US Air Force burns more money on electric flying taxis

The US Air Force is dipping its toe into electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft by trialing a short-hop air taxi that has yet to get FAA certification to fly.  Electric aviation biz Archer said on Monday it signed a $142 million (£110m) deal with the USAF for the purchase of six of Archer's Midnight eVTOL …

[Jan 0]

"almost 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter."

Bring it on! Quiet life in town and country could be creeping back.

What's next? Quiet tyres for cars? Noise cancelling dog collars?

[Gene Cash]

Re: "almost 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter."

"Noise cancelling dog collars?"

OK, now THAT would be funny. Can you imagine the look on the dog's face? I would get one in a heartbeat.

[Neil Barnes]

Re: "almost 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter."

Do they mean 'almost 30dB quieter'?

[druck]

Re: "almost 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter."

It might be quieter, but I suspect higher pitched and more annoying than the gentle thud thud of a helicopter..

[GruntyMcPugh]

Re: "almost 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter."

I saw a documentary on YouTube about a drone delivery service in Africa, where they use asymmetric propellers to change the tone of the drone, and it made the noise far less annoying. no idea if it's practical at this scale though.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "almost 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter."

Yes, I've seen it, I think it was a Mark Rober video.

Astonishing development.

[Kernel]

Re: "almost 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter."

"Yes, I've seen it, I think it was a Mark Rober video.

Astonishing development."

Not really - to quote from the service manual of my 2007 Mazda BT-50 (Ford Ranger) ute:

'Noise (wind noise) which occurs during fan operation has been reduced due to nonuniform positioning of the fan blades.'

The fan definitely looks a bit different.

[Neil Barnes]

Re: "almost 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter."

Turns out it's probably quite a lot quieter than the four jets (or two jets, twice) that went supersonic over Potsdam this morning!

[FILE_ID.DIZ]

alt.conspiracy.black.helicopters

Ol King of the Hill reference.

[Throatwarbler Mangrove]

Re: alt.conspiracy.black.helicopters

Dude, the icon was right there.

[FILE_ID.DIZ]

Re: alt.conspiracy.black.helicopters

It was, wasn't it...

[Flak]

Movies

Looks like it is straight out of Avatar

[Binraider]

As ever, offer the military a new or better capability and the money will follow. A near-silent observation drone has enormous utility, even if it's flight-time is battery limited.

Still, this sort of thing is what pushes technology forwards.

[Jon 37]

I'm wondering if this is a potential special forces delivery vehicle.

Right now, they can use helicopters for some special forces operations. If this really is quieter, that may be an advantage. For a quick trip across a border, or from a Navy ship to some target near the coast.