02-06-2020, 02:06 PM | #81 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Beriev Be-12 Chayka
Assuming that Kessler obtained a Be-12 amphibious aircraft shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, what is the most reasonable way for him to be able to use it?
I get the feeling that the FAA certification process in the US is absolutely not worth it for just one airframe and registering it as 'Experimental' would make it useless in that it would be confined close to its home field. Since airplanes registered in a foreign country can fly through and land in territories where they are not registered, what are the practical limits on that? For example, if an aircraft charter company was established in some Eastern Bloc country (or somewhere else in the world where a Be-12 is legal for commercial purposes), are there any limits on how long-term chartering an aircraft for them for use in another part of the world can be before you need to register a local company that is officially leasing the aircraft? Say, if Kessler wanted the Be-12 to travel between various Caribbean islands to be available for SAR and medevac for certain 'Night Rider' (Monster Hunter) operations, could it just be registered in Russia or somewhere like Angola, Namibia or somewhere equivalent the entire time? Also, does anyone have a rough guess about the operating costs for the Be-12?
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02-06-2020, 02:12 PM | #82 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Cowtown, Canada
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Re: Seaplanes or Amphibious Aircraft for Caribbean Adventuring and Logistics
A quick aside that occurred to me is that gun blisters replaced with bubble canopies would be good stations for spotters, particularly spotters with magically enhanced senses.
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02-06-2020, 02:38 PM | #83 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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PBY Catalina
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Aside from the PBY Catalina, what TL6 or TL7 amphibious aircraft that are still flying today have really good visibility?
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02-07-2020, 08:55 AM | #84 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Home Bases for Transport Aircraft
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Houston, TX; William P. Hobby Airport Cessna 172P Skyhawk Mooney M20J 201 Galveston, TX; Scholes International Airport at Galveston Lake LA-4-200-EP 'Buccaneer' Amphibian Beechcraft Bonanza A36 SOCATA TBM 700A 'Angelique'; Grumman McKinnon G21G 'Turbo Goose' Ilyushin Il-76TD Commemorative Air Force (loaned to Lone Star Flight Museum until 2017) Douglas C-47 Skytrain Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina Beaumont, TX; Beaumont Municipal Airport Cessna 172P Skyhawk Port Arthur, TX; Jack Brooks Regional Airport Lake LA-4-200-EP 'Buccaneer' Amphibian New Orleans, LA; Lakefront Airport Lake LA-250 Renegade SOCATA TBM 700B Mobile, AL; Mobile Downtown Airport Lake LA-270 Seafury Mobile Regional Airport de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter Gainesville, FL; Gainesville Regional Airport Lake LA-4-200-EP 'Buccaneer' Amphibian Beechcraft Bonanza A36 SOCATA TBM 700C2 Key West, FL; Key West International Airport de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Fort Lauderdale, FL; Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga Beechcraft Baron 58 Pilatus PC-12 Nassau, New Providence Island, the Bahamas; Lynden Pindling International Airport de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter SOCATA TBM 700B Cockburn Town, San Salvador Island, the Bahamas; San Salvador Airport Cessna T207A Stationair 8 Beef Island, British Virgin Islands; Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport Grumman G21A Goose Mooney M20J 201 St. Croix, US Virgin Islands; Henry E. Rohlsen Airport Grumman G21A Goose St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; Cyril E. King Airport Grumman JRF-5 Goose Turks and Caicos Islands; Providenciales International Airport de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver Guadeloupe; Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport Antonov An-2VF SOCATA TBM 700A Dominica; Douglas-Charles Airport 'Dominique'; Grumman JRF-5 Goose Estate by Petite Soufrière Bay Antonov An-2V Martinique; Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport Antonov An-2V Beechcraft Bonanza A36 St. Lucia; George F. L. Charles Airport Cessna 172P Skyhawk Beechcraft E55 Baron Grumman JRF-5 Goose SOCATA TBM 700C2 Short S.25 Sandringham 5 --- Comments? Suggestions? Anything I'm clearly doing wrong or something I'm obviously missing?
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Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela! Last edited by Icelander; 04-04-2021 at 07:53 AM. |
02-07-2020, 11:51 AM | #85 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Seaplanes or Amphibious Aircraft for Caribbean Adