Air-Transport

However far you travel, your basic needs travel with you. But where do you do “it” when you are in a moving box? In this post, I explore the history and future of toilets in transportation systems.

The Changtai Bridge - The World’s Longest Cable-Stayed Bridge A magnificent feat of engineering opened in China: The Changtai bridge. It is more than 10kms long and connects the cities of Changzhou and Taizhou across the Yangtze river. It combines both road traffic and railway lines, and it shortens the travel time between the two cities from 80 minutes to just 20. Once again, China shows its prowess in civil engineering. Maglev in Augsburg? The SWA, the utility and mobility provider in Augsburg, Germany, is reportedly looking into the construction of a maglev. The idea is to build the maglev instead of the planned tramway line 5 from the central station to the new university hospital. If these plans were to come true, it would be the first ever line implementing the Transport System Bögl (TSB). This topic might be driven by political interest, as the original plans to erect a TSB in the city of Nuremberg have faltered, but Bavaria’s Minister President Markus Söder would like to see this technology of Bavarian origin in his home state. evtol News Last but not least another web tip for all fans of electric planes, aerotaxis and eVTOL in general. This homepage collects all relevant information regarding this interesting technology in one place. The only drawback is that its RSS feed seems to be broken, so I won’t see their latest updates in my inbox. Title image by China Communications Construction

Every second year, the IAA becomes the Mekka of the automotive world. Since the IAA moved from Frankfurt to Munich in 2021, it also showcases other mobility solutions, not just cars. Much has been written in the last days about the cars, and here I want to give an overview about the other mobility options that were on show.

Bridge to Sicily - Construction scheduled to start this year A ride from mainland Italy to Sicily takes hours, as you have to take a ferry across the Medina Strait. But this is about to change: The world’s longest suspension bridge shall connect Sicily to the rest of Italy. The bridge shall span a record of 3.3km. As a suspension bridge, it shall be especially resistant against earthquakes. Construction is supposed to start in 2026. Once finished, it can carry 6,000 cars per hour and additionally 200 trains per day. Autonomous eVTOL supplies offshore oil rig in China Chinese company Autoflight tested their fully electric eVTOL that can carry up to 400kg of load. The purpose of this autonomous drone is to support offshore oil rigs. Current ways of supplying them are either via ship, which can take up to ten hours or more, or via helicopter, which is very expensive. Thus a fully electric and autonomous drone could save lots of time and money. The drone fills a similar niche as the MightlyFly about which I wrote in July. As soon as these drone types become reliable and economical, they are goint to reshape many industries. Metrocosmos - a fascinating look into the underground This week I watched the documentary Metrocosmos by Filmmaker Timo Novotny. In this five-part documentary, Timo takes us on a journey into the underground of Paris, Prague, Berlin, Vienna and Naples. We learn about the fact that the metro in Naples is one of the metros with the steepest gradiants. Or that the length of the Paris metro, which is already one of the largest in the world, is currently in the progress of being extended to twice the track length! On this journey we also meet all kind of people in the underground, from the construction workers who built the tunnels, over designers who create the visual communication concept, to the urban explorers who find abandoned places all over the networks. All of this is presented in a captivating visual style, combined with a hypnotic soundtrack. This is a must-watch for all subway afficinados. The videos are currently available (in German) on the ARD Mediathek. Title Image by the Messina Strait Bridge Company.

Autonomous Rail/Road Transport Vehicle to be Evaluated in California American startup Glid Technologies announced a partnership with Mendocino Railway to operate their autonomous transport vehicles. The idea of their “GliderM” vehicles is to automate the first and last mile of intermodal transport. The vehicle that looks like a truck can travel both on roads and on tracks. It is supposed to pick up a container autonomously, then move it across streets and railway tracks. It might compete with the autonomous railway cars that Parallel Systems is developing (see my blogpost here). This idea reminds me of other combined rail/road vehicles, like the “Rail-Road Bus” that the German Railways used in the 1950s. Click here to see some original footage. As the idea is not really new, I wonder what they see as their unique selling proposition. Unfortunately Glid’s company homepage is very low on details of the concept. Hopefully I can do a further evaluation once more information is made available by the company. Ekranoplans Making a Comeback? Ekranoplans - or Wing-in-Ground Effect (WIG) - are airplanes that can fly directly above the water surface. The main user of these airplanes was the Red Army, who planned to use them to transport goods and troops quickly to enemy beaches. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the idea came out of fashion. Now activities in China and the US indicate a comeback could be imminent. China appears to develop a new WIG, the “Bohai Sea Monster”, as Navalnews.com reports. With the ongoing thread of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, it needs little imagination what the intention is. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the American research agency DARPA worked on the Liberty Lifter concept. The goal of this program was to develop a new WIG concept, usable both for Military and civilian scenarios. In contrast to the Chinese efforts, no prototypes are yet in sight. Still it appears the Ekranoplans could populate the World’s waters once more. Blended Wing Bodies Coming to Civilian Aircraft? Blended Wing Body aircrafts promise improved efficiency and additional space for seating or cargo. While the original idea is more than 100 years old, its application has so far been largely restricted to military aircraft. The American B2 bomber is the most prominent one. But now two innovative startups want to bring this concept to the civilian sector: JetZero and Natilus. This video by the German platform Airliners.de explains the pros and cons of Blended Wing Bodies in detail and why now seems to be the right time for a comebock of this idea. Title Image by Glid Technologies.

