Lilium proves its electric air taxi can fly

Flying taxi startup Lilium has completed its first phase of flight testing. Its Lilium Jet is now flying at speeds over 100 kilometers per hour. Today, the company shared new flight footage and announced that it has completed its first dedicated manu...

Extra footage of record-setting Yates electric plane flight shows power loss, dramatic deadstick landing (video)

Video of record-setting Chip Yates electric plane flight shows power loss, dramatic deadstick landing

We've chronicled Flight of the Century founder and CEO Chip Yates' record-breaking 202.6MPH flight in his Long-ESA EV craft before. What we didn't quite touch on, however, is the power loss Yates' aircraft suffered after earning that electric plane speed record. Now Yates has released new video of the flight, which includes the moment his aircraft breaks the record, the ensuing power loss and his dramatic deadstick landing. That smile you see in the photo up there is the smile of a man who just made history and is also happy to be alive. Hey, we're glad he's safe, too. You can witness the close call yourself by checking out the video after the break.

[Image credit: Flight of the Century]

Continue reading Extra footage of record-setting Yates electric plane flight shows power loss, dramatic deadstick landing (video)

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Extra footage of record-setting Yates electric plane flight shows power loss, dramatic deadstick landing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 02:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FAA writing rules for electric aircraft, to allow public to fly them in the next decade

FAA writing rules for electric aircraft, to allow public to fly them in the next decade

There are those in the general aviation community who think electric planes are the future for private aircraft, but regulatory hurdles are in place preventing them from proliferating in our skies. You see, current FAA requirements for light sport aircraft (LSA) -- planes that can be flown by anyone with a pilot's license -- preclude electric powerplants, and that makes such planes unavailable to most private pilots. Well, today at the CAFE Electric Aircraft Symposium, FAA analyst Tom Gunnarson delivered some good news for flying EV advocates, stating that the FAA has completed its regulatory study on electric aircraft, and the rulemaking process will begin soon. Once those rules have been written, electrically-propelled aircraft will be available for use as LSA by the public, which isn't possible today given their current status as experimental craft. The bad news? Governmental wheels spin slowly, and Gunnarson said that incorporating those new rules into the current regulatory framework will take five years if we're lucky, but ten years is a more likely time frame for the FAA to finish. In the meantime, you'll have to settle for air shows or terrestrial transport to get your EV fix.

FAA writing rules for electric aircraft, to allow public to fly them in the next decade originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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