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> with out security and line ups You have that on general aviation too, today. > I can see how you might change a $200 15-20 min helicopter ride into a $120
by outworlder 7y ago
> with out security and line ups
You have that on general aviation too, today.
> I can see how you might change a $200 15-20 min helicopter ride into a $120 15-20 min VTOL ride profitably, but hard to see how it becomes a $60 ride any time soon...
Last I looked, range was an enormous problem.
Let's see. 20 min VTOL ride. 30 minutes reserve "fuel" or 1 hour if IFR. +more "fuel" to reach the alternate airport (if fixed wing) or the nearest landing site. These are recommendations for GA, if you are doing this commercially the requirements may be different (tend to be stricter)
You can get away with a lot if you only fly in clear blue skies in locations with very stable weather. You still need to have plenty of range for unforeseen events. You don't burn off batteries when flying either, so empty or full batteries weight the same.
These things won't get cheap in the short term. Non-helicopter efficient VTOL is pretty hard to do, that doesn't help costs either. Companies would do well in trying to solve one problem first (flying 'vtol' taxis) before trying to solve the other problem (electric airplanes).
- ska 7y agoI think we are saying basically the same thing - this works only on short runs and the fixed costs are similar. So where are the putative gains? 2x I can see, maybe. But it's a big maybe. 10x seem to be fantasy land. So that means no disruption.