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How will these planes succeed when point-to-point helicopter service has not proven to be a widespread success? What is the key difference between what Joby is

How will these planes succeed when point-to-point helicopter service has not proven to be a widespread success? What is the key difference between what Joby is planning and Uber's helicopter service (using already FAA approved helicopters and regular fuel)?

aeternum 5y ago
Expense is a major factor for helicopters. Helicopters vibrate so much that many require a complete airframe overhaul after some number of hours. From this POV they are actually a very expensive consumable good themselves on top of the high fuel burn required.
- rexreed 5y ago
  So the economics of the point-to-point air ride hailing industry comes down to the cost of the flying equipment? Given Uber is operating at a substantial loss, is this the primary reason why their Uber-Air service isn't working out? I suspect it's more than just the cost of helicopters and their maintenance.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    There aren’t that many places where “drive to an airport/heliport [or landowner and local ordinances approved landing area], get flown to another one, and then finish your journey from there” is a massive convenience. Commuting from an office building with a helipad to an airport to catch a private jet? Makes sense if ground transport is 45+ minutes. Building a helipad on your lake property and commuting to the local airport via helicopter? Makes sense if the local airport is 45+ minutes away, but otherwise it seems like a car is a better option. I just don’t see that many helicopter flight pairs making sense to justify having a lot of on-demand helicopters. (And if you don’t have enough to make the latency low, it makes even less sense to the users.)
    - rexreed 5y ago
      So then how would Joby's service be any different than the above? Seems like the same problems to me. Gotham Air attempted this sort of service but went bust, and now the website just bounces to google.com
      - sokoloff 5y ago
        Honestly, I think Joby’s not likely to even get to the point where they fail at that part of the problem, but I agree with you that’s another significant filtering point before success.
- thehappypm 5y ago
  They’re also way, way harder to pilot than planes, noisier, and slower.

aeternum 5y ago

Expense is a major factor for helicopters. Helicopters vibrate so much that many require a complete airframe overhaul after some number of hours. From this POV they are actually a very expensive consumable good themselves on top of the high fuel burn required.

rexreed 5y ago
So the economics of the point-to-point air ride hailing industry comes down to the cost of the flying equipment? Given Uber is operating at a substantial loss, is this the primary reason why their Uber-Air service isn't working out? I suspect it's more than just the cost of helicopters and their maintenance.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  There aren’t that many places where “drive to an airport/heliport [or landowner and local ordinances approved landing area], get flown to another one, and then finish your journey from there” is a massive convenience. Commuting from an office building with a helipad to an airport to catch a private jet? Makes sense if ground transport is 45+ minutes. Building a helipad on your lake property and commuting to the local airport via helicopter? Makes sense if the local airport is 45+ minutes away, but otherwise it seems like a car is a better option. I just don’t see that many helicopter flight pairs making sense to justify having a lot of on-demand helicopters. (And if you don’t have enough to make the latency low, it makes even less sense to the users.)
  - rexreed 5y ago
    So then how would Joby's service be any different than the above? Seems like the same problems to me. Gotham Air attempted this sort of service but went bust, and now the website just bounces to google.com
    - sokoloff 5y ago
      Honestly, I think Joby’s not likely to even get to the point where they fail at that part of the problem, but I agree with you that’s another significant filtering point before success.
thehappypm 5y ago
They’re also way, way harder to pilot than planes, noisier, and slower.