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Even before the release of Frank Sinatra‘s immortal classic Come Fly With Me, we at LSS have always been staunch fans of aviation. It’s not just the hackneyed cliches about business and pleasure, important though these may well be. It’s the way that planes have made the word smaller, forcing even the most inveterate xenophobes to at least admit that other people may actually exist-which is a lot.
The trouble is that old skool planes are noisy, intrusive and unbelievably polluting. Yes the industry is trying to work with governments to clean up its act. But it’s proving really tricky and we would hate to find a juncture where one had to choose between giving up the connectedness of flying in order to save the planet. Now a company called Faradair thinks it may have found a way around the dilemma. Writng in the Guardian, * Colin Tennant expounds on a genuinely exciting plane development called the BEHA (bio electric hybrid aircraft). It’s a lovely coffee break read.
For those with only time for an espresso, the facts are these. It’s got three wings, takes off on electric motors, cruises on biofuels at 230 mph (370km). It can take people or cargo, and can get in to all those pesky short runway inner city airports without waking all the residents. Colin’s piece has lots,lots more including lots of good pictures.
For us at LSS there are several learning points. Firstly really good imaginative thinking can solve problems. Secondly, it’s always a good idea to use transitional technologies like hybrids when you make a change. As in automotives, it’s much easier to go from petrol to electrics via hybrids, rather than trying to make it in a single jump. And from an English point of view-why, oh why, does yet another manufacturer with a good idea still have to complainn about lack of Government support? We bet the story would have been very different in South Korea.
But let’s end on a high, not a low. Hats off to Faradair and its brave chief exec Neil Cloughley. We wish them happy flying and a fuel order book.
Will a British bioelectric hybrid plane really take off? | Environment | The Guardian
#faradair #neilcloughley #biofuels #greenaviation #hybridplanes #climatechange #globalwarming #airports #transport
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