New Cargo Hauler

[CopilotDoug]

Looks a little like a big Dornier. Launch customer is to be MK Airlines with an LOI for 10 and options for 5 more

http://www.freightfeeder.com/FF5000.html

 

[belchfire]

Looks more like a cross between the older and newer Skyvans.

Ain't very pleasing to the eye but the numbers look pretty good.

Wonder if it will get off the drawing board...

 

[Captain Morgan]

"Ain't very pleasing to the eye..."

Haha, that's putting it lightly. They pretty much took a brick and slapped some popsickle sticks on it and two engines. What ever happened to style, like the Metroliner Expediter???

 

[speedbird1974]

I love it! It looks like a giant CASA 212!

 

[Whistlin' Dan]

Interesting. It looks good on paper, but...???

I wonder if they factored acquisition cost into their cost-per-mile calculations? It's hard to make money with a "new" airplane that only flys 4 hours per day and ties up your capital the other 20.

Those engines are awfully far above the ground...15 feet at least. Servicing them with a step ladder will be out of the question, although I'm sure some guys will try it, especially at the out-stations where cherry-pickers and proper maintenance stands are unavailable.

This may turn out to be the first airplane in history to kill more mechanics than it does pilots.

 

[Metro752]

It's what the Chicago Cubs use to fly around their 1000lb fan club members.

 

[goodgig]

At 350 and 230 knots, will it be aluminum
Cholesterol?

 

[CopilotDoug]

Interesting. It looks good on paper, but...???

The one thing it does have going for it is it does not appear to be a retract. Much less mx in that department.

It looks like it was inspired by those LEGGO planes

 

[timeless]

What is up with the fuel capacity?

Why would this plane need to hold 22,500lbs of fuel? I'm not too familiar with the PW150, but wouldn't that be about 8-10 hours of endurance?

If the numbers are correct and this airplane is actually real and not some internet fake, it should be a useful aircraft. I wonder how many feeder aircraft one of these things could eliminate. At night it could make 15-20 minute turns at 3-4 airports on the way to the hub and in the morning do the same thing on the way back.

As a Shorts pilot I'm intrigued, but skeptical.

 

[texarkana]

Holy crap finally a new plane for people like me who have a Shorts fetish. I love fat chicks

 

[belchfire]

Why would this plane need to hold 22,500lbs of fuel? I'm not too familiar with the PW150, but wouldn't that be about 8-10 hours of endurance?

If the numbers are correct and this airplane is actually real and not some internet fake, it should be a useful aircraft. I wonder how many feeder aircraft one of these things could eliminate. At night it could make 15-20 minute turns at 3-4 airports on the way to the hub and in the morning do the same thing on the way back.

As a Shorts pilot I'm intrigued, but skeptical.

Well, with the kind of fuel and payload it can carry it could well be used for SAR and ASW work for nations that can't afford the P-(whateverthefrack) varient of the 737...

 

[414Flyer]

I would not hold my breath too much. The company behind is it "Utilicraft", which to me, and others, looked more interested in raising money to be wealthy, than actually producing an aircraft.

There was some controversy a couple years back in NM, when Utilicraft was going to get one of the NM native tribes to invest heavily , but was only going to get a relatively small amount of ownership, and if the venture failed, the people behind Utilicraft were going to be able to walk away with lots of money.

The deal was worked out behind closed doors so to speak, and once the actual details of it were public knowledge, there was no support for it.

 

[belchfire]

That wouldn't surprise me at all...and even at twice the hourly cost you can run a clapped out old ATR for a long time for the cost difference of a new aircraft.

 

[Way2Broke]

Are you kidding me, freight outfits don't fly "new" planes. That goes against everything that a freight dog knows. If it doesn't have at least 20,000 hours no one will buy it.