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Ask HN: What are you working on (August 2024)?

634 points david927 | 2 comments | 24 Aug 24 22:00 UTC | HN request time: 0.452s | source

What are you working on? Any new ideas that you're thinking about?
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IliaLitviak ◴[25 Aug 24 12:03 UTC] No.41346689[source]▶
We are building a hybrid aircraft to connect cities with high speed door-to-door transportation, without train/airport infrastructure.

It’s a powered 55-seater auto gyro - an electric helicopter during take-off and landing and a conventional turboprop regional “plane” during flight. We are at a “works on paper, let’s start prototyping” phase: basic assumptions are verified by people from industry, a development plan is in place.

My co-founder is an experienced high-power electric propulsion engineer and he’s currently developing our power train. I am in charge of the business/operations/relationships side. We are currently looking for a third co-founder to lead aircraft design.

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lpfeifer ◴[25 Aug 24 13:04 UTC] No.41347003[source]▶
Great concept. Where can I find more info?

And out of curiosity, how did you decide on 55 seats?

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IliaLitviak ◴[25 Aug 24 14:11 UTC] No.41347433[source]▶
We are far from public yet, but you DM me on LinkedIn, I’m always open for a chat!

It’s a sweet spot. Large enough to be useful, small enough to have reasonable refuelling times.

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1. lpfeifer ◴[26 Aug 24 23:12 UTC] No.41363111[source]▶
Thanks, I will look out for more updates here on HN.

This kind of vehicle has fascinated me for years. Seems like they'll be the transportation mode of the future, and that fully self-driving commuter aircraft will come before their ground-based counterparts, since the sky is a much simpler realm than the ground. The main challenge seems to be safety / reliability. Turbulence dampening, emergency landing in a variety of terrain, automatic ground-obstacle avoidance and communication with other aircraft (and that requires near-perfect cybersecurity).

Exciting times.

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2. IliaLitviak ◴[28 Aug 24 11:59 UTC] No.41378521[source]▶
We are obviously thinking about that. VTOL capability makes our aircraft a bit more safe - it can literally land anywhere but water. And there’s probably a way to make it float two. But! Air is not an easier environment, it’s just different. With lot’s of limitation, both natural and regulation. My good friend is developing an automation suite for small aircraft and he’s dampened my optimism significantly! But still, It is the way to go, it’s just not as easy as it might seem.