Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Nice idea. Keep in mind, once you load up the aircraft with fuel and cargo (people or whatever) you require lots of power to come to a safe hover. Not sure a jet aircraft would be the way to go. Perhaps some design along the lines of our military's Osprey tilt rotor would work out.
Given that, according to a recent NPR radio article, (about a guy who owns his own Harrier...) a Harrier uses half a gallon of fuel per second when hovering, I would think VTOL for even a regional jet sized plane would have too high an operating cost to be a viable business proposition.
Helicopter out to the airport on a proper helicopter, then on to where-ever in a proper airplane, I would think.
I don't think a civilian Osprey would work either. There is a lot of evidence they don't work too well as-is. They cost a lot per hour of flight as well.
A solution looking for a problem. Civilian VTOL replaces one problem - finding space for runways in cities - and replaces it with a whole slew of new ones, mostly problems with noise (big problem in built-up areas), safety and fuel economy.
VTOL has been around for decades. Other than a few military applications, it's never been deemed feasible for widespread use. Mainly, because the cost of operation exceeds the amount of payload that can be carried.
The safety record in the military, compared to conventional aircraft, is not stellar either.
There's a reason why the U.S. Navy still uses catapults and arresting cables.
Unless there's a breakthrough technology, that simplifies how variable nozzles, tilt wings, and the rest of the assorted means that makes these things go, the future of VTOL will remain status quo.
As noted, VTOLs are way too demanding to engineer, and way too expensive to build and operate to be justified for any but military operations.
I've heard that the Harrier was designed to be able to land and take off from remote country roads, in the event that airfields were taken over by enemy, or for operation behind combat lines, hang the expense.
Commercial air travel, on the other hand is based on connecting busy urban hubs, and the business requirement is to do it at the lowest possible cost... pretty much at the other end of the design spectrum from VTOLs.
Well, keep in mind where one will come down in the event of an engine failure.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
