519: Terik Weekes, Chief Engineer for Elroy Air: The future of electric flight
Should you prepare for a future of clean air travel, curb your flying, or other?
I saw Terik speak on a panel on electric flight. As Chief Engineer at a company winning awards for battery-powered planes, he knew what he was talking about. He has to know about the cutting edge of various fields, including batteries, aeronautics, and materials.
When the Wright Brothers first flew a heavier-than-air craft in 1903, nobody could have predicted a 747. Are electric planes today at the Wright Brothers stage of development, with electric 747s around the corner, are they at the closing end of that line of development with few advances left, or something else?
The news covers the drone market taking off, advances in batteries, and small planes going short distances. I’m curious about the prospect of planes flying people across oceans. Can it happen? If so, when? If not, why not and what does that mean for a culture that values air travel, or may be addicted to it.
What does someone at the frontier of the field anticipate, professionally for electric flying and personally for spending time with his distant family?
Terik and I cover all these questions and more.