Posted on 02/10/2007 12:32:31 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
MORE than 60 years after jets took to the air, the dream of using them for personal transport has come closer to reality with a new type of small aircraft that will begin filling the skies this year. The era of the relatively affordable very light jet was proclaimed by the US Federal Aviation Administration this week when it forecast that thousands of the winged limousines would be taking up airspace within a few years. Policing the traffic could be a headache, the administration said.
Five firms are behind the first wave of the high-tech aircraft, which seat four to eight passengers. With engines of a type developed for military cruise missiles and drones, the jets cruise at about 400mph (645kmph) — 100mph less than an airliner, but double the speed of propellor-driven craft. They cost upward of £800,000, far below the millions of current light jets. The smallest piston-engined propellor aircraft set buyers back more than £100,000.
The microjets, which will reach US customers in the second half of the year, are being bought by businesses, wealthy amateur pilots and US air taxi firms that aim to offer on-call flights at the price of an airline seat. “We will steal traffic from cars, lots and lots,” predicted Donald Burr, the chief of Pogo Jet, one of the new on-demand US air taxi services that have sprung up.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Air crowding however is another matter...
:)
I'm still waiting for my Jetson's flying car.
No photo?
I dasn't knoe nun o' that there fancy colmputer stuff...
No it won't. If anything it will releive ATC congestion. Plus, it will take more than a decade to get "thousands" of them into the air.
Via C-SPAN, I heard the FAA Administrator say that at the National Press Club last week.
How will more of these type aircraft, or any type aircraft, relieve congestion?
They can operate off runways as short as 3500 feet. Airliners need about 8000 foot runways. Instead of driving to O'Hare for your airline flight you take off from Palwaukee (15 miles north), and instead of flying into Minneapolis Int'l you land at St. Paul Downtown. Less traffic at the hub airports. Different (tower) controllers, too.
True, but they still need to be fed into the airspace system. A micro jet requires the same airspace as a triple seven.
No, the separations are closer for the smaller ones. They will likely be operating at lower altitudes, too. The airliners usually are in the thirties, these guys will probably be in the upper tewnties. Flying direct instead of on airways also provides separation based on the "big-sky-little-airplane" theory.
It's been a while since I've been in the system but not that long ago. I'm most familiar with the DC area and the east coast. For someone who can afford one of these puppies, they may not want to base out of Manassas or Stafford or Hagerstown, etc. Sure, there will always be those who decide to put their micro jet out in Leesburg, but many will want to use Signature at Dulles or BWI or even DCA. The major metropolitan areas will feel the pressure no matter what kind of airplane is on the increase. If two or three or even four of these micro jets replace one G-5, that's more congestion. We'll have to see how the market takes off.
The buzz in the industry is that they will not operate often at hub airports, and few if any will base there. Their purpose is to avoid the major airport hassles.
The GA lobby will not agree to that without a fight.
It's not about conflict.
People (passengers) don't like going to the big airports. Security, parking, etc. These jets, by design, will allow them to skip that hassle. They will be allowed in the big airports, but will usually avoid them by choice.
Eclipse 500
Nice. Thanks, Las Vegas Dave.
Are these also affordable jets for smugglers?
Increased competition, increased choices, hard to see a down side. Safety an issue?
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