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Comparison


Andy

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Used Cessna Citation: 

Price $1,950,000
Crew: 1/Capacity: 3-9 passengers
Cruise speed: 389 kts
Cost per hour in fuel: $448

 

Used Flight Design CTSW:
Price: $79,900
Crew: 1/Capacity: 1 passenger
Cruise speed: 112 knots
Cost per hour in fuel: $20

 

Parked next to each other on the same ramp at Huntsville Executive Airport (KMDQ). PRICELESS!!! :D 

 

post-393-0-54822700-1430792870_thumb.jpg

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Other comparison numbers, based off the above numbers:

 

COST PER KNOT

 

Citation = $5012.85

 

CTSW = $713.39

 

COST PER KNOT PER OCCUPANT (cost per knot / seats)

 

Citation = $556.98

 

CTSW = $356.69

 

Surprisingly similar!

 

FUEL COST PER OCCUPANT HOUR (fuel cost per hour / seats)

 

Citation = $49.77

 

CTSW = $10

 

 

Just some fun with math.  I'm sure the numbers really diverge insanely when you start looking at maintenance cost per hour.

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Fuel cost per occupant for my Cannondale Synapse : $0.

 

Discounting the cost of the food to power ME.

 

Speaking of ME, I find these comparisons a bit inane.

 

Though I appreciate the intent of the OP before things got silly!

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What's "silly" about the numbers I put out there?  They seem valid to me.  Of course nobody directly compares a CTSW and a Citation, but when you break it down to apples-to-apples comparisons of how much fuel costs per passenger per hour, etc...those seem like interesting numbers to me in terms of dollar value for performance.

 

Here's one more:

 

FUEL COST PER OCCUPANT HOUR PER KNOT (fuel cost per occupant hour / knots)

 

Citation = $0.12

 

CTSW = $0.08

 

VERY similar.  So just in fuel terms, for each nautical mile traveled, each occupant in a CTSW costs 8 cents, and 12 cents in a Citation.  Yes the Citation is 50% more, but you are going 3.4x faster!  It starts to look like a bargain (just in fuel of course).

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Other comparison numbers, based off the above numbers:

 

COST PER KNOT

 

Citation = $5012.85

 

CTSW = $713.39

 

COST PER KNOT PER OCCUPANT (cost per knot / seats)

 

Citation = $556.98

 

CTSW = $356.69

 

Surprisingly similar!

 

FUEL COST PER OCCUPANT HOUR (fuel cost per hour / seats)

 

Citation = $49.77

 

CTSW = $10

 

 

Just some fun with math.  I'm sure the numbers really diverge insanely when you start looking at maintenance cost per hour.

 

Per occupant has no effective usefulness unless you factor the probability of filling every seat every flight.  that probability for the two seat SW is far higher.  So the cost per seat per knot for the SW is far lower than your example.   For example the average flight in the Citation might leave 6 empty seats more than half the time.

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Andy, thanks for the post. I enjoyed it and really don't need to analyze it. I was parked next to an SR-22 as an FD display plane. Not sure if he heard me refer to my plane as my mini-Cirrus. Composite, glass panel, airframe parachute....

They parked a T-28 directly behind me and when he cranked up to leave even at idle three of us ran out to try to keep the plane from blowing over. Fortunately the T-28 didn't rev up to leave the parking place.

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That's funny, Doug. While flying back into the Houston Class B, one of the controllers was calling me as traffic to an aircraft on approach to Ellington, and he said he didn't know what I was.  I'll remember that one!

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Often if you say "light sport", they don't even care. They just use a generic identifier :P

 

Anyways, as was said in this thread: it's about utilization. You can bet that the guys flying the citation have the money but not the time. Their time is very valueable, and getting there ASAP is probably a lot more important than saving a few dollars per passenger per knot.

 

If they brought back the old propliners, I guarantee very few people would fly on them. People don't fly to save money, they fly for the convenience (or for the awesome factor).

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Often if you say "light sport", they don't even care. They just use a generic identifier :P

 

Anyways, as was said in this thread: it's about utilization. You can bet that the guys flying the citation have the money but not the time. Their time is very valueable, and getting there ASAP is probably a lot more important than saving a few dollars per passenger per knot.

 

If they brought back the old propliners, I guarantee very few people would fly on them. People don't fly to save money, they fly for the convenience (or for the awesome factor).

 

Agree 100% !

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"I always respond with "identifier is fox delta charlie tango"...there is a moment while they look it up, and we're all good."

 

For the other Andy, I had already done that and do it nearly every time I check in with flight following.  The system told him I was a CTLS, and that's what he said he didn't know what it was.

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