4 ms·

I don't want a self-driving car either. I enjoy driving. I like to be in control. But for commercial purposes, self-driving cars are inevitable, of course.

oh_sigh 11y ago
Do you fly your own airplane as well?
- noir-york 11y ago
  I too enjoy driving my car - hell, I chose a manual and not an automatic for a reason. And I would love to fly my own plane too, for pleasure of course, not to get from A to B.
- nfbush 11y ago
  Pretty ridiculous comparison, lets be honest
  - nefitty 11y ago
    Well, think of it in terms of cost prohibitiveness. He doesn't fly a plane because it's too expensive. If things pan out well it will also be too expensive for him to continue manually driving.
    - atemerev 11y ago
      "Well"? Since when prohibitive prices are a good thing?
- erobbins 11y ago
  if I could rent a jet + fuel for the same cost as say, a first class ticket? yes, I would.
  - atemerev 11y ago
    You are in luck — there are some startups on track to deliver that in a few years. Still have to get the pilot license, though.
    - sokoloff 11y ago
      I doubt the underlying economics will ever deliver a rental jet at an all-in cost under $4/mi. My piston single-engine airplane (wildly cheaper than a turbine to purchase, maintain, and operate) runs over $1/mi. When I poke around Google flights at my common trips, it's hard to estimate tightly the cost of a first class ticket, but it seems around $1/mi for most of my routes (some Carribean routes are much cheaper than that). There's no way to operate a jet for that amount. Even if you take a family of four (where the personal airplane cost doesn't go up much, but the first class tickets obviously do), you can't quite cover even the variable costs of the Cirrus SF50 (the cheapest variable cost jet). That doesn't leave anything for maintenance, positioning flights (which require crew), capital costs, insurance, hangaring while not rented, training, or profit for the rental outfit. I'd love to be proven wrong, because I'm absolutely in the target market for even a $2/mi all-in rental jet (and already have the pilot quals/hours to qualify, except for the type-specific type-rating). I doubt it can be done for under $8/mi to the end user.
- sokoloff 11y ago
  I do (at least for domestic air travel east of the Mississippi River.
- atemerev 11y ago
  I'll get my pilot license as soon as I'll be able to afford it (and plane maintenance costs).

oh_sigh 11y ago

Do you fly your own airplane as well?

noir-york 11y ago
I too enjoy driving my car - hell, I chose a manual and not an automatic for a reason. And I would love to fly my own plane too, for pleasure of course, not to get from A to B.
nfbush 11y ago
Pretty ridiculous comparison, lets be honest
- nefitty 11y ago
  Well, think of it in terms of cost prohibitiveness. He doesn't fly a plane because it's too expensive. If things pan out well it will also be too expensive for him to continue manually driving.
  - atemerev 11y ago
    "Well"? Since when prohibitive prices are a good thing?
erobbins 11y ago
if I could rent a jet + fuel for the same cost as say, a first class ticket? yes, I would.
- atemerev 11y ago
  You are in luck — there are some startups on track to deliver that in a few years. Still have to get the pilot license, though.
  - sokoloff 11y ago
    I doubt the underlying economics will ever deliver a rental jet at an all-in cost under $4/mi. My piston single-engine airplane (wildly cheaper than a turbine to purchase, maintain, and operate) runs over $1/mi. When I poke around Google flights at my common trips, it's hard to estimate tightly the cost of a first class ticket, but it seems around $1/mi for most of my routes (some Carribean routes are much cheaper than that). There's no way to operate a jet for that amount. Even if you take a family of four (where the personal airplane cost doesn't go up much, but the first class tickets obviously do), you can't quite cover even the variable costs of the Cirrus SF50 (the cheapest variable cost jet). That doesn't leave anything for maintenance, positioning flights (which require crew), capital costs, insurance, hangaring while not rented, training, or profit for the rental outfit. I'd love to be proven wrong, because I'm absolutely in the target market for even a $2/mi all-in rental jet (and already have the pilot quals/hours to qualify, except for the type-specific type-rating). I doubt it can be done for under $8/mi to the end user.
sokoloff 11y ago
I do (at least for domestic air travel east of the Mississippi River.
atemerev 11y ago
I'll get my pilot license as soon as I'll be able to afford it (and plane maintenance costs).