Electric Beaver

[JeppUpdater]

(Yeah, you thought this was gonna be about something else, didn’t you? “Oh remember that time Jepp got banned?” Well you can TOTALLY say Beaver on here.)

Seems sacrilegious to put an electric motor on Beavers and Otters, and some of the claims (1000 nm in 6 years) rely on battery technology that isn’t really close to feasible yet, but props for innovation. Couple questions - do we just start limiting max takeoff weight to max landing weight? You aren’t exactly burning batteries like fuel. And how long does thousands of pounds of batteries take to charge for a flight?

Airlines With Electric Engines Are Coming

Harbour Air says it will convert more than three dozen seaplanes to electric motors.

www.bloomberg.com

There’s no shortage of companies working to build electric aircraft, but a Canadian airline and a Seattle-area engine maker say they’ve found a quicker route to electrification by converting a small bush plane with batteries and an electric motor.The first passenger flights for British Columbia-based Harbour Air Ltd. would be in late 2021 under a partnership with MagniX Technologies, pending regulatory approvals, the companies said on Tuesday.
They plan to swap kerosene fuel tanks for a MagniX electric motor and lithium-ion battery packs on a Harbour Air De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft, which seats six passengers, to begin test flights in November. The propulsion system will have a range of about 100 miles. The goal is an emissions-free, quieter aircraft that is certified by both U.S. and Canadian aviation authorities, Greg McDougall, Harbour Air’s founder and chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview. The suburban Vancouver-based seaplane company flies about 500,000 passengers each year from British Columbia and downtown Seattle.

 

[Nark]

100nm range, sign me up!

Drag a power cord down every dock! What could possibly go wrong with that?

 

[Richman]

The sky raining soup. All we need are the buckets to carry it.

 

[Inverted]

I came in here expecting something completely different...

 

[Itchy]

Sure looks like a caravan?

 

[EIR]

Not so sure that's a Beaver in the picture.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

This is a sin (and also doesn't look like a deHavilland).

 

[Richman]

I came in here expecting something completely different...

Electric Boogaloo maybe?

 

[knot4u]

I don't think the tech is practical right now, but it also never will be until someone starts trying to build a viable application. Harbour Air thinks they can make it work otherwise they wouldn't be spending the money, they're an airline not a tech company. The problem is going to be recharging safely and efficiently, maybe multiple quick change power packs? Eventually this sort of thing isn't going to seem strange at all.

 

[bimmerphile]

100nm range, sign me up!

Drag a power cord down every dock! What could possibly go wrong with that?

At first I agreed, but then remembered ships have been using shore power for oh, a year or two now. They probably got that figured out I'm guessing?

 

[Nark]

My vision is giant GPU plugs for aviation, not the 110v most marinas have.
Recharge is decent the flavor of the day. With only 100nm range for now. That’s a round trip to about 3 places at best, for Harbor Airs network.

Good on em if they crack the nut. I prefer smelling like avgas. The person beside me on this ride home from the hangar sure doesn’t though....

 

[bimmerphile]

My vision is giant GPU plugs for aviation, not the 110v most marinas have.
Recharge is decent the flavor of the day. With only 100nm range for now. That’s a round trip to about 3 places at best, for Harbor Airs network.

Good on em if they crack the nut. I prefer smelling like avgas. The person beside me on this ride home from the hangar sure doesn’t though....

Yeah I'm assuming commercial vessels might have a more equivalent power demand than the standard pleasure boat slip. Maybe in 40 years Tesla will make a boat and plop superchargers on docks.

 

[Finny]

Isn’t the point of a beaver on floats the loud noise of that radial?! I mean, why?!

 

[T/O w/FSII]

100nm range, sign me up!

Drag a power cord down every dock! What could possibly go wrong with that?

Uhh, you don’t boat much do you?

 

[bimmerphile]

UTC Reveals Hybrid-electric Aircraft Demonstrator | AIN

UTAP's P804 hybrid electric demonstrator is expected to fly within three years.

www.ainonline.com

UTC Reveals Hybrid-electric Aircraft Demonstrator

 

[Roger Roger]

2 things:

1. If you think losing the radial is sacrilegious, you’ve probably never been elbows deep in the oily mess that is the firewall forward on a 985 Beaver.

2. 100NM range is not too much worse than a turbine Beaver.

 

[trafficinsight]

(Yeah, you thought this was gonna be about something else, didn’t you? “Oh remember that time Jepp got banned?” Well you can TOTALLY say Beaver on here.)

Seems sacrilegious to put an electric motor on Beavers and Otters, and some of the claims (1000 nm in 6 years) rely on battery technology that isn’t really close to feasible yet, but props for innovation. Couple questions - do we just start limiting max takeoff weight to max landing weight? You aren’t exactly burning batteries like fuel. And how long does thousands of pounds of batteries take to charge for a flight?

Airlines With Electric Engines Are Coming

Harbour Air says it will convert more than three dozen seaplanes to electric motors.

www.bloomberg.com

View attachment 47499

Worse, you limit max takeoff weight to max zero fuel weight.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

[Maximilian_Jenius]

Electric Boogaloo maybe?

Breakin' was far better!

 

[Richman]

Breakin' was far better!

Hater.

 

[deadstick]

(Yeah, you thought this was gonna be about something else, didn’t you? “Oh remember that time Jepp got banned?” Well you can TOTALLY say Beaver on here.)