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this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
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Mildly Interesting
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Small aircraft have a carbon equivalent to large cars. My plane is from 1961 and has a fuel economy of 15mpg as the crow flies (arguably closer to 25mpg because of straight line measurements versus winding roads that can almost double the distance), seats 4 people comfortably, and flies at 160 mph.
Hmm, interesting. I had the opposite impression. Maybe from discussion of private jets? I wonder how commercial jets vs. private jets vs. light aircraft fare -- similar to cars vs. buses, perhaps? I haven't actually dug much into this subject :\
Just looked some up, they're approximately, per passenger:
The more passengers, the more efficient.
So, fully loaded, there isn't that much difference between a private jet, a limo, a car, light aircraft, ultralight, motorbike, train, or low range commercial jet.
But if it's a single person, a private jet would use 10 times more fuel than a motorbike.
A fully loaded bus, still wins hands down.
It's probably plane with propeller, not jet engine
Props tend to be more efficient aircraft when it comes to fuel consumption but fly relatively low and slow. Jets are faster so they make more sense for ferrying people and cargo but they burn more fuel in the process.
Is leaded gas still a requirement, or have they found a way around that by now for old prop planes?
It was caught in FAA-Bureauctatic hell for 15+ years and just approved last year. It will be still be slow to become available and adopt for reasons that are complicated, but amount to bureaucracy, economics, and an insane degree of risk aversion. The vast majority of pilots want unleaded and it's also much better for the engines.