NASA reveals what the final X-57 all-electric X-plane will look like
In the video they tout the X-57 as a contribution to the “urban air mobility market”, arguing that small aircraft can decrease commute times and avoid congestion. This seems very backwards to me. Cars are already very inefficient in their use of space, since they require large amounts of space around them when they are moving at speed. I expect this issue to be significantly worse for aircraft, with the speed they are moving at, the safety distances needed to avoid crashes, and the volume of air they are disturbing around them. While they can potentially make use of the vertical dimension for more space, they still have to move through the surface layer for take-off and landing and will want to stay close to the ground for short trips. And they potentially add a lot of noise to an already noisy urban environment.<p>I’m all for ambitious research projects pushing the boundaries of electric flight, and there’s probably reasonable use cases for planes like the X-57. But a sustainable urban transport future looks much more like buses and bicycles rather than small electric aircraft.