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Lilium Unveils Five-Seater Air Taxi Prototype

posted by Fnord666 on Friday May 17 2019, @01:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the where's-my-jet-pack? dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

TechCrunch:

It's not the first time a Lilium Jet — the company's all-electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) device — has taken to the sky but it is the first time the new five seater has taken off and landed, following extensive ground testing. Lilium published a video of a two-seater version's inaugural flight just over two years ago.

The new five-seater is a full-scale, full-weight prototype that is powered by 36 all-electric jet engines to allow it to take-off and land vertically, while achieving "remarkably efficient horizontal or cruise flight," says Lilium

Will the back seat of the air taxi be cleaner than the normal kind?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 17 2019, @02:34AM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 17 2019, @02:34AM (#844565)

    Jet refers to the stream of material coming out of an aperture. While you could call those things electric fans in tunnels, the exhaust qualifies as a jet.
    I'd be more worried about the open intakes on the front of them. They start landing everywhere like true air-taxis and they are going to be sucking in all sorts of shit. I suppose that's why they have 36 of the buggers. Lose a few and keep flying.

  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday May 17 2019, @02:43AM (3 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 17 2019, @02:43AM (#844567) Journal

    I just re-read several articles on jets. I think we need an authority figure to decide whether this counts as a jet. Hero - can we resurrect him? His version of a jet definitely used combustion. We need his opinion.

    --
    “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by janrinok on Friday May 17 2019, @02:45AM

    by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 17 2019, @02:45AM (#844569) Journal

    the exhaust qualifies as a jet.

    I would suggest that is only true in the most basic analysis of moving air, it is certainly not what anybody in the business would describe as a jet. Ok, perhaps a marketing droid might.... but he should be calling it a ducted fan.

    From wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:

    A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet that generates thrust by jet propulsion. This broad definition includes airbreathing jet engines (turbojets, turbofans, ramjets, and pulse jets).[clarification needed] In general, jet engines are combustion engines.

    Common parlance applies the term jet engine only to various airbreathing jet engines. These typically feature a rotating air compressor powered by a turbine, with the leftover power providing thrust via a propelling nozzle – this process is known as the Brayton thermodynamic cycle. Jet aircraft use such engines for long-distance travel. Early jet aircraft used turbojet engines which were relatively inefficient for subsonic flight. Most modern subsonic jet aircraft use more complex high-bypass turbofan engines. They give higher speed and greater fuel efficiency than piston and propeller aeroengines over long distances. A few air-breathing engines made for high speed applications (ramjets and scramjets) use the ram effect of the vehicle's speed instead of a mechanical compressor.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Arik on Friday May 17 2019, @03:02AM

    by Arik (4543) on Friday May 17 2019, @03:02AM (#844572) Journal
    These are not jets. They are electric ducted fans, completely different devices even if they can sometimes come in similar housing.

    --
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