An idea for electric aviation
So I love the idea of electric powered airplanes. The two main drawbacks right now, are the weight/range ratio and the charge time. The weight to range problem is being improved all the time, and shouldn't be a problem within a few years.
The charge time, however, will take YEARS of development to improve significantly...and will probably never get to the 10 minutes or less it takes to fill up an airplane's tank.
So my suggestion would be that developers create a standard for batteries and airports carry banks of them. This way instead of waiting for your batteries to charge, you simply replace them with already charged ones at the airport for a slight fee. (Obviously designers would have to make the batteries easily removable for this to work.)
This way you'd buy a plane with batteries in it, but you don't really count the batteries as "yours." You switch them out whenever their running low. Airports charge something like $50 or even more to replace batteries. That will very easily cover the cost of buying and charging the batteries for the airport.
I think that's the best solution for electric power to REALLY work. What do you guys think?
Hindering the Advancement of Battery Technology
How does this work if different airplanes have different battery packs? In other words how does a Piper "Cub" carry the battery pack for a Cessna 182? All would also have to be the same voltage and have the same current drain characteristics. Also important to me would be how long do the batteries have to be in service to "break even"? And, with that said, do I want to stay with an Li-ion battery when a Li-Po battery comes along? As noted earlier, there are soooooo many questions, and until it becomes financially viable, it won't happen ... regretfully.
Keep thinking, though, we need more out-of-the-box ideas to re-energize aviation.