Hypersonic Aircraft Powered by Hydrogen Following NASA, also the European Space Agency ESA plans to develop a hypersonic aircraft. The European INVICTUS project even goes one step further and aims add an environmentally friendly propulsion system using Hydrogen. In addition, the aircraft is supposed to take off horizontally, so it can start and land at conventional airports. As hypersonic airfact travel close to space, this shall one day provide convenient access to space travel. Yet this is still science fiction - NASA estimates the development will take decades and predicts commercial travel in the 2050s. Czech Railways End Traditional Dining Car Service Some sad news from the Czech Railways CD. They plan to decomission their old-style dining cars on the trains connecting Prague with Berlin and Hamburg. They will be replaced by modern Bistro cars. Gone are the days where you would get your traditional Czech Roast with dumplings, prepared in an actual kitchen and served on a table with table linen. It was the last dining car where you could get to feel like you were in the “Old Europe”. Now also this train arrives in the present. Too bad I never had the chance to dine in one of those cars. Snake on a Globe Ever since I got my first mobile phone - a Nokia - I love playing Snake. I also love maps. This browser game is the perfect combination of both - you play Snakes on globe! You guide the snake from one city to the next. The next city is randomly chosen, and you only see the city’s name. You need a good knowledge of geography to find the shortest way and get the highest score. A perfect way to pass your time and test your geography. Also have a look at the author’s other projects, he has a knack for visualisation of information. After spending more time than intended playing snake, here is another way to spend countless hours! Title Image: ©️ESA

Autonomous Drones Perform Inventory in Warehouse A subsidiary of Hyuandai Motors now uses drones to perform inventory in their warehouses. It reduces the time for an inventory by 90% to 30 Minutes. The drones fly autonomously and orient themselves with their cameras - no GPS required. Seems like a perfect way to free humans from boring and repetitive work. Military Transport Drone Carries Freight Almost 1,000km Company MightyFly of California presents an autonomous transport drone. It can fly freight of 220kg for almost 1,000km and take off and land vertically. It is intended for military applications, but can also have civilian use, for instance in disaster relieve. Watch this video to get a first impression. Should this mode of transport prove reliable and efficient, I see the potential to profoundly change freight transport. Imagine a company urgently needs some extra parts from their supplier – they can have them within the hour if they have such a drone. Amazing! Autonomous Submarine for Drug Trafficking When I think of submarines, I think of boats full of soldiers, hunting the enemy or carrying rockets. Transport of people or goods do not come to my mind - even though hypersonic submarines might be used this way in the future. Yet it appears my imagination has not been vivid enough. Submarines, or at least “semisubmersibles”, are alreaddy in active use for freight transport. The use is neither military nor civilian. It is for drug transport. From this article I learned there are actual shipyards in the Columbian jungle. The semisubmersibles carry cocaine and other drugs from Columbia to other countries in America, and now across the globe. Nowadays, these boats can even be unmanned, using Starlink for communication and navigation. Ingenious – and worrying. How can we protect ourselves from such boats, be it for them carrying drugs or even other malign payloads such as explosives? Title Image is a screenshot from the video that MightyFly released on Youtube.

Well, just about everything needs energy. But there are a few transportation systems that use energy that is already available and not used for anything else. In this article, I want to show you three solutions that require no oil to be pumped, no coal to be burned, and no electricity to be generated.

Delivery drones have been in the news for the past few years. Now they are starting to be used in the real world. In the Chinese high-tech city of Shenzen, delivery drones are now delivering food.