#flying bus

[evilhorse]

Archer and Armstrong #10

[nocontextscreenshotsbutevil]

[nelc]

John Eaves, Flying Schoolbus

[gollygeenothanks]

Sketchy sketch

A scene from ‘Alas quirks are assholes’. Author is ToumeiKyoudai on ao3. Any fanfic with class 1A hijinks is always a good in my book.

[quarkmaster]

La Chiva

Serie Universo Chatarra

Alejandro Burdisio

[nikonstudio]

LEGO flying bus mania!

[autoauctions]

Airbus is getting into the flying electric taxi fray!

After decades of churning out updated versions of helicopters that first rolled out in the 1960s and 1970s, aerospace manufacturers are finally starting to look at new forms of small vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft as several companies try to pair electric energy sources with new propeller layouts. Airbus Helicopters is one such company, and this month it completed a full-scale test of the propulsion system for its CityAirbus concept -- a small eight-rotor VTOL craft designed for cities.

Still in engineering and prototype build stages, the CityAirbus envisions an electrically powered four-passenger craft meant for short flights -- from an airport on the outskirts of a major city to a city center, for instance -- powered by 100-kW Siemens electric motors for lift and for forward flight, drawing juice from a 140-kWh battery. The quad-fairing design uses a total of eight propellers and promises a much lower acoustic footprint, according to Airbus, in addition to greater safety and stability.

"We now have a better understanding of the performance of CityAirbus’ innovative electric propulsion system, which we will continue to mature through rigorous testing while beginning the assembly of the full-scale CityAirbus flight demonstrator," said Marius Bebesel, CityAirbus chief engineer.

What the CityAirbus does not promise, at least not right away, is autonomous operation which is what some competitors are currently aiming for; the VTOL craft will first be flown by a pilot for certification purposes, even though Airbus eventually wants the craft to be capable of autonomous flight.

Speaking of flight, the CityAirbus is expected to take to the air for the first time at the end of 2018, with the first test expected to be piloted by remote.

Range anxiety in cars is one thing, but when it comes to helicopter-like craft it's quite another, and the same thing goes for autonomous tech. The biggest question with this electric VTOL craft and others likely won't be airworthiness, but the capacities of their batteries, as well as their recharging time; the autonomous tech will come later.

One of the questions that these craft will have to answer is whether passengers will trust autonomous piloting software in an electric craft of this type. This, more so than battery tech, will determine if there's a need for VTOL aircraft of this type to be autonomous.

[cgtnofficial]

China’s homegrown ‘bus in the sky’ becomes global sensation

A ‘Made in China’ vehicle has received massive global interest after its debut last Sunday, with international media calling it “China’s answer to traffic jams.” “Flying bus”, “straddling bus”, “hovering bus” or whatever it might be termed, the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) is not quite like anything else running on road today, and is the brainchild of a group of Chinese engineers. Designed to increase the utilization of road space, its passenger compartment sits above other vehicles on the road below, allowing cars to pass underneath it without disrupting normal traffic. A model of the TEB debuted at the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo last Sunday. Designers say it can not only save road space to ease congestions, but also help to reduce air pollution – which are the two major problems plaguing Chinese cities.   Running along special tracks and powered by electricity and solar power, the gargantuan bus will be able to carry up to 1,400 passengers, and travel at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour. Once put into operation it has enough passenger places to replace 40 conventional buses, said Song Youzhou, chief engineer of the project. Song also said trial operations of such a bus will start in Qinhuangdao City, north China's Hebei Province, in the second half of 2016. "The TEB has the same functions as the subway while its cost of construction is less than one fifth of the subway. Its construction can be finished in one year," said Bai Zhiming, another engineer of the TEB project.