. You gotta really love to teach flying and deal with bureaucratic nonsense. Your potential customers will call asking how much it costs to rent a Cessna, and I’d suggest telling them you wouldn’t let your kid learn to fly in a Cessna or just take your money to Vegas where you will get better odds of a return.
We need a 21st century experience designed to get people in the door and make money doing it. The easiest path to get moving in the right direction is for the schools to make more money by selling the planes. Until the manufacturers get this right, we are likely stuck.
We are now in a tough catch-22. You cannot land near your destination. Without VTOL or at least STOL, how do you grow?
I recently started looking at electric self launch motor gliders. They may be one solution.
All the major advances in flying have been driven by propulsion technology advances. The Wright brothers succeeded where others failed because they were the first to build a practical engine. GA for everyone started when the 4 cylinder horizontally opposed air cooled engine was developed starting with the Continental A40. Reliable airline travel was made possible by the development of the 9 cylinder radial engine by Wright and P&W. Jet engine technology allowed for speeds and altitudes that was impossible before.
I would suggest that electric power is the next propulsion disrupter. Not the fact that the aircraft is electric but the fact that that electric power allows the types of distributed power that were impossible before. There is a reason why almost all drones are electric. The 2 button one joy stick control system that Paul describes is perfect for electric power. This is why electric propulsion is the future.
While we wring our hands about whether controls systems should make it easier for a human “pilot” or simply replace him/her, the technology is advancing in other areas anyway. A modern automobile has all sorts of electronic helpers to keep the average driver safer. Stability control, antilock brakes, automatic braking, speed adjustable cruise control, lane-keeping assistance and others have become pretty well standard on new cars and SUVs. Yet, no one seems to scream and protest over those advancements. Besides, there are currently several commercial and military aircraft that have required some sort of black box stability control in order for human pilots to safely fly them. Now Garmin is introducing auto land and auto glide features to get pilots and passengers safely back on the ground in case of emergency. Modern autopilots that are affordable down to the 172 crowd have capabilities far beyond what was possible even a few years ago. This stuff is coming, whether we realize it or not. Any multiple rotor electric aircraft will need some stability control system to manage things faster and better than a human is capable of doing. If that is what it takes to keep young people interested in flying, so be it. To paraphrase the old Buick car commercial, “This isn’t your grandfather’s airplane”.
I too experience some nausea when playing certain video games and VR devices. Your description is one of the factors, but also it seems to depend on the computing power and screen refresh rate of the equipment. The human eye is accustomed to seeing as an analog (non-digital) organ that senses motion in a smooth sequence. VR and computer games present the video as a digital sequence of discrete pictures that change rapidly enough to fool the eye into thinking it is one continuous motion. But, if the computer processor or the display screen refresh rate cannot change fast enough, you get a strobe effect that can be quite disorienting. I noticed that things got a lot better with a new, more powerful computer and a good non-interlaced monitor. Or, just take a break every 5-10 minutes to let you eyes and brain rest.
I recall the commercial being Oldsmobile, not Buick. “Not your father’s Oldsmobile”
Still, he was saying that about a product that performed as advertised. So far, the electric urban aircraft have many more challenges to overcome before you can schedule one with your uber app and have it take you downtown. That’s why I don’t like the analogy.
It will fit much better when someone makes a product that you can buy and legally fly around urban areas which are commonly under Class B umbrellas.
Wouldn’t it be prudent to work the bugs out of the “Drone Delivery” industry first before carrying passengers?
By-The-Way, where’s my Drone delivered pizza? This video was made in 2013, I’m getting hungry… Maybe one of those people riding everywhere on their Segway will bring it?
https://youtu.be/on4DRTUvst0
Do a ‘drone delivery’ search on youtube, I think the first video ever posted on the internet was a “drone delivery coming soon to you” video.
The success or not of these machines in the short term depends on whether Velocopter can deliver its promise of an “air taxi” from Paris’s airports to the city in time for the Paris Olympics.
In typical French planning policy (dating from the 16th century) once the state decides on something, little things like air-space restrictions, bans on overflying built up areas, and noise limits can be simply changed, and the company is betting on having the French decision makers on side.
So, you might have a two-seater electric flyer, where passengers arriving at Roissy, (CDG) airport will wheel their suitcases to the funny looking taxi, heave them in and sit down to arrive in Paris 10 minutes later.
All for around €100 a head.
Train takes 40 mins to an hour and, from memory about €15, and taxis/ubers/illegal drivers slightly shorter time, or longer depending on traffic for €45.
If you listen to the company the test pilot just sits there most of the time, and the problems with range and recharging are all solvable with tweaks to software.
Of course they will have fleets of these things so there are no gaps while batteries charge – and why is this such a problem, people charge their phones every day…
And from commercial use, there will be a trickle down effect so that everyone living a bit far out of town, can commute in their own or a shared air vehicle in just a few years. Pay by subscription so you do not carry the capital risk…
Could happen.
The micro light toys will probably be like 50cc motorbikes, bought by dads, a source of worry for Mums, and fun for the kids who survive until they get a car…