RocketRobbie
Active Member
The year is 2120 and general aviation is as buoyant as it was in the 1960’s and 70’s. There has been a tremendous resurgence in interest for “old fashioned aircraft flying”. Although we can move about quite efficiently in our automated levitation automobiles, which now have a 100 % safety record, there is a growing desire from people to pilot their own “aircraft”, without automation, and controlling the vehicle themselves, for casual trips into the country side just like their distant relatives did more than a hundred years ago.
Tomorrow I will get delivery of my brand new “Airtourer” aircraft. I placed my custom order on-line just a week ago, and now it’s ready for me to pick up. I choose the 2 seater option with a baggage allowance of 50 kg, pusher configuration, aerobatic, with a single propeller.
The aircraft is manufactured from aluminum that can be easily formed into compound curves. The surface of the aircraft is as smooth as any other vehicle, but I choose the rivet imprint version giving my aircraft that old fashioned riveted look.
The engine of course is the new Quantum electric drive that is superconductive and produces 80 kw of power, and weighs 15 kg, but I’m told that we are on the verge of a breakthrough and next year I will be able to upgrade to the Quantum2 which has 120 kw of power and will weigh 11 kg. Fossil fueled engines have been banned for more than 90 years!
The power source, naturally, is electric. I can recharge my battery at home in 30 minutes and this provides for 6 hours endurance at my selected cruising speed of 130 knots ( I like to fly slow so I can enjoy the scenery more).
There are standard features on the Airtourer such as built-in stress gauges that provide feed back on the structural stressing in flight, just so I know what’s happening. I get continuous feed back from the on-board computers about the aerodynamics of the aircraft that tell me how efficiently I am piloting the aircraft. I found some old fashioned aircraft instrument dials in a museum that I liked and they have been replicated onto the thin screen instrument panel.
So, here is the challenge to anyone interested in participating in this discussion.
There are three options,
Tomorrow I will get delivery of my brand new “Airtourer” aircraft. I placed my custom order on-line just a week ago, and now it’s ready for me to pick up. I choose the 2 seater option with a baggage allowance of 50 kg, pusher configuration, aerobatic, with a single propeller.
The aircraft is manufactured from aluminum that can be easily formed into compound curves. The surface of the aircraft is as smooth as any other vehicle, but I choose the rivet imprint version giving my aircraft that old fashioned riveted look.
The engine of course is the new Quantum electric drive that is superconductive and produces 80 kw of power, and weighs 15 kg, but I’m told that we are on the verge of a breakthrough and next year I will be able to upgrade to the Quantum2 which has 120 kw of power and will weigh 11 kg. Fossil fueled engines have been banned for more than 90 years!
The power source, naturally, is electric. I can recharge my battery at home in 30 minutes and this provides for 6 hours endurance at my selected cruising speed of 130 knots ( I like to fly slow so I can enjoy the scenery more).
There are standard features on the Airtourer such as built-in stress gauges that provide feed back on the structural stressing in flight, just so I know what’s happening. I get continuous feed back from the on-board computers about the aerodynamics of the aircraft that tell me how efficiently I am piloting the aircraft. I found some old fashioned aircraft instrument dials in a museum that I liked and they have been replicated onto the thin screen instrument panel.
So, here is the challenge to anyone interested in participating in this discussion.
There are three options,
- What features do you think there would be in a GA aircraft in 2120 ?
- How do you think this future aircraft would be manufactured ?
- Can the features be “reversed engineered” and included in aircraft designed in the next few years ?
