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posted by martyb on Monday June 01 2020, @02:15AM   Printer-friendly
from the if-they-"could-not-fit-a-person-in-that-aircraft"-where-did-they-put-the-pilot? dept.

Submitted via IRC for FatPhil

Cessna eCaravan becomes largest electric aircraft to fly:

magniX announced that it has completed its first flight with a modified Cessna Caravan, which was powered by magniX’s electric engine, the magni500.

[...] On May 28, 2020, an electric Cessna eCaravan lifted off the ground powered by magniX’s propulsion system. The maiden flight was the fruit of hard labor to convert the aircraft from “its gas-guzzling, emission creating, old self, to an all-electric, low operating cost, clean aircraft,” according to the Australian company.

However, the CEO of the company Roei Ganzarski noted that battery technology currently is only good for “ultra-short flights of 100 miles [160 kilometers – ed. note],” and that battery technology can only go up. The dirty and smelly brother of the eCaravan, meanwhile, can travel up to 1230 miles (1982 kilometers), states Cessna’s brochure about the 9-seat Caravan.

Even so, the eCaravan did not carry passengers on its maiden flight. Goznarski told the Seattle Times that the company “could not fit a person in that aircraft,” as there “was not even an attempt to put the batteries in a convenient place.” The aircraft in its current state is just a test bed, indicated the chief executive of the company.


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @02:48AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @02:48AM (#1001579)

    Gotta put up some articles that the shithead brigade can comment on.

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @03:45AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @03:45AM (#1001593)

      the fuck u on about?

      • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @04:09AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @04:09AM (#1001598)

        Probably mewing in support of the vandalism and looting going on in D.C. and Santa Monica right now.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @02:49AM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @02:49AM (#1001580)

    Can't go anywhere or carry anything. These might have some use as trainers, that only ever fly around the local airport and where operating cost is paramount, but for doing anything useful, everyone should just forget about electric power.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @02:56AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @02:56AM (#1001582)

      Remove the pilot, add cameras.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Mykl on Monday June 01 2020, @03:20AM (6 children)

      by Mykl (1112) on Monday June 01 2020, @03:20AM (#1001586)

      You could say the same for just about any early tech advancement.

      The first solar panels were pretty shitty in terms of efficiency. The first quantum computers were nothing against state-of-the-art conventional computers. About 20 years ago, I saw a store selling a 14" Plasma TV for about $20,000.

      Do you really believe that aircraft will remain petrochemical powered forever?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @05:36AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @05:36AM (#1001615)

        They're not inventing anything new. They're just combining technologies that don't work together.

        Batteries need to be two orders of magnitude better before they will be viable for airplanes. Combine that with the fact that you aren't really gaining anything useful by trying to make electric airplanes, and there is just really no reason for them.

        "Forever" is a long time, but I will predict that airplanes (actual useful ones, not useless demos or tiny two seat trainers) will be petroleum powered for at least 50 years, probably longer.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by captain normal on Monday June 01 2020, @06:22AM (4 children)

        by captain normal (2205) on Monday June 01 2020, @06:22AM (#1001625)

        The Wright brother's first flight was only 120 feet (37 m) in 12 seconds. That was only about 117 years ago. Wonder what humans might accomplish in the next 117 years?

        --
        When life isn't going right, go left.
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @06:41AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @06:41AM (#1001630)

      I bet you're one of those guys who would walk up to Orville Wright and tell him it was just a toy...35 years ago a mobile phone required a car. Sad you have no vision.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Monday June 01 2020, @02:58AM

    by MostCynical (2589) on Monday June 01 2020, @02:58AM (#1001584) Journal

    Loganair [loganair.co.uk] is planning an electric plane between Westray and Papa Westray. [thetimes.co.uk] for 2022.

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @03:13AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @03:13AM (#1001585)

    If you want a vision of the future, imagine a Boomer knee crushing a human neck forever.

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @03:47AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @03:47AM (#1001595)

      Little hopeful there? Thank god the future has already led to the birth of millions of more reasonable humans.

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Goghit on Monday June 01 2020, @04:05AM (1 child)

    by Goghit (6530) on Monday June 01 2020, @04:05AM (#1001597)

    https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2019/december/10/harbour-air-flies-first-electric-beaver [aopa.org]

    Harbour Air put one in the air last December flying between Nanaimo and Vancouver, British Columbia. afaik this plane is capable of taking passengers and at this point is serving as a demo for certification so they can start carrying passengers by 2022.

    This type of craft is perfect for the 15-20 minute puddle jumping flights from island to island in the Salish Sea.

    • (Score: 2) by richtopia on Monday June 01 2020, @02:34PM

      by richtopia (3160) on Monday June 01 2020, @02:34PM (#1001696) Homepage Journal

      My mind jumped right to that electric Beaver with this article. Both vehicles have similar range of 160km, and will probably pursue similar markets. The sea plane is a bit more versatile, but this new Cessna has more seating capacity.

      Interestingly, both aircraft use the same MagniX motors. I am not in the industry, and I suspect these guys are really the only player in the electric small aircraft space. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagniX [wikipedia.org]

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by fustakrakich on Monday June 01 2020, @04:36AM (2 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday June 01 2020, @04:36AM (#1001602) Journal

    Use it for shipping batteries. It has been pretty difficult to do that by air these days

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday June 01 2020, @04:11PM

      by nitehawk214 (1304) on Monday June 01 2020, @04:11PM (#1001744)

      I like it. Fill up the cargo space with more batteries, thus extending the range.

      --
      "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
    • (Score: 4, Funny) by sjames on Monday June 01 2020, @07:10PM

      by sjames (2882) on Monday June 01 2020, @07:10PM (#1001829) Journal

      Sounds like a great QA for the customer! If their capacity isn't reasonably close to the specs, they don't make it to the destination.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @05:03AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @05:03AM (#1001608)

    The Cessna eCaravan is yet another symbol of white privilege in our sick country. Unarmed black people are dying every day at the hands of racist pig cops who are never held accountable. Instead of staying with black people to oppose racism and show concern for black lives, white people are more interested in making new toys like the Cessna eCaravan that will only be used by rich white people. Whether they're electric or gas powered, white people don't need private plans. They're just another symbol of white privilege that our sick world glorifies. Black lives matter!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @06:08PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2020, @06:08PM (#1001809)

      Black lives matter! Yes!

      But don't tear down an article on electric planes, trying to make this article about white privilege is stupid.

      • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by Bot on Monday June 01 2020, @08:16PM (1 child)

        by Bot (3902) on Monday June 01 2020, @08:16PM (#1001855) Journal

        I am beginning to like this BLM troll. It's memeish. I am looking forward for his apology of old init system against the aryan systemd. Don't disappoint us, 50c army guy.

        --
        Account abandoned.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 02 2020, @04:27AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 02 2020, @04:27AM (#1002038)

          Oh, so really is just a conservative jackass trolling shit up. At least their stupidity is intentional, yours is natural.

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