eHang, Volocopter and Archer Aviation are each billion-dollar or multi-billion valuation companies that are racing to establish the commercial VTOL air taxi industry in the 2021-2024 timeframes. Flying super-sized drone taxis are using electric engines and should become lower cost than helicopters. Multiple engines should be safer as one or two engines could fail and …
Aviation demand is driven by economic activity, and a growing U.S. and world economy is the basis for aviation to grow over the long run. The 2020 FAA forecast calls for U.S. carrier domestic passenger growth over the next 20 years to average 2.0 percent per year. System traffic in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) is …
Airbus will have fuel-saving v-formation flight tests of two Airbus A350 aircraft with airline tests as early as 2021 with flights over oceans. Flying in v-formation could reduce fuel usage by 5-10%. Airbus is targeting a controlled Entry-Into-Service (EIS) by around 2025. Fello’fly is part of Airbus UpNext, an Airbus subsidiary created to give future …
Researchers have architecturally designed plate-nanolattices – nanometer-sized carbon structures – that are stronger than diamonds as a ratio of strength to density. The team’s design has been shown to improve on the average performance of cylindrical beam-based architectures by up to 639 percent in strength and 522 percent in rigidity. They designed and fabricating the …
The Carnival of Space 633 is up at Cosmoquest. Universe Today – NASA is Working on Electric Airplanes NASA, GE and other companies are developing electric aircraft, which could start replacing commercial jets by 2035. NASA is investigating cutting-edge material science to create lighter and smaller electronics. To this end, they recently signed a $12 …
French inventor Franky Zapata successfully flew across the English Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard. Zapata develops hydroelectric jet technologies and products. This version used five small jet engines and Zapata carried kerosene in a backpack. It has 1500 horsepower. The 22-mile crossing took 20 minutes and reached speeds of over 100 mph. The flyboard costs …
Molon Labe and manufacturing partner Primus Aerospace have FAA approval and will debut with a low-cost carrier in Q1 2020. This new offset middle seat will improve air travel. The seat is two inches behind and two inches below the window and aisle seat. This gives the middle seat 21 inches of width instead of …
Elon Musk tweeted that he is looking at 1000 passengers for point to point travel. Because it will be a 20-minute flight on a fully reusable then the ticket cost could be $500-1000 per person. It will feel like a roller coaster but you will exit on another continent. Ticket prices in the $500 to …
Los Angeles-based Ampaire unveiled its prototype electric-powered plane, the Ampaire 337, in a test flight above Camarillo Airport in California on June 6. This is the largest a hybrid-electric aircraft that has flown. The twin-engine plane will be able to carry seven to nine passengers and boasts a range of up to 100 miles (160 …
Elon Musk indicates that electric motors and batteries with over 400 Wh/kg will be able be a cross over point for electric planes against jet fuel planes. Israeli startup Eviation is making a nine-passenger all-electric regional passenger aircraft by 2021. It will take 9 passengers up to 650 miles at a cruise speed of 240 …
China’s Meter Wave Radar Can Guide Missiles to Destroy F-35 and F-22 Stealth Fighters