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Comment by robonerd

This is kind of cool, but I'm skeptical that these sort of planes will ever be practical as much more than rich people toys. The power density of even speculative near-future batteries favors small airplanes and short flights. This doesn't really mesh into the existing aviation industry, so proponents of these small electric planes usually propose creating new markets entirely; e.g. Uber for Helicopters. But I'm pretty skeptical that laws will allow regular operation of these in residential neighborhoods for long, if at all.

Also, where is the vertical stabilizer and rudder? I assume they're using differential thrust in powered flight, but what if they lose power? Can this plane be controlled in a glide?

parent robonerd 4 years ago

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