i wonder how long i would own one if i were to buy one, maybe i get scared shtlss and sell on craigslist after the first flight ? lol
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Electric planes
- Thread starter doug
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- Electric Vehicles
swaltner
Active Member
The limiting factor on this is the flight time at 20 minutes. Makes it just a toy instead of anything practical. Not saying there’s anything wrong with toys, since I have a bunch of them. Just highlighting that it has the same limitation that most/all electric aircraft have right now: limited practicality due to the limited range.
Their max payload of 190 lbs will also eliminate a large number of Americans from their potential customer pool.
They’ve had lots of press, but I don’t know how close they are to production really.
Their max payload of 190 lbs will also eliminate a large number of Americans from their potential customer pool.
They’ve had lots of press, but I don’t know how close they are to production really.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Not exactly comparable vehicles. Jetson only good in nice weather, can't carry anything, can't tow, probably can't use it anywhere near populations. It's maybe a fun toy nothing more.
That video is 9 months old, so very old news. It DOES look super-cool and a very fun toy. But with a maximum range of around 20 miles on a charge, it's not even a useful commuter vehicle unless you live very close to work. Basically, it has the range of a bicycle if you are reasonably fit. They say that anybody can fly it, but I would not trust myself to fly it. You need three-dimensional situational awareness, and the coordination to control your motion in three dimensions.
There are many places a 10 mile (as the crow flies) distance might take an hour or two end to end. Close by Island hops. Mountainous terrains. Across forested or swamp areas with no roads. etc..
So this is no doubt niche use case only, but I am guessing they can sell around 50k each year, if it works to specification.
So this is no doubt niche use case only, but I am guessing they can sell around 50k each year, if it works to specification.
Niche use, and very expensive, and scary. Island-hopping only for islands that are VERY close together. Maui to Lana'i might be possible, but I sure wouldn't risk it. Mountainous terrain, forests, swamps, make car travel slow, but also make a rescue in the event of a crash more difficult. I don't see this as a serious commuter vehicle. I see it as a REALLY REALLY fun hobbyist craft. And at a $100K, for a "plane" that flies for only 20 minutes at a time, appealing only to the relatively wealthy. The VERY wealthy might prefer a helicopter, with its much longer range. So there's a narrow range of incomes this is going to appeal to. And you can't even take your girlfriend or boyfriend for a ride! A two-seater would have much more appeal, and if they don't go bankrupt I predict a two-seater will be in their future.
Oh, yes, the typical city dweller doesn't have space to land this. You'll have to DRIVE to a heliport! I have a very nice house in a very nice neighborhood and I don't have space to land this. Assuming it was even legal to fly low enough to land it here, which it probably isn't. So we're back to renting hangar space at a heliport.
I'd love to have one if I wasn't too scared to try it. But I'd have no place to keep it. Guess I'll stick with my boat. (It's really a fabulous boat! Handles rough conditions like a dream!):
To me, the Jetson eVTOL soulds like a really fun toy. The cybertruck sounds like a very ugly but useful (for somebody else, not for me) utility vehicle. The cybertruck is a work vehicle. I cannot imagine anybody wanting one except for work. Or work-like things, such as towing. Flying like a bird, however, as the BBC documentary says, is a universal dream.
a colleague of mine owns his plane and hangar, and visits it e weekend bc he says flying is his escape from the mundane life... so when i talked to him about the jetson one he said get it and offered me a spot in his hangar... very tempting indeed...
In your place, if I had the money and wasn't terrified of the thing, I'd get it!
Note that in your friend's hangar it would not be a commuter vehicle unless your friend lives very close to you.
You'd need to install a charger in his hangar if he doesn't already have a sufficiently robust 240-v. outlet there, but if you can afford the Jetson you can probably afford to install a charger. After 20 minutes of flying you have to charge it for an hour. (They claim a one-hour charge time.)
SalisburySam
Active Member
…and much worse: power poles and lines.Flying that close to tree tops
It's unclear what failure modes it has. What if a motor dies? How does it make sure it stays stable and lands safely? What happens if a motor dies over the water?
swaltner
Active Member
Their web site at Jetson ONE | Jetson - Personal Electric Aerial Vehicle lists these items. (emphasis mine)
- Race car-inspired Spaceframe safety cell design
- Can fly safely with the loss of one motor
- Hands free hover and emergency functions
- Triple redundant flight computer
- Ballistic parachute with rapid deployment time
- Lidar sensor driven auto landing system
petit_bateau
Active Member
There are 8 motors and 8 props on 4 booms. That at least is the way I read the design. If so this is not an uncommon configuration.
