Re:Quantum Air buys Bye's electric airplanes
by cagenut on Sunday August 25, 2019 @03:34PM
(#20794990)
Most of the things you mention in your last paragraph are addressed in this talk, you'll probably enjoy it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGUrXCBB1OI
Santa Monica and similar airports are going to be ground zero for this because they have lots of rich people living near by that might opt for an electrical plane. Sounds like an awesome way to get around LA, which has quite a few nice small airports.
Basically Bye and Eviation are launching products that are sort of hitting the sweet spot for general aviation. They have enough range that you can go somewhere at a small portion of the cost of a typical 100$ hamburger.
Probably in about a decade, there will be enough of these things flying that regulation and politics will adapt. Many airports currently have landing limitations because of noise. I could see some exceptions being made for electrical planes or even some airports being limited to only electrical planes. I could even see how building new airports could become popular again; especially close to cities and especially for VTOL planes (need a lot less runway).