Re:Aviation Is on a Low-Carbon Flight Path
by Mountain_Skies on Thursday November 07, 2019 @11:15AM
(#21474492)
It wouldn't be viable for flights over oceans but I wonder if having batteries that eject at 95% exhaustion and then fly/glide themselves to a collection point with the last 5% of energy would work. There are too many variables for me to even do cocktail napkin math on it but with ever increasing drone tech, perhaps it would be possible.
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Re:Aviation Is on a Low-Carbon Flight Path
by mikepurvis on Thursday November 07, 2019 @12:45PM
(#21475363)
Hard to say if giving the battery its own avionics is better or worse than equipping it with a parachute or steerable glider. Either way, it's the kind of thing that SpaceX decided was worth trying for the sake of fairings worth a few million apiece. Asking them how it went is probably a good place to start.
Regardless of the specifics, it's obvious that any of these schemes is a logistical and technical nightmare compared to "taxi up to the terminal, plug in the refueling hose while people and cargo are loaded onto the plane." It's unlikely that the private sector will be too enthusiastic about investing in anything like this without heavy incentives.