Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Terrafugia Wants a Hell of an Exemption

Specifically, they want a waiver of the LSA gross weight limits from 1,320lbs to 1,800. (As well as a waiver of the stall speed from 45kts to 54kts.)

AOPA says the rules are arbitrary. So what, aren't they all? What's so sacrosanct about the single-engine stall speed of 61kts? Or the 800HP rule for type-ratings? If the Terrafugia is a LSA, why not the Cessna 150 or 152, which are both lighter and have a lower stall speed?

LSAs were supposed to be simple and relatively cheap. The Terrafugia is neither. Anyone who can afford to buy a $300,000+ airplane isn't going to be terribly deterred by the requirement to get a private ticket.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

So, an 1800 pound airplane with a Rotax 115 hp engine and the same wing area... what could possibly go wrong?

If this is approved, I don't understand what the LS category was supposed to be at all. It's a shame it couldn't stretch instead to include the 140/150/152, and T-craft, Citabria etc. etc.

Still we see flying cars seem to be neither good cars nor good airplanes. Without a revolution in power plants & power storage, it's probably best to buy a decent airplane and a decent car... separately.

Borepatch said...

Terrafugia seemed a very cool technology concept - very George Jetson. But yours is one of the best explanations that this is not about technology.