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Future of air travel

post #1 of 13
8/9/05 at 9:18am
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  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
There is a new class of jet coming out - they carry 6 passengers and cost about $1 million. Honda, Cessna, and Eclipse aviation are all coming out with competing models.



When you combine this with with fractional ownership or "air taxi" service, charter aircraft will be as cheap as first class and full fare economy short haul service.

All that will be left is the discount airlines like southwest. If you are investing in airlines, I would avoid the big ones like American...
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post #2 of 13
8/9/05 at 9:24am
Quote:
Originally posted by e1618978
There is a new class of jet coming out - they carry 6 passengers and cost about $1 million. Honda, Cessna, and Eclipse aviation are all coming out with competing models.



When you combine this with with fractional ownership or "air taxi" service, charter aircraft will be as cheap as first class and full fare economy short haul service.

All that will be left is the discount airlines like southwest. If you are investing in airlines, I would avoid the big ones like American...

What is the range on these guys?

I did see an article (few months back) on teh subject of these air taxis.

What are the air traffic implications? Seems like there would be many more of these flying...much more to keep track of.

I, for one, would very much welcome something that gets away from treating us all like cattle to be stuffed into an air "bus". I hate commercial air travel like the plague.
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post #3 of 13
8/9/05 at 9:39am
Thread Starter 
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
Quote:
Originally posted by Chris Cuilla
What is the range on these guys?

I did see an article (few months back) on teh subject of these air taxis.

What are the air traffic implications? Seems like there would be many more of these flying...much more to keep track of.

I, for one, would very much welcome something that gets away from treating us all like cattle to be stuffed into an air "bus". I hate commercial air travel like the plague.

1100 miles for the Honda. I don't think that air traffic will be that much of a problem, because they will probably be flying out of smaller airports (and many more airports will probably be built).

There was a similar jump in air traffic when NetJets brought the cost of private jet usage down to the level where somebody with $20 million could afford it (instead of the $100 million that you have to have before you can afford to buy your own cesna X or gulfstream 5). There was a lot of moaning and complaining from the local neighbourhoods, but it happened anyway.

And in this case, the people living in those neighbourhoods will be able to afford to fly, so it will be a benefit rather than a hassle to have a nearby airport.

I don't think that the actual traffic in the air is a congestion problem, it is just a problem preventing crashes as they enter and leave the airports.
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post #4 of 13
8/9/05 at 10:16am
Quote:
Originally posted by e1618978
they will probably be flying out of smaller airports (and many more airports will probably be built).

A barrier to growth. Still. I live near Denver. Aside from the Taj Mahal...errr...DIA...we have a number of smaller "corporate" airports (one VERY close to where I live). That could be a base for these guys. With an 1100 mile range, there is a lot of places one could get from Denver. Almost all of the western U.S. (major CA regions, Washington, Oregon, Texas, etc.). Maybe even Chicago (900 miles by car...perhaps less "as the crow flies").

Quote:
Originally posted by e1618978
I don't think that the actual traffic in the air is a congestion problem, it is just a problem preventing crashes as they enter and leave the airports.

Not so sure. Only so much space up there...and if you factor in common/popular routes...the actual used/available airspace is reduced.

Still, I'd like to try it.
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post #5 of 13
8/9/05 at 3:56pm
If the concept were so great ... wouldn't you see a parallel in short range surface transportation?

You don't see people shunning busses and trains on thier daily commute for the Taxi's (because the ride would go from $2.00 to $40.00).

I really don't see how, in practical use, these would be even CLOSE to the $69 trips you can get on a major airline.

While I wouldn't encourage any friends to buy stock in Delta or Northwest these days, micro-jets aren't the reason
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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post #6 of 13
8/9/05 at 4:15pm
Thread Starter 
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
Quote:
Originally posted by KingOfSomewhereHot
If the concept were so great ... wouldn't you see a parallel in short range surface transportation?

