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> Aircraft ICEs burn through oil and parts like nobody's business Yikes, trainers don't have turboprops yet? I get that the initial cost would be higher (thoug
by microcolonel 9y ago
> Aircraft ICEs burn through oil and parts like nobody's business
Yikes, trainers don't have turboprops yet? I get that the initial cost would be higher (though not that much, I would think), but engine on time is the commodity that training airfields sell, it seems ludicrous that they would accept the piston tax.
- pdelbarba 9y agoA 550hp PT6 turboshaft engine (pretty much the smallest one you'll see in use) is around $300k new. OEM pricing on an IO-360 180hp piston engine is about $30k. Turbocharged engines in the same hp range as the PT6 can be had for around $100k. The dirty secret they don't tell you is that turboprop's have miserable efficiency. A 1950's era carborated piston will outperform them every time in terms of fuel economy. The Cessna caravan or Pilatus PC12 will burn on the order of 50gal/hr of jet fuel at cruise and as turbine engines get smaller, they lose further efficiency.
- mikeash 9y agoSeems like the cost would be ludicrously higher. With some brief searching around, it looks like small single-engine turboprops cost well over a million dollars and cost hundreds of dollars per hour to run. You can get a new Cessna 172 for about $200,000, and it'll cost in the neighborhood of a hundred dollars an hour to run. Or get a light sport trainer for $100,000 or so.
- blktiger 9y agoTurbo prop aircraft are generally above 200 hp and therefore are considered high-performance aircraft by the FAA. High performance aircraft generally are much more difficult for takeoff and landing because they fly so much faster which makes them unsuitable for a new pilot to learn on.