Edwin Clements, 15, won a contest to be Canada's first person to take a commercial flight on an electric plane
  • kbal@fedia.io
    68·
    6 months ago

    first commercial flight on an electric plane

    Oh, it’s a flight school. Perhaps it’s not a scam, then. Places where electric planes might make commercial sense: Pretty much anywhere you could use an unpowered glider.

    • BeaverEnglish
      92·
      6 months ago

      Same thing they said about the wright brothers

      • kbal@fedia.io
        41·
        6 months ago

        It really isn’t. Today’s unpowered gliders are astoundingly capable compared to anything the Wright brothers lived to see, and that they’re not suitable for replacing all of commercial aviation as it exists today should not be taken as a slight against them.

        Most of it will need to be replaced by ground-based transport.

        • Rentlar
          5·
          6 months ago

          Around Nanaimo, Victoria and the Vancouver Islands seems like the perfect spot for being the first places to replace shorthaul fossil-fuel-based flights and small ferries with electric planes.

          I expect it to grow from there.

    • LimpRimbleOPEnglish
      31·
      6 months ago

      where electric planes might make commercial sense

      Exactly. Until batteries have similar power density to aviation fuel, electric flight is financially impractical.

      • Intent@lemm.ee
        4·
        6 months ago

        That will likely never happen in our lifetimes. Burning fuel has the unique advantage of reducing weight the longer you’re in flight. It’s also (kg for kg) offers far greater energy density when compared to battery.

        That said, short flights between Vancouver and Victoria are an ideal use-case for electric aviation. Also means less maintenance on the plane and no lead being showered on us from above from spent Avgas which is something we should all want.