You don't see people shunning busses and trains on thier daily commute for the Taxi's (because the ride would go from $2.00 to $40.00).

I really don't see how, in practical use, these would be even CLOSE to the $69 trips you can get on a major airline.

While I wouldn't encourage any friends to buy stock in Delta or Northwest these days, micro-jets aren't the reason

There are tons of parellels in surface transport. Rented limos, rental cars, taxis, etc. In airlines there are only private Rolls Royce limos, and huge mega buses.

Full fare economy is more like $300 to $500, and first class is $800 to $3000. This is not meant to compete with discount economy fares. The problem with the major airlines is that they make most of their money on higher priced tickets - these new charter services won't take many passengers, but they will take all of the profit.

There are already people who bypass the public airlines with charter jets, the problem is the they cost $2000 per hour and up. This will be significantly less expensive, and the demand will be much higher as a result.

Right now you don't get much extra benefit by buying a first class ticket. This is much better than first class - you can fly on your own schedule, direct to your destination, without the big time overhead, and you don't get bumped down to economy if you miss your connection (because there is no economy, and there is no connection).

http://www.dayjet.com/
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post #7 of 13
11/26/10 at 2:57am
Suddenly I feel the need to go to Lagos. Forum outing?
The devils that drive us do not discriminate
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The devils that drive us do not discriminate
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post #8 of 13
11/26/10 at 6:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Omega View Post

Suddenly I feel the need to go to Lagos. Forum outing?

I'm there. I'll buy the first round.
The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long. - Foudad Ajami
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The politics of charisma is so Third World. Americans were never going to buy into it for long. - Foudad Ajami
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post #9 of 13
12/3/10 at 8:31am
hmm... the thread is from 5 years ago... where are all these little jet-taxi's you promised us ???
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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post #10 of 13
12/3/10 at 10:49am
Thread Starter 
  • e1618978
  • will burn in the Fiery Pit of Hell.
http://www.linearair.com/index.aspx

They don't seem to have any airports near my house yet though, and they sell per-seat yet, which needs to be set up before people will use it. Honda just started delivering the jets a few months ago.
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post #11 of 13
12/22/10 at 9:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Omega View Post

Suddenly I feel the need to go to Lagos. Forum outing?

Quote:
Originally Posted by FloorJack View Post

I'm there. I'll buy the first round.

I'm in.
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post #12 of 13
12/24/10 at 1:16am
I've been playing NFS:HotPursuit and is it just me or playing/ seeing/ driving the Lamborghini Reventon and Bugati Veyron...

It seems that in the next 20 years it must be pretty easy to make flying cars that cost at most USD$500,000 each. If they can shove that much power, design and speed in the current supercars, they should be able to just "slant" things slightly for flight.

The current issues hampering this would be safety/ logistics/ marketing/ flying pathways/ carbon emissions.

Can't wait for Virgin Galactic to prove itself.

By 2100 we could easily have 4 hour transatlantic flights, humankind on Mars, flying cars.

But energy is the biggest challenge. I think we could discover something in the next 100 years that would revolutionise energy once and for all. Something beyond renewables, fossil or fission... Maybe fusion, maybe something else.

Will we be mature enough to handle it?

Three revolutions:
Technology (Computers, mobile, etc.)
Biology (Genetics, nanotech, etc.)
Energy (unlimited/ free/ non-environmentally damaging)

1st is underway. 2nd is at the edge of exploding new opportunities.
3rd will be the real humankind game-changer.

But will we still have, at the end of the day, terrorism, poverty, hunger?
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post #13 of 13
12/24/10 at 8:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post

It seems that in the next 20 years it must be pretty easy to make flying cars that cost at most USD$500,000 each. If they can shove that much power, design and speed in the current supercars, they should be able to just "slant" things slightly for flight.

The wings and/or rotors would be 20+ feet wide... What roadway would that fit on to make it a flying "car" ? Physics just doesn't allow for a car-sized flying machine with current technologies.
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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