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A comment on Lilium achieves first main wing transition for all-electric aircraft [video]. Parent comment

Re:Lilium achieves first main wing transition for all-electr... by hn_throwaway_99 on Sunday June 12, 2022 @12:38PM (#31715843)
That's the whole point of GP's comment. Planes glide with the control afforded by a rudder and a vertical stabilizer. Without that, it ain't pretty.
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Re:Lilium achieves first main wing transition for all-electr... by ansible on Sunday June 12, 2022 @08:18PM (#31719549)
The Lilium plane has 12 sets of 3 electric motors. Each pair of sets is powered by its own battery pack, and each set is individually actuateable. So it basically has 12 control surfaces. Separate aerodynamic controls aren't needed.

Writing control software that can handle arbitrary failures isn't easy, but there is plenty of redundancy with the three separate flight computers.

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