If so my understanding is that for this configuration losing one motor/prop is a performance degradation but not terminal.
Similar, but worse, I think for two motors out on different booms.
I'm unsure if it can cope with a complete boom loss, i.e. two motors gone on same boom - theoretically it (somewhat obviously, though will depend on how out of balance the CoG / CoL become) can stay stable but I suspect that it is into rapid controlled descent mode then.
Ok but it's unclear what "can fly safely" means. Aircraft like this are designed to hover, and generally tilt the rotors or tilt the entire craft to move in one direction or another. Loss of a rotor would mean loss of some ability to resist wind. I suppose this doesn't really matter if you're over a continent, but if you lose a rotor over the ʻAuʻau Channel and the trade winds are howling out of the northeast, and you can neither make it back to Maui nor make it to the southeast corner of Lānaʻi due to the reduced performance, what do you do? Ditch in the ocean? The big difference compared to a fixed wing aircraft with an engine out is that fixed wing aircraft are designed to fly WAY faster than the wind so the reduced performance isn't generally an issue when it comes to getting to a suitable landing spot.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Interesting.. the whole contraption can come down on a parachute if needed ? But then if you are flying at tree top heights, that is not going to help you.
it s def a toy that will wow everyone for years to come... still currently debating the logistics of storage and usage... hangar is 30min drive from home... and then there s the legal aspect of it all...
If it goes down in the water and you had the presence of mind to unclip your safety belt before hitting the water, you might not get dragged down with it. Planes often float, at least for a bit, if they ditch in the water and the pilot is good. I'll bet this thing sinks like a rock.
I presume that "can fly safely" means that under the normal conditions for which the craft was designed, 7 motors are sufficient to complete your short (20 miles maximum) trip.
I agree. For all types of failure combined, and the type of flying expected, the Jetson, with its 8 motors and computer stabilization, is probably safer than a helicopter. I'd even guess safer than a single-engine private plane. Definitely not safer than a jetliner, which is, I believe, the safest mode of transportation there is, per passenger mile. Helicopters are routinely used for tasks that carry inherent risks, like fighting fires or access to remote places. One time, leaving Purcell Mountain Lodge, in the Purcell Mountain range on the Manitoba-Alberta border, our helicopter ran into fog that blocked the pass we were going to go through. It turned around, but the pass we'd just come through was now blocked as well. We flew around for a bit until the pilot found a pass we could get through.
The Jetson would not be flying in that region at all. With a 20-mile range it could not have gotten there. Helicopters are more dangerous in part because they can be used in places where nothing else can. But also, the complex control mechanism and single engine of a helicopter are inherently more dangerous than the four-boom, 8-rotor arrangement of the Jetson
A person flying at treetop height had better have very good eyes and very sharp reflexes.
Also, on the safety question: They say it takes 5 minutes to learn to fly it. A helicopter pilot has to have many hours of training. I don't care how good the computer and software are, there is no substitute for hundreds of hours of training and experience.
SalisburySam
Active Member
What I didn’t see on the Jetson was variable-pitch or feathering props, likely because of complexity, weight, and cost. If a motor fails and the propeller blades cannot feather (rotating the blades on their hub to a position such that the airflow through them provides the least drag), then the dead prop is a huge aerodynamic liability, only slightly less so if it freewheels. In a true helicopter after engine failure, the aircraft falls pretty much like a rock. The pilot flattens the blade pitch and the airflow upward through the blades keeps them turning at speed allowing surprising lateral mobility. Just before crashing into the ground, the pilot Increases the pitch on the blades trading off blade rpm and momentum for a cushioned landing. Works very, very well. No go-arounds though, it’s a commitment and one-time thingie. For the Jetson, having eight motors somewhat mitigates the autorotation issue though, but not the feathering (drag) problem. And for an electric failure at the source (battery), the Jetson pilot is definitely landing immediately and uncomfortably. I would like to see some single- and multi-engine-out landings on their website.
All that said, I’d love one of these.
All that said, I’d love one of these.
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