When do we get hybrid jet planes?

[taterguy]

Since hybrid cars are the magical solution to environmental problems then wouldn't it make sense to start making hybrid planes? Last I heard, planes do quite a bit of damage to the environment.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. I'm voting for the teleporter!

[wuushew]

2. a loaded 747 is pretty fuel economical

better efficiency in airplanes can be achieved through increases in volume and or reduction in mass.

What damage are you talking about? Some planes like the concord did damage the ozone layer.

[Captain Angry]

3. The fuel needed to get those batteries off the ground would offset the benefits.

We're a ways off from that.

The best thing to do is figure out how to move less product, requiring less flights, less fuel, and therefore less pollution.

[entanglement]

4. Modern commercial aircraft use high-bypass turbofans - way more efficient than

your regular internal combustion engines. Since commercial aircraft spend most of their flight time at cruise speed, and their engines are already designed to perform optimally at cruise, a 'hybrid' isn't of much use. There are several other reasons as well, including weight considerations for the extra electrical systems, finding suitable batteries, no equivalent of 'regenerative braking' for aircraft, and so on.

[lithiumbomb]

5. uh, it doesn't work that way

You can make a "hybrid" out of any vehicle that has an engine turnning a seperate drive system. You can throw any engine combination in there, gas, diesel, electric, turbine...

A jet engine is just that, a jet. Fuel is ignited and it shoots out the back (to significantly over simplify it). You can't make batteries work in that setup unless you're setting them on fire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbofan

[BlueJazz]

6. Here's the Batteries they will use

[thereismore]

7. Wouldn't work. jet planes need to spit out stuff to move ahead,

only propeller planes can run on electricity, and the whole incentive of converting kinetic energy back into electrical during breaking (something you do a lot in a car) goes away in a plane (planes don't break in mid air). So sorry, but won't work.

[Blue-Jay]

8. Will the batteries recharge when the pilot taps on the brakes?

Although at 33,000 feet, they usually just blow the stop signs.

[Solo_in_MD]

9. When they are more efficient than what we have now

The airlines are really serious about saving money. If there was a cheaper way to do things, they would fund the technology and exploit it. Whoever gets it patented would be richer than Bill Gates