Lancair turboprop

[[email protected]]

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/04/a-diy-airplane-that-combines-four-seats-turbine-power-and-jet-like-speeds/
Karl

[Tom De Moor]

In article <1e13598a-62af-4473-9a2d-
>, says...
>
> http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/04/a-diy-airplane-that-combines-four-seats-turbine-power-and-jet-like-speeds/
> Karl



Nice plane without a market for it.

Tom De Moor

[Voyager]

Tom De Moor wrote:
> In article<1e13598a-62af-4473-9a2d-
> >, says...
>>
>> http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/04/a-diy-airplane-that-combines-four-seats-turbine-power-and-jet-like-speeds/
>> Karl
>
>
>
> Nice plane without a market for it.
>
> Tom De Moor

And not even close to "jet-like" speeds. Very few jets have an economy
cruise of 310 MPH and max cruise of only 385. This is a turboprop with,
duh, turboprop-like speeds. :-)

And, yes, I expect virtually no market for it. There will always be a
few with more money than brains, but probably not more than a handful.

Matt

[Peter Dohm]

"Voyager" > wrote in message
...
> Tom De Moor wrote:
>> In article<1e13598a-62af-4473-9a2d-
>> >, says...
>>>
>>> http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/04/a-diy-airplane-that-combines-four-seats-turbine-power-and-jet-like-speeds/
>>> Karl
>>
>>
>>
>> Nice plane without a market for it.
>>
>> Tom De Moor
>
> And not even close to "jet-like" speeds. Very few jets have an economy
> cruise of 310 MPH and max cruise of only 385. This is a turboprop with,
> duh, turboprop-like speeds. :-)
>
> And, yes, I expect virtually no market for it. There will always be a few
> with more money than brains, but probably not more than a handful.
>
> Matt

It looks to me like they are very close to the initially projected speed
claims for a couple of the VLJ aircraft and, as an amateur-built kit, they
may not need much of a market to be above break-even. But, like you, I see
it as a turboprop with projected speeds near the upper end of the turboprop
speed range.

I would definitely NOT throw it into the "more money than brains" category;
but, the only place where I am convinced that it would survive a real cost
versus benefit analysis would be as a trainer--provided that a type
certificate would not be a requirement.

Peter

[Ron Wanttaja[_2_]]

Voyager wrote:

> And not even close to "jet-like" speeds. Very few jets have an economy
> cruise of 310 MPH and max cruise of only 385. This is a turboprop with,
> duh, turboprop-like speeds. :-)

The max cruise is higher than that of the Eclipse and the Cessna
Citation Mustang...

http://www.eclipseaerospace.net/images/Total_Eclipse_2010.pdf

http://www.cessna.com/citation/mustang/mustang-specifications.html

> And, yes, I expect virtually no market for it. There will always be a
> few with more money than brains, but probably not more than a handful.

Depends on your definition of "handful". There are more than 30 Lancair
IVs with turbine engines on the FAA registry.

Ron Wanttaja

[Voyager]

Ron Wanttaja wrote:
> Voyager wrote:
>
>> And not even close to "jet-like" speeds. Very few jets have an economy
>> cruise of 310 MPH and max cruise of only 385. This is a turboprop
>> with, duh, turboprop-like speeds. :-)
>
> The max cruise is higher than that of the Eclipse and the Cessna
> Citation Mustang...
>
> http://www.eclipseaerospace.net/images/Total_Eclipse_2010.pdf
>
> http://www.cessna.com/citation/mustang/mustang-specifications.html

I think two qualifies as "very few." This is like saying that a Camry
has "sports car-like" performance because it is as fast as a Miata.


>> And, yes, I expect virtually no market for it. There will always be a
>> few with more money than brains, but probably not more than a handful.
>
> Depends on your definition of "handful". There are more than 30 Lancair
> IVs with turbine engines on the FAA registry.

With regard to airplane volumes, yes, I consider 30 in the handful
category. I would probably consider 50 to be a handful as compared to
the volumes of most economically successful airplanes.

Matt