BS: Transportation To The Next Gig

Subject: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Jan 09 - 04:18 PM

For the moderately successful musician, a new level of convenience on the tour:

'Flying car' goes to market

(Company behind the vehicle prefers the term 'roadable aircraft')

Forget about that "caravan" or the old beetle bus.

The 500 mile range on a tank of gas might make transatlantic trips a bit of a problem (they don't mention inflight refueling), but it looks fairly user friendly otherwise if you can arrange sleeping space at the stopovers.

Of course, most of the airports it can use are just open fields, so you can carry a blanket and sleep under a wing.

Load capacity isn't given, so it might be better for fiddlers and guitarists. The average banjo or sqeeze box might be a bit too heavy to let you carry the blanket and a lunch(?).

(Check out the photo at the link.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: Bill D
Date: 25 Jan 09 - 06:19 PM

....maybe if I still lived in Kansas...or Texas. Around here, the only places to land would be way too far from my home.

These things are easy to plan, but hard to sell to enough people to be worth it...nearly $200,000 and flying lessons make it a real specialty item.

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Jan 09 - 07:45 PM

The 500 mile range on a tank of gas might make transatlantic trips a bit of a problem

Going via Greenland and Iceland there don't have to be any stages ruled out by that 500 mile limit. No doubt some latter day descendant of "Wrong Way" Corrigan will do it someday.

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: bobad
Date: 25 Jan 09 - 07:52 PM

Not much new under the sun, it was already done in 1921 An Aeroplane-Motor Car.

My father worked for Rene Tampier in Canada making airplane parts for the war effort.

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Jan 09 - 08:52 PM

How about a concert grand? I'd like to take my piano with me.

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: open mike
Date: 25 Jan 09 - 09:22 PM

in order to bring your grand along
it would take a few grand..

try a 757....

http://www.iht.com/articles/1999/06/21/jets.2.t.php

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 26 Jan 09 - 12:49 AM

The makers do claim to have 40 orders, with deliveries to start in about a year. So far as I've heard, if they actually deliver more than one or two it will be the first commercially successful machine of the kind.

The price isn't really much more than for many conventional single-engine planes, although the conventional ones usually have all the IFR and RNAV equipment that's left out to keep this in the sport license class.

Skarpi may be able to set up a refueling stop for the Atlantic hop, and he's said his economy needs a boot. I'd guess it would take a lot of travelling musicians to make much economic impact though.

But the class this thing is meant for may have more trouble getting across the Rockies inside the US. All airspace above 10K ft is "controlled airspace" - filed-in-advance flight plans, FAA contact and control required - so it would appear to be illegal for "sport/utility" planes like this to fly that high; and some of the mountains on any convenient routes are a bit higher than that.

Has anybody ordered the brochure?

John

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: mg
Date: 26 Jan 09 - 01:57 AM

Heavens..they had one right on my block in Longview, Washington and I think now it is in the Seattle air museum. A famous actor was involved..Bob Cummings? mg

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 26 Jan 09 - 02:50 AM

In the about 1930s in the UK there were proposals for less formal stol vehicles for semi-popular use - autogiros. At least one, using a rebuit volkswagen engine ahs been restored and is still flying. But they are not usable as cars.

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 26 Jan 09 - 11:27 AM

I was a bit surprised by the statistic in the article stating that there are only around 600,000 registered pilots in the US. That's only about one in every 500 people.

So how come I know at least a dozen pilots? I sure as hell don't know 6,000 people.

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 26 Jan 09 - 11:59 PM

Pilots have a distinct proclivity for being in the vicinity of other pilots. That probably has something to do with "nobody else will believe all their stories" but is an easily observed phenomenon. The simplest explanation may be along the lines of "shared insanity"(?).

If you know one pilot you're quite likely to be frequently in the presence of a dozen of them, and will get to know several. It's almost impossible to know one without knowing a dozen.

It is possible, occasionally, to meet just one who is not in the company of a "herd" of them, but one has to stay carefully removed from "piloty places" to do so. For the upper echelons of piloting, this largely means staying away from places where there is Scotch or Gin (the high priced kinds) or where there are approachable young women - within 50 miles a long flat piece of land. For the more casual lower echelons of the herd, anyplace with "beer" can be dangerous.

The same observation can be made about other "occupations" with limited but visible populations. NASCAR winners, good computer programmers, Olympic trap shooters, honest lawyers . . . . (nah, that last population is way too small to form herds. You'd probably never meet more than one.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 03:22 AM

Hi John.

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 09:05 AM

I can see some problems in getting it through the MOT. I can't see many garages being up for carrying out an adequate test. And it doesn't look like it'd count as roadworthy - too wide. And just try and find a parking space it would fit into...

Subject: RE: BS: Transportation To The Next Gig
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 04:41 PM

I get what you mean by the "tribe" thing, John. It's sorta like the "Martin guitar paradox". Martin just made their millionth guitar not too long ago. That means that, on average, only about one in every 300 Americans owns a Martin guitar. But chances are that if you own a Martin, you know at least fifty people who also own one.