World’s largest all-electric aircraft set for first flight - Cessna Caravan would be the largest electric aircraft.jpg

On Wed, 27 May 2020 20:43:56 -0500, Mitchell Holman
wrote:

Miloch wrote in
:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...est-all-electr
ic-aircraft-set-for-first-flight

The world’s largest all-electric aircraft is about to take to the
skies for the first time.

The Cessna Caravan, retrofitted with an electric engine, is expected
to fly for 20-30 minutes over Washington state in the US on Thursday.

The plane can carry nine passengers but a test pilot will undertake
the inaugural flight alone, cruising at a speed of 114mph (183km/h).
The engine maker, magniX, hopes the aircraft could enter commercial
service by the end of 2021 and have a range of 100 miles.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, aviation was one of the fastest
growing sources of the carbon emissions that are driving the climate
emergency. Scores of companies are working on electric planes,
although major breakthroughs in reducing the weight of batteries will
be needed before large planes can fly significant distances on
electric power alone. Other power sources being tested include
hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels.

The aviation industry is heavily regulated to ensure safety but magniX
hopes that by retrofitting an existing plane the certification process
can be accelerated. A smaller seaplane powered by a magniX engine
completed a short flight in December.

In June 2019, another company, Ampaire, flew an aircraft powered by a
hybrid electric-fossil fuel engine over California. Analysts at the
investment bank UBS said at the time that the aviation industry would
move towards hybrid and electric engines for routes less than 1,000
miles long much more quickly than many thought.

Roei Ganzarski, the CEO of magniX, said current aeroplanes were both
expensive to operate and very polluting. “Electric airplanes will be
40%-70% lower cost to operate per flight hour,” he said. “That means
operators will be able to fly more planes into smaller airports,
meaning a shorter and door-to-door experience, with no harmful CO2
emissions.”

Ganzarski said the company believed all flights of less than 1,000
miles would be completely electric in 15 years’ time. But he said:
“Battery [energy] density is not where we would like to see it. While
it is good for ultra-short flights of 100 miles on a retrofit aircraft
and over 500 miles on a new design aircraft like the Alice, there is
plenty of untapped potential in batteries. Now that the first
commercial aircraft has flown all-electric, battery companies are
starting to work more diligently on aerospace-ready battery
solutions.”

Among the other companies developing electric aircraft are Zunum Aero,
which is building a 27-seat plane with a 680-mile range, and the
engine maker Rolls-Royce, whose Accel programme aims to produce the
fastest all-electric plane to date. However, in April, Rolls-Royce and
Airbus cancelled their plans for a hybrid electric aircraft. The
German company Lilium is working on a five-seater jet-powered electric
air taxi.

The Cessna Caravan being used by magniX is one of the world’s most
used medium-range planes, with more than 2,600 operating in 100
countries. The first flight is set for 8am Pacific time (1500 GMT) on
Thursday, weather permitting.




The quiet of electric motors must make
flying behind one very awesome. For a veteran
pilot it would take some getting used to.

Harley is talking about adding a noice
maker to it's electric motorcycles because
they are so quiet they are a safety hazard.
People can't hardly see bikes as it is.......

Playing cards in the spokes.