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Sir Stephen Hillier, chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, said the travel industry is at an “inflection point” and needs global co-operation ahead of the “widespread” adoption of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) designed to carry passengers on short trips.

His comments come after UK airspace struggled to cope with conventional passenger jets during a summer of delays compounded by the failure of the country’s air traffic control system over the August bank holiday, which grounded hundreds of aircraft and delayed thousands of passengers.

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[-] flying_wotsit@feddit.uk 14 points 1 year ago

VTOLs are nothing but rich people's toys. They'll never take off (ha!) among the public. Good public transport will always be cheaper and less wasteful.

[-] mackwinston@feddit.uk 5 points 1 year ago

Not only that, but they will make an ungodly racket while doing so. Multi propellers all turning at a slightly different RPM, with all the annoying beat frequencies this will create. They will also likely be almost as expensive as helicopters (only a very small amount of a helicopter's cost is its fuel, the overwhelming majority is maintenance and insurance).

[-] tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.uk 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I've seen the standard of driving. I really don't want anyone less qualified than a pilot over my head. Learning to fly is expensive and likely to remain so.

[-] tal@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I’ve seen the standard of driving. I really don’t want anyone less qualified than a pilot over my head.

A computer?

[-] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Flying taxi? So like helicopters?

[-] ojmcelderry@lemmy.one 8 points 1 year ago

I was envisioning something more like this.

A London black cab, flying above the London skyline, with purple dragon wings

[-] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago

Solutions to a not and never existing problem. At least not on that scale, VTOL taxi's won't be a thing

this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
10 points (100.0% liked)

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