alt Hacker News"Despite the higher mass, takeoff & climb performance of the consist is similar to that of the lead plane flying independently.
This means the consist is capable of taking off on the same runways and with similar climb profiles as the primary tow plane is alone."
This is just denying basic physics. Ask any glider pilot how the climb out on aerotow varies based on the weight of the glider being towed.
Replies
tgsovlerkhgsel • today at 2:03 AM
This seems to be the make-or-break aspect of the entire idea and the claim does seem incredibly suspect to me too. OTOH lying about something basic like this doesn't seem like a viable "business" idea. Is there any more documentation/evidence/explanation available for this?
Perhaps the glider isn't strictly a glider but has some electric assist that's only used for takeoff and initial climbout? Electric achieves unprecedented power per weight when you only need battery for a minute or two.
If you can leave all the endurance for cruise and main climb to the lead plane, electric becomes almost trivial.