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this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
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Mildly Interesting
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You can get a Cessna 172 or even some nice Mooneys for around $50k. Unlike cars, even really old ones are kept in good running order because parts time out and have to be regularly maintained. Even if you want to buy a newer plane, a lot of people in GA use fractional ownership. That $200k newish Cirrus SR22 is fairly likely owned by 4 people splitting the bill. GA isn't cheap by any measure, but it also isn't exclusively for the wealthy. Upper middle class can get into it without too much issue. The people we should be raising everyone to, not tearing down.
My 1961 plane burns 25mpg, carries 4 people, and goes 160mph. I own a car that gets worse fuel economy.
A Rutan Long EZ running autogas has a better environmental footprint than a Prius and is more than twice as fast
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2015/december/14/indy-car-speed-with-prius-fuel-consumption
Of course, takeoff and climb are typically at full power but to reach cruising altitudes for a single engine airplane doesn't take very long. It's a similar concept to a car on a highway onramp, except that airplanes actually get more efficient at higher altitudes.
It factors into overall consumption but it doesn't really blow the whole equation for efficiency. Pilots in training do takeoffs and landings on repeat for hours at a stretch between refueling.
GA is not just private jets.