Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I think those are great examples of platforms that are not practical - they are only used in situations where they absolutely must get a plane to take off/land vertically, no matter the cost (in maintenance overhead or efficiency). I don't think they clear the bar in commercial aviation - a bleed air thruster system, even confined to the wing, would add a ton of complexity and hazards and weight. By comparison, the actuators, control surfaces, and airflow sensors are already there in commercial planes - in some planes it might even be possible to retrofit without introducing any new hardware, aside from more, bigger, more sensitive AoA sensors perhaps (which Boeing needs to do anyway, zing.)


Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: