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I just found out that they were testing an electric plane here. Kinda weird how you find out something happened almost right above your head only after it's published in some newspaper in another country.

Here's an article from Seattle Times:
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/b ... oses-lake/

That's cool, but it also shows the problem with alternative energy....storage. From what I've found, a 9-passenger Cessna Pilatus Turbo Prop's maxed-out take-off weight is 10,500 pounds. That's only 2500 pounds heavier than the weight of just the batteries of the Eviation and the overall weight of the Eviation airplane apparently tops out over 16,000 pounds. I've flown electric RC planes and they sure are nice, quiet, and clean-up afterwards is really easy! And those brushless motors can make a junky plane suddenly be a screaming rocket. A little different from an actual passenger plane, but I can see that electric airplanes are definitely a possibility in real life...if the power storage problem gets figured out.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 1:22 pm ...if the power storage problem gets figured out.

Not just the storage. Generating the electric power to begin with without burning fossil fuels and otherwise harming the environment is another set of hurdles.

Charging the batteries on the plane probably would take long too. Unless they attach a wire from the plane to the ground and provide the power during flight.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 1:22 pm I've flown electric RC planes and they sure are nice, quiet, and clean-up afterwards is really easy! And those brushless motors can make a junky plane suddenly be a screaming rocket.

I hope there were no casualties.

DragonsEye wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 4:00 pm

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 1:22 pm ...if the power storage problem gets figured out.

Not just the storage. Generating the electric power to begin with without burning fossil fuels and otherwise harming the environment is another set of hurdles.

Here's an idea, Solar panels. It charges the plane while flying giving it an almost infinite run time.

Camden M wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 4:41 pm Here's an idea, Solar panels. It charges the plane while flying giving it an almost infinite run time.

Sounds great in theory, but it takes a lot of solar panel square footage to supply as much power as the engines are consuming. I wondered why Amazon / FedEx / Post Office / UPS doesn't buy electric delivery trucks with solar panels on their roofs, and it's the same reason: not enough power generated by the panels to keep up with the usage.

That idea and this; putting a water wheel in space, then spin the wheel once you're far enough from the earth. Vioala! Infinite energy.

Camden M wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 5:30 pm That idea and this; putting a water wheel in space, then spin the wheel once you're far enough from the earth. Vioala! Infinite energy.

Not really. If you were using that to power a generator then the wheel would start to slow down until it completely stopped. I mean, it would work if you broke all the laws of physics.

TrapsAndDews wrote:

Camden M wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 5:30 pm That idea and this; putting a water wheel in space, then spin the wheel once you're far enough from the earth. Vioala! Infinite energy.

Not really. If you were using that to power a generator then the wheel would start to slow down until it completely stopped. I mean, it would work if you broke all the laws of physics.

I feel obligated to leave this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuxbMfKO9Pg

TrapsAndDews wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 6:16 pm

Camden M wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 5:30 pm That idea and this; putting a water wheel in space, then spin the wheel once you're far enough from the earth. Vioala! Infinite energy.

Not really. If you were using that to power a generator then the wheel would start to slow down until it completely stopped. I mean, it would work if you broke all the laws of physics.

Yep. Perpetual motion machines fall in a similar category as unicorns, chicken with teeth, honest politicians, and saving money by buying something on sale.