Re:Five Technologies That Will Rock Your World
by thomastjeffery on Monday November 13, 2017 @04:25PM
(#15690401)
Ground is not flat. Going uphill requires a lot more energy.
Ground has a lot more traffic. Ground traffic is not only constrained to the ground, but to roads, which, comparatively, cover a minuscule amount of area. Flight opens us up to much more than the product of ground area and height.
> And flying being faster implies even more energy because moving slowly is generally more efficient?
Aircraft will be less efficient at lower speeds[0].
A Cessna 182T Skylane[1] will stall at 56mph (49 knots), cruise at 167mph (145 knots).
We don't need to fly faster than we drive to see significant time improvement.
The distance for me between home and Provo is 51 miles, but I have to drive across 75 miles of road to get there. By taking roads, I also have to stop at intersections, and wait for traffic. If I average (with stops) 55mph, I will get there in 1hr 22min. If I flew a Skylane at 60mph (just over stall speed), I would get there in 51min. (At cruise speed, I would get there in 18min.)
Obviously, I would need places to take off and land, etc.
Ground has a lot more traffic. Ground traffic is not only constrained to the ground, but to roads, which, comparatively, cover a minuscule amount of area. Flight opens us up to much more than the product of ground area and height.
> And flying being faster implies even more energy because moving slowly is generally more efficient?
Aircraft will be less efficient at lower speeds[0].
A Cessna 182T Skylane[1] will stall at 56mph (49 knots), cruise at 167mph (145 knots).
We don't need to fly faster than we drive to see significant time improvement.
The distance for me between home and Provo is 51 miles, but I have to drive across 75 miles of road to get there. By taking roads, I also have to stop at intersections, and wait for traffic. If I average (with stops) 55mph, I will get there in 1hr 22min. If I flew a Skylane at 60mph (just over stall speed), I would get there in 51min. (At cruise speed, I would get there in 18min.)
Obviously, I would need places to take off and land, etc.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_flight [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_182_Skylane