Taldan

I can fly a glider for half an hour for $0 in fuel or electricity

In the right conditions I can fly a Cessna 150 for $5 in fuel. Just have to shop around the whole country for cheapest fuel and best flight cknditions. So exactly like they did

These guys have the cheapest electricity in the country considering they advertise 1MW power output that apparently only ends up coating $5 over 27 minutes

EVs make a lot of sense. This plane does not, nor does any currently proposed design for an all-electric plane

The "article" is just corporate propaganda. Literally.

It's just blindly regurgitating what the company's press release said, with no journalistic input anywhere

This plane can't carry passengers. All the useful load is taxen up by batteries. It's the fundamental issue with all-electric aviation

$3.60 for mogas at a couple places near me. Very high density altitude, well leaned out, in slow flight, you could get 27 minutes out of a 150 for $5

These guys are also apparently getting electricity for 2-4 cents per KWh, which is many times cheaper than most would be able to get it

You'd even have more useful load than this "jet" that can carry no passengers or cargo

You could also fly a glider. It'd be as useful as this thing

The plane only went 100 AGL. It has a service ceiling of 2,000 feet AGL

This plane has massive wings, making it incredibly good at gliding (for its massive weight)

As far as I can tell from public information, they climbed to 1,100 and glided the rest of the time to land

Jets are less efficient because they're designed to carry large amounts of cargo and/or passengers. This plane was at near max weight, 25,000 pounds, with zero cargo or passengers

The entire thing had to be stripped down. Single pilot op because they didn't have the capacity for a 2nd seat and pilot

All this "jet" can do is transport its own batteries short distances, slower than a Cessna 150, and very low altitudes

27 minutes of slow flight in a 150 at high density altitude, well leaned out, would cost about the same and have the ability to carry a passenger

This plane is nothing more than a marketing ploy. At least it's quite effective at that

If there are savings, it would make it in customer's pockets. Aviation is incredibly competitive

I would, however, bet against them ever achieving that savings. Maybe they can find a battery-electric hybrid configuration that shaves off a percent or two, but I find even that unlikely

I give it 98% they landed where they took off

They did. It can bee seen in the press release photos and the video they released

so that $5 nets them about 110kWh of juice

They would have needed more than that. Likely got some lower rate somehow

This flight was not going very high, and it was not going very fast

Vne, max airspeed, of this plane is 140 knots (72 m/s). Less than a Cessna 150. Max altitude is 2,000 feet AGL, significantly lower than a Cessna 150

If the economics of their hybrid idea work out, it’ll be fantastic

It would be, but I highly doubt it. Energy density of batteries is simply too low. This plane can barely fly at slow speeds with no cargo or passengers, and with a cockpit stripped down to a single pilot. Hybrid thrust would be heavier than either jet A or battery-electric, and it still has the downsides of including batteries for the entire flight

Hydrogen or nuclear will be viable before battery-electric in aviation

They are not being sarcastic. Nuclear power is far more viable than all-electric in commercial aviation

This plane is a piblicity stunt and will never be a viable product (the company itself said it is not meant for commercial production)

This "jet" has a lower max speed than a Cessna 150, a service ceiling of 2,000 AGL - far less than any commercial aircraft. It weighs 25,000 pounds with no passengers or cargo, almost certainly it's max weight. They can't even fit a 2nd pilot

They do not disclose how much energy was actually used, just a vague "$5" figure and a listed max power of 1MW

It's just a marketing ploy and you fell for it

No they wouldn't. Where did you even get that idea from?

How could you possibly do things like architectude and design patterns without being able to code...?