Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-off and landing jet
by aphextron on Friday April 21, 2017 @03:23PM
(#14168550)
The problem though is with safety. This kind of design can work fine for drones, because if the power fails and a drone is lost it's not a big deal. But for a passenger carrying aircraft, you must have some semblance of aerodynamic control and glide in a dead stick situation. This thing would be a complete deathtrap.
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Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-off and landing jet
by jclardy on Friday April 21, 2017 @03:57PM
(#14168919)
I'm not in the aerospace industry, but couldn't it deploy a parachute in the case of power loss? Or are the batteries too heavy?
Also, what about helicopters? I guess the pilot might still have control after losing power because the blades would still be spinning?
Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-off and landing jet
by jacquesm on Friday April 21, 2017 @04:34PM
(#14169199)
Good luck falling from 100 m or so while deploying your chute. That's the problem zone, high enough and a chute would work, closer to the ground and there just isn't time enough for the chute to slow you down. Even a crash into water from that altitude and you'd likely be dead.
Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-off and landing jet
by Jtsummers on Friday April 21, 2017 @04:31PM
(#14169170)
Weight and altitude are the problem with the chute. This thing would result in a fatal accident at low altitude with power loss (total, they say it can operate with some systems lost) that are too low for a chute to deploy before you hit the ground. A similar problem exists with many ejection systems for military aircraft (pilot will escape the aircraft if it's on the ground, but not reach sufficient altitude for the chute to help when they return to the ground). Helicopters can auto-rotate, allowing for degraded performance during the descent but still controllable and survivable.