4 ms·

> not at the same price per pound, or so would the expectation be Exactly: > between 20% and 40% of the fuel consumption and operating costs of equivalent tra

• dogma1138 8y ago
  Operating costs are tricky, a helicopter with cargo lift capabilities can serve many more roles and is much more flexible which means that the total operating costs are spread across a multitude of mission profiles. Having a dedicated vessel that has rather limited use might have a much higher TCO since it will not replace traditional aircraft but rather supplement them.
  • masklinn 8y ago
    > Operating costs are tricky, a helicopter with cargo lift capabilities can serve many more roles and is much more flexible which means that the total operating costs are spread across a multitude of mission profiles. The vast majority of operation costs for an aircraft are maintenance and fuel, both of which are pretty direct functions of operation time. So being more flexible does not actually spread these, each role incurs its own operation costs which would not be incurred in a more limiting device. And helicopters have high operation costs.
  • geezerjay 8y ago
    >a helicopter with cargo lift capabilities can serve many more roles Which helicopter do you know that can loiter for 5 days without refueling while carrying a 10t payload?