Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-off and landing jet
by nradov on Friday April 21, 2017 @04:51PM
(#14169340)
A liquid-hydrocarbon fueled turbogenerator would appear to meet your criteria. You can use synthetic or biofuels if you're worried about the environmental impact. Of course the aircraft will be more efficient if you omit the generator and mechanically couple the turbine to the props.
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Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-off and landing jet
by pdelbarba on Friday April 21, 2017 @05:23PM
(#14169535)
I talk about this elsewhere in this section. Pipistrel tried this on the Panthera and the system complexity is enormous. The whole advantage of electric propulsion is it's simplicity. Might as well just use the turbine for lift.
Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-off and landing jet
by nradov on Saturday April 22, 2017 @06:01AM
(#14171805)
Yes that was exactly my point. Barring major advances in battery technology, if you want to build a powered lift VTOL aircraft safe enough for civilian passengers with useful range and payload then you probably need to use a turbine engine. Batteries just aren't good enough yet.