eli5: why is taking a plane or helicopter worse for the environment than a train or a boat?
In: 3
Helicopters, planes in general, are hilariously inefficient. Take a very efficient turbine engine for a helicopter, the Allison 250 now made by Rolls Royce. In cruise it will burn about 28 gallons of Jet-A per hour, and some helicopters have two of them. Step it up a bit and take a Beechcraft King Air 360 and you are burning about 100 gallons of jet a per hour.
In real terms, if your only goal is to move one meatbag from point a to point b, turboshaft engines on flying machines are a good option. The problem is you are only moving 1-13 meatbags on one of these machines. A train or boat can move hundreds of people and cargo.
It is the same reason why a celebrity should just fly first class, yes the 787 burns a massive amount of fuel, but you are also moving hundreds of people and cargo whereas a typical bizjet can move 1-13 people with fuel burns in the 134 gallons an hour range on a good day.
Latest Answers