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[...] with a cargo bay that's 12 times larger than a Boeing 747-400 [...]
Seems like a risky bet to me. Is the market big enough to justify a dedicated aircraft? Perhaps there's a market for other items that "bulk out" a cargo plane before the reach the airframe's weight limits...but I just don't see this succeeding. It takes a LOT of investment to manufacture aircraft and I just don't see this idea being profitable for a VERY long time...and investors typically have short memories.
But there is a very significant difference. Boeing & Airbus started from already certified aircraft and modified them. The cost of much of the design had already been incurred. This is a design from a clean sheet of paper / blank computer screen.Not really much risk at all.
Its being developed for the company that makes the wind turbines so they can ferry the blades. No different than the Boeing Dreamlifter used to ferry parts of the 787 and the Airbus Beluga.
But there is a very significant difference. Boeing & Airbus started from already certified aircraft and modified them. The cost of much of the design had already been incurred. This is a design from a clean sheet of paper / blank computer screen.
According to Radia, it is more than halfway through its estimated eight-year process to design, build, and certify the mammoth WindRunner.
A startup wants to build the world's largest cargo plane big enough to carry wind turbines the size of a football field — take a look
Radia, a Colorado-based startup, wants to build a cargo plane the length of a football field to deliver large wind turbine blades.www.businessinsider.com
A company that hasn't, as far as I can tell, ever manufactured anything, is going to build the largest cargo aircraft ever in the next few (4?) years? What could go wrong?
A startup wants to build the world's largest cargo plane big enough to carry wind turbines the size of a football field — take a look
Radia, a Colorado-based startup, wants to build a cargo plane the length of a football field to deliver large wind turbine blades.www.businessinsider.com
A company that hasn't, as far as I can tell, ever manufactured anything, is going to build the largest cargo aircraft ever in the next few (4?) years? What could go wrong?
April 1 lives on....
The story pre-dates April 1 by at least a couple of weeks. CNN were reporting it on 19 March.April 1 lives on....
The story pre-dates April 1 by at least a couple of weeks. CNN were reporting it on 19 March.
Given that in Britain (and Europe?) many of the wind farms are being put on hilltops or offshore, they won't be getting many orders from this side of the pond. Add in the Green brigade opposing these developments and......
On the other hand --
On my way up to Ft Sill last year, drifing through north Teksas, I passed literally 10-12 miles of turbines in fields 3 or 4 miles wide. I understand that there are similar installations up in the panhandle and between Lubbock and Midland-Odessa.
I still think this plane is not a good idea.
I'm not sure if its still happening, but at my previous company we were in negotiations to supply off-shore helicopter support for a massive future off-shore wind farm in the Atlantic. I left the company, so I don't know if the farm is still being built.
Yeah, I'd think heavy-lift choppers would be more economical.
No, the helicopters were to provide the offshore support. Like flying mechanics out to a turbine needing maintenance.
This proposed aircraft is to transport the blades from the place of manufacture to the location where they will be installed. That could be hundreds or thousands of miles.
A heavy-lift would not be more economical for that…