From: gilmer@crosslink.net   
      
   >   
   > Actually, the fuel for an equivelant gas powered aircraft woudl be about   
   > six euro an hour, maybe eight. A 150 HP airplane would cost about 60Euro   
   > an hour in France.   
      
   Good catch!   
      
   The "green" types alwas underestimate the cost of electricity.   Moreover,   
   when they "price" gas or other fuel they also tend for "forget" that much of   
   that cost is for taxes.   
      
   All that said, it still would be fun to have a new generation of  "sport"   
   aircraft with short range.   Because of the short range most such plane   
   whould tend to crowd about the home field.  This, in turn, would encourage   
   the development of more small airports.   They would not need fuel service   
   so the major expense would just be the real-estate and paving. We could also   
   expect a higher number of "out of fuel" type accidents.   
      
   Maybe the French should also look into catapaults (electricaly powered, of   
   course) to reduce the energy needed to get the ship airborne.   "Super   
   Capacitors" might help store and recover some much of the energy used.   
      
   Finally, of course, it would pay to invest in some "back up" power in the   
   form of a high energy density primary cell.    Since it would not be   
   routinely used,  money would not be a concern.   It could be a scaled up   
   hearing aide battery.   
      
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   > Bertie   
      
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