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A comment on Vancouver seaplane company to resume test flights with electric plane. Parent comment

Re:Vancouver seaplane company to resume test flights with el... by steffan on Monday January 25, 2021 @01:10PM (#25906541)
> still radial engines due to the nostalgia that sells to tourists

Given the relatively thin margins in aviation, I think it's probably less about nostalgia and more about the $1M USD price of e.g. a PT-6 turbine

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Re:Vancouver seaplane company to resume test flights with el... by tastyfreeze on Monday January 25, 2021 @01:31PM (#25906799)
I am sure that is a consideration. The performance of a turbine Beaver is also not as much of an improvement as a converted Otter.

Margins on transportation flights are thin. Margins on flightseeing are not. The company I worked for chartered a Beaver between $600-$700 an hour and a turbine Otter at double that. Seats for 45-minute flightseeing (through a national monument) were priced at $185-$250. 6 pax in an Beaver and 10 in an Otter.

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Re:Vancouver seaplane company to resume test flights with el... by canadianfella on Tuesday January 26, 2021 @02:11AM (#25913338)
Pax?
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Re:Vancouver seaplane company to resume test flights with el... by Sebguer on Tuesday January 26, 2021 @03:13AM (#25913596)
Passengers.
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Re:Vancouver seaplane company to resume test flights with el... by baybal2 on Monday January 25, 2021 @02:05PM (#25907242)
There are no avia piston engines left above 500-600HP today, and 1000+hp are completely unheard off.

This is why a lot of radial engine powered planes that are many decades old have no options for new engines if there are no turbine conversion available.

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