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posted by
Fnord666
on Saturday October 20 2018, @08:31AM
from the could-almost-use-a-magnetic-rail-for-launch dept.
from the could-almost-use-a-magnetic-rail-for-launch dept.
The BBC are reporting that the Scottish airline Loganair's flights between Westray and Papa Westray, two islands in the Orkneys off the British coast, could be scheduled with electric planes.
The airline is working with experts in the hope of making the electric service a reality by 2021.
Loganair said the Islander aircraft it uses could be modified rather than developing a model from scratch.
It takes about two minutes - including taxiing - to complete the 1.7 mile Westray / Papa Westray leg flight, which is about the same length as the runway at Edinburgh Airport.
The record is 53 seconds.
Cranfield Aerospace are working on the project.
There is also a ferry between the islands, and there have been discussions about a bridge
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Orkney Islands Flight May Go Electric
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The meek shall inherit the earth -- they are too weak to refuse.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Saturday October 20 2018, @09:24AM (2 children)
The sound would be something like a twin-engined version of this [youtube.com]
The Pipistrel in the above link uses regenerates on final approach, which makes sense for conservation of energy., but also makes it almost silent when landing. Glide approach freaks a lot of people out - from my experience in smaller planes, if any passengers notice the engine noise going away, they assume there is something wrong; The pilots are going to have to explain this to the passengers!
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by driverless on Sunday October 21 2018, @02:10AM (1 child)
What would be even quieter would be a non-electric, dumb concrete bridge, or a tunnel. Make it carbon-sequestrating concrete and it's even greener than batteries, if that's what you're worried about.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday October 21 2018, @03:18AM
Quite. From TFS: there have been discussions about a bridge [scotsman.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex