A chap here (apparently) commutes from the Channel Islands to Farnborough. How practical is it? Anyone know about it? What would running costs be on a plane? How many MPG would you get?

Very expensive. My partner's dad does it occasionally. Fuel is a lot, then landing fees, insurance, maintenance, etc.

I used to work with a bloke whose Dad commuted from Edinburgh to London city by flying his own Lear Jet. Except on nice summers days when he flew his own Spitfire… Apparently there isn't even enough room for a briefcase.

Sorry, can't be any more help than that.

I remember vaugly seeing a program on t.v about a guy that built his own plane (you can buy kit planes), I think the engines of choice were out of large petrol 4×4. So even that can't be cheap, running at the top end.

Not convinced about the summer commuting by Spitfire. Very expensive machine to fly.

Learjets get 3000 to the gallon i hear.

Just shot myself down there.

I was up at Strathallan for the auction of all the Historic Aircraft back in 81. The auctioneer arrived by Spitfire.

Classy !!

Just as a comparison, and i know its not even the slightest bit relevant to this thread but an RAF Chinook costs about £5k an hour to fly plus £165K a month fixed cost whether you fly it or not!

What's the load capacity on a Chinook?

More than a briefcase.

The morning commute

12,700Kg but it does depend on which variant you are talking about.

What's the load capacity on a Chinook?

African or European?

Just as a comparison, and i know its not even the slightest bit relevant to this thread but an RAF Chinook costs about £5k an hour to fly plus £165K a month fixed cost whether you fly it or not!

Is that with or without the crew…

you'd be better off in a microlight

Even better.. get a glider and just 'draft' another plane 😉

Thats all inclusive!

A guy here in the East Midlands apparently commutes to North London by microlight!

Learjets get 3000 to the gallon i hear.

Metres?

Cruise speed is what? 850km/h.
Fuel consumption is 580 litres/h at cruise which is 127 gallons per hour

850/127 is 6.7 so they get around 6700 metres per gallon.

We were wondering the other day as we saw a Chinook flying overhead.

If it was to land and load my car into it and take me and the car across to Manchester from Nottingham, would it use more additional fuel than if I just drove the car?

Edit: fuel used over and above if it was flying without my car in the back?

well, not only does it have to travel the distance, but it also has to get the car off the ground. really, what do you reckon?

I find this level of conspicuous consumption offensive. However, if I could commute by Spitfire, I would.

Frequently and with regular low-level victory rolls to liven up the journey.

Given CI to City airport (BA?) would take 4+ hours each way and cost a couple of hundred quid after taxi's, fares and taxes it's not a bad idea. Given the shortest route capability, no congestion, and for the typical Cessna a 123mph cruise and approx 5 gallon per hour (around 25mpg +/-) consumption looks quite attractive as long as you ignore the static running costs – which you incur anyway if you own a plane.

I suspect the main issues are going to be weather related as I don't think that many PPL's or private planes are equipped for all year round flying and 123mph in the air does not equal the same on the ground when there is a headwind.

quite attractive as long as you ignore the static running costs – which you incur anyway if you own a plane.

Not quite. Servicing and safety checks are based on hours of flying as well. Often planes are written off as it costs more to service than the plane is worth and planes are worth a lot. Its an expensive hobby

My dad does some gardening work for a guy who has his own plane. His wife has several fingers missing after an accident with the propeller.

"Learjets get 3000 to the gallon i hear.
Metres?
Cruise speed is what? 850km/h.
Fuel consumption is 580 litres/h at cruise which is 127 gallons per hour
850/127 is 6.7 so they get around 6700 metres per gallon. "

That's 4.1875 mpg

Not bad when you consider this..

Has yet to get even close to 6mpg!!!!

Its an expensive hobby

Not so expensive when it's a tax allowable business expense, which I suspect is what the OP is relating to.

I used to know somebody who used a Bell Jetranger to travel from their home in Sussex to Bedfordshire and was in the position to claim a percentage of the static costs against tax as a result.

Private hourage may be 8 hours a year, business say 72. Bell service interval 80 hours, cost £10,000 (1990's) so 90% of service cost was 'incurred as a business expense'. Cessna fixed wing service costs are likely to be much cheaper than jet heli.

Working in Holburn a few years ago it was a regular event for a Hatton Garden jeweler to commute in by helicopter (direct to Hatton Garden helipad) – which must be serious money as my understanding is single engine helicopters are not allowed to overfly London except over the Thames.

helicopters are not allowed to overfly London except over the Thames.

Is that in case they crash they won't fall into enemy hands ?

African or European?

😆

what about a microlight helicopter?

helicopters are not allowed to overfly London except over the Thames.

Is that in case they crash they won't fall into enemy hands ?

CAA gets very upset if you fall out the sky. Loose one engine and the other is there to keep you up.

lol @ jon1973

very good, made me chuckle.

you've go to consider air time and frame time because if your commute takes 1 hour there and one hour back everyday you would only commute for like 3 weeks before it needs servicing and checking over which can be pricey depending on the plane and then there's the frame time as well which could only be 200hrs on a older aircraft then it is decommissioned or has to go through even more checks and rebuilds etc.. my dad has had two planes which there time frame time has run out and need to be scrapped or striped for parts to be sold off or left in the field as a sculpture 🙄

when he flew his own Spitfire

I was under the impression that there was only 1 functional spitfire left in the UK, and it was rarely used? I could be wrong on both counts!

a guy who flys from my house has a 3/4 scale one

If you take the maintenance costs out of it, it's roughly the same as driving, and a LOT quicker. The benefits increase the further you fly as well.

For instance, this weekend my mate is flying me and the bro-in-law down to Old Buckenham airfield in Norfolk, from RAF Leuchars, in a home-built Jabiru*. Fuel prices are same as car fuel, conservative flying (90-100mph ground speed) averages somewhere around 16L per hour, and it's about 3 hours each way, so we're looking at around 100L/£120 between the 3 of us to get there and back. Landing fees, sometimes free as my buddy is a nav on the Tornados. If not, it's about £30 at the smaller airfields.

Driving it would be an 860 mile round trip, and in a car averaging 35 mpg (I bloody wish!) that would be about 24.5 gallons = roughly £130 in petrol. Plus about 8 hours drive each way.

Having said that, he reckons maintenance and insurance can be a bugger.

*home-built means home-serviced = mucho cheapness compared to say a Cessna engineer coming out to service.

How many bikes can you get in a Cessna?

Coffee King, yes you are wrong, there approximatly 70 airworthy Spitfies worldwide with about 20 of them being in the UK.

All sounds plausible, but surely you'll need someone at home to turn the conveyor belt off after you've left in the morning?

What propeller for commuting…?

lol @rickmeister

http://www.dmjwilliams.co.uk/flying-costs.htm