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Aren't Cessna 172s and other small planes so efficient that the optimization strategy is to electrify them?

It's still early days with short flying time, but electric planes are a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipistrel_Velis_Electro

Flight training is seemingly the first market:

"The eDA40 will compete with Bye Aerospace’s new all-electric eFlyer 2 and eFlyer 4 aircraft, which have been securing significant preorders in the flight training market."

https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2021-10-13/diamon...



Sort of. One feature of fuels is that the planes gets lighter as you burn it. You can also choose not to fill it up in order to have more cargo (or passengers). Batteries don't offer the same flexibility, so they will have to be pretty power dense to provide the same utility.

I'm still rooting for electrification there too. I can't imagine an electric drive train to cost as much as a Lycoming/Continental engine overhaul.


This is especially important in small aircraft, as many have ZERO cargo capacity (just enough for the pilot - no passengers) at full fuel load.


No. Energy density for batteries is at least an order of magnitude off where it needs to be for manned flight.




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