Turning Down the Volume

Sometimes, I am unsure if the roar I hear outside my house is thunder from a storm rolling in or a plane just passing by. I live 15 miles west of O’Hare International Airport and less than three miles east of Schaumburg Regional Airport, so, more times than not, it’s just an airliner zooming by or a local pilot enjoying the skies above on a clear day. So close that most times, I can spot the logo and identify the airline.

I have come to rarely notice the hum that resonates every minute or two as I have become accustomed to the sound. My son, Landon, whom you met in last month’s column, loves when he can spot an airplane, or “pwayne” as he says, and when he hears that rumble wave over, he instantly knows to look up for that aircraft whooshing on by. “Pwayne bye bye” he says as it goes off into the distance, in a sad sort of way, as he wants it to come back — because well, planes are exciting, right? However, when we have visitors, they have made comments about the “noise”.

Electric planes address noise-pollution as well as air pollution and can even be a more cost-friendly option as it can take just a few years to recapture the funds invested into the initial plane buy. What was once just a notion and a dream of electric propulsion in aircraft is now becoming a reality. From commercial seaplanes to pilot trainer planes, business aviation jets to electric vertical takeoff and landing (EVTOL) aircraft like what Uber Elevate plans to bring to public in 2023, the concept is — shall I say — electric.

There are a plethora of companies who have their hats in the ring. Eviation, Harbour Air and Bye Aerospace are just a few of the companies who promise to bring electricity to the industry soon — some of whom have already had successful test flights, too. Several companies like magniX and Siemens are working hard to provide the electric engines packed with enough umph to get these planes safely in the sky. And even Easyjet has partnered with Wright Electric to bring electric air travel to commercial airliners — in the next 20 or so years. Take a look at what some of the leaders in this area have to say about their plans for the future and how these aircraft will change on maintenance is done — and how often — starting on page 10 in our story Electrifying the Industry.

Will we go entirely electric? Probably not in my lifetime, or even my son’s. But one thing is for sure, in a few years, the volume will be turned down on the roars heard from my balcony  — thanks to electrifying the industry.