My dream plane.
If I could somehow avoid flying airlines, having to be strip searched, looked suspiciously at by TSA officials with blue lamps, stand in endless lines, be routed through idiotic hubs etc for the remainder of my life, I would be the happiest man on earth. Airline travel has become my personal hell.
This prompted me to think about what kind of aircraft would I like to see manufactured that could compete with airlines in actually delivering me long distances at a reasonable cost. It obviously can't be as fast as a jetliner or it would cost too much to operate, but fast enough so that my door to door travel would be roughly in the ballpark. It must also have long range as fuel stops add time and money. It must be able to run on Mogas so I never risk getting stranded in some non-Avgas backwater.
Let's look at what is needed for really fast travel by using the Piper Aerostar as an example. As you know, it's the fastest piston twin made and could in the pressurised 700 version cruise up to 275kts on 2x350hp. That translates to roughly around 100hp per person. This leads me to these specs:
2 seat twin engine aircraft, slim design. Anything else over big vast oceans would feel uncomfortable. Full de-ice, of course. Powered by 2x turbo charged Rotaxes or maybe some lightweight turbodiesels (yet still to magically appear). It must be pressurised so it can cruise high, or else it will never achieve the speeds. With the Rotaxes as an example this equates to about 100hp/person, which is on par with the Aerostar. It would burn about 9gal/hr and I'd like a 2500nm range. At 275kts, that means about 80gal tanks and a 9hr endurance.
The cost of fuel would be about £40/hr if on mogas in the UK and about $32 in the US. I'll exclude all other costs for now. Now, this would in Europe always be more expensive than a Ryanair or an Easyjet ticket, but when you start comparing it to a full price carrier, it's probably on par. In the US it will always be cheaper.
Let's for giggles look at the fictional London to New York run via a stop in Reykjavik for fuel. Total distance 3300nm. That would use 108gal in total. With European mogas prices this would cost £533. With US mogas prices this would cost $378. Either way, pretty competitive on money considering I just had to pay £1100 for a one way ticket to the US now in high season. How about time? Well, 12hrs enroute, plus the time for refuelling/peeing at Reykjavik. No wind taken into consideration. Not bad at all and if you count your door to door time, I think this would be quicker.
Doable, right?
Last edited by AdamFrisch; 10th August 2011 at 04:27.