- Jul 20, 2016
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AKKA Technologies has a new idea about moving people and cargo. Traditional flight has an enormous carbon footprint. Plus, we all know it is an colossal pain in the patootie. On the other hand, seeing new places and people and visiting friends and family have value beyond measure. So, what is the interim step between airline flight and our own flying cars? AKKA thinks it is a flying train.
The train / fuselage runs along tracks, picking up passengers and/or cargo, goes to the airport, and rolls onto the tarmac to clip onto the wings. It would be feasible for short range flights, and I can see how it might work here because people always are traveling between the big cities like Dallas and Houston. There would be staff onboard the train to vet, scan, whatever, the passengers before linking up with the wings.
The video gives an idea how it might work.
It is actually a really clever idea from the AKKA group called “Link & Fly” which separates the fuselage of an airplane from wings. No more grabbing a cab or bus to get to the airport; instead, the fuselage sits on a cart and magically transforms into a train. You pick it up at a downtown station, and then ride to the airport.
It is a fascinating concept that could change planes the way containers changed ships; instead of wasting all that time deplaning, unloading luggage, cleaning and reloading, you just swap out the incoming plane’s fuselage for the outgoing one, essentially containerizing the passengers. Turnaround time is significantly reduced. https://www.treehugger.com/aviation/plane-detachable-fuselage-could-really-take.html
The train / fuselage runs along tracks, picking up passengers and/or cargo, goes to the airport, and rolls onto the tarmac to clip onto the wings. It would be feasible for short range flights, and I can see how it might work here because people always are traveling between the big cities like Dallas and Houston. There would be staff onboard the train to vet, scan, whatever, the passengers before linking up with the wings.
The video gives an idea how it might work.