On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 02:27:13 GMT, John Ousterhout
wrote in
5Cpof.649753$xm3.49850@attbi_s21::

Larry Dighera wrote:

On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 00:36:53 GMT, "Jay Honeck" wrote
What do *you* want for Xmas this year?

A turbine powered Helio Stallion:
http://www.helioaircraft.com/ourplanes_stallion.htm

Wow!

The way I see it, Helio Stallion is a good choice because it is
suitable for about any mission I would expect to fly. But I'm a
little concerned about the weight of the 223 U.S. Gallons of fuel it
burns at 280 pounds/hour. That's 1,680 lbs (7.5 hours @ ~$140/hr)
that reduces over half the useful load, but with full fuel, the
payload is still 1,320 lbs. That's probably enough payload load for
about anything I'd want to do.

Being a conventional gear aircraft, it could operate from unpaved
fields without chewing up the propeller too badly. It would be fun to
drop in on main street in some of the old ghost towns out west. And
the 320 foot takeoff distance would permit me to operate in and out of
my cousin's Mojave ranch.

It would also be useful for my interest in paleontology. The hatch in
the floor would enable me to seriously consider aerial photography.
And the 175 knot cruise speed would speed up my cross country travel
by 40% - 50%. I wander what the insurance premium would be. If the
real estate market doesn't collapse, who knows ...

And all I wished for was a (turbo normalized) Cessna 206.

That's a nice ship too, and probably a lot cheaper to operate.

However I'll settle for 40 hours in a rental C-172.

That would be a useful gift too.

You know what Mick Jagger said, "You can't always get what you want,
but if you try, sometimes you can get what you need." I'm tryin'.