I suppose Airbus is going ahead with the electric taxi idea
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As there is a necessity to run the engines up to operating-temperature before takeoff, that "waste" thrust can be used to assist the electric taxi scenario. no reason why a single ground-controller could not monitor engine starts from a fixed, designated "start area" is there?
Delays after engine-start are not going to save fuel , so the only saving is going to be between Gate and "light-up" points.
IMO the saving is more wishful and theoretical thinking than an actual ,practical saving. hope i'm proved wrong!
Delays after engine-start are not going to save fuel , so the only saving is going to be between Gate and "light-up" points.
IMO the saving is more wishful and theoretical thinking than an actual ,practical saving. hope i'm proved wrong!
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It seems the B787, once it gets it's battery problem resolved would be the perfect airplane with their massive electrical power to use electric motors to taxi and push back. The APU would get them to a point when engine start could give them a few minutes to warm up and save tons of fuel. Also hydraulic power could be used if more efficient.
Now we have cars that can park themselves so why not have airliners that can push and taxi by automation with someone, ramper or pilot to monitor?
I hate automation that is required, deteriorating pilot skills, but using it to save labor costs and fuel is in the near future.
Now we have cars that can park themselves so why not have airliners that can push and taxi by automation with someone, ramper or pilot to monitor?
I hate automation that is required, deteriorating pilot skills, but using it to save labor costs and fuel is in the near future.
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The power back could actually be monitored with cameras very carefully from a camera verifying all was clear from a company observation tower. In 10 years I think this will be the normal way of doing things.
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CY, how about spinning up the main gear before landing to reduce rubber loss on touch down. We had a nose wheel spin up on our Citation Jet in the 70's. It was a flying whore house with video, etc in Alaska during the oil find. They could land on gravel strips and bleed air spun up the nose gear so it was not as likely to throw rocks into the engines. The landing lights had screens in front of the light.
Unfortunately we got it after it came back to California. That is how they got their rocks off in Alaska. Maybe it will help prevent burning rubber on our airliners here.
Unfortunately we got it after it came back to California. That is how they got their rocks off in Alaska. Maybe it will help prevent burning rubber on our airliners here.
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Energy
Eventually the batteries used for taxi must be recharged by the engines. Besides, there is also a cost with carrying the weight of that extra equipment. I can only see some kind of advantage with this system for short flights with long delays on ground before take off, but then you should have had a slot before leaving the gate 
