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100% electric aircraft aren't viable yet but surely this tech could be used to supplement traditional aircraft, eg. as a take-off booster or whatever (taking off and climbing to cruising altitude takes a big chunk of the fuel). Even if it can only cut fuel by 5% overall on each flight it's still a big saving.
After takeoff the electric motors could be cut and then recharged by solar panels during the remainder of the flight.
I was wondering what adding solar cells would do to the flight distance of the vehicle, there would be a gain, but would it be a big enough difference. If it gave a more than a 5% increase I think it would be help full enough to look into. And if it was designed more like a glider you could get even more out of it since the batteries would charge when the plane was in a glide.
Was it recorded on a $5 webcam? (Score:3)
There's nothing like an information-packed, high-definition video to start the day...
Not useless (Score:2)
100% electric aircraft aren't viable yet but surely this tech could be used to supplement traditional aircraft, eg. as a take-off booster or whatever (taking off and climbing to cruising altitude takes a big chunk of the fuel). Even if it can only cut fuel by 5% overall on each flight it's still a big saving.
After takeoff the electric motors could be cut and then recharged by solar panels during the remainder of the flight.
Re: (Score:1)