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Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet by byw on Friday April 21, 2017 @08:01PM (#14170381)
They could probably fit a parachute to compensate for the lack of gliding ability for emergency landings.
Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet by tlrobinson on Friday April 21, 2017 @08:17PM (#14170436)
How high would it need to fly for the parachute to be effective?
Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet by nradov on Friday April 21, 2017 @09:47PM (#14170711)
Even with a rocket deployed parachute you need to be at least about 200ft above the ground for it to work. So there's a dead zone during takeoff and landing where you're too high to survive a crash but too low to parachute down. Military VTOL jets like the Harrier and F-35B address that risk using zero/zero ejection seats which can launch the pilot straight up high enough for a parachute to work but that's obviously not feasible for general aviation.
Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet by srvlsct on Saturday April 22, 2017 @02:01AM (#14171285)
Since ejection wouldn't be feasible, wonder if an undercarriage airbag, perhaps like bumper rails to keep weight down and work around landing gear, would be effective in a crash?
Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet by nradov on Saturday April 22, 2017 @05:57AM (#14171796)
If the aircraft is falling out of control there's no guarantee it will impact the ground with the undercarriage side down. Plus airbags would have to be huge and heavy to do any good.
Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet by cmurf on Friday April 21, 2017 @08:31PM (#14170489)
If the wings are intact it will have gliding ability. In flight breakups are really rare, and the only other reason why I'd consider a parachute is total electrical failure while in meteorological conditions: i.e. can't see with my eyes or instruments. Night time in the middle of nowhere could also be such a case. If you can't see the ground you're probably gonna hit it faster than you want.
Re:Lilium – Electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet by Applejinx on Friday April 21, 2017 @08:34PM (#14170499)
No it won't. Not with a wing there and canards of that size. Without power, that is a lawn dart. The only possible behavior of the rear wing is to point the nose straight at the ground in a ballistic trajectory for maximum speed of impact. That's a wide tail fin, not a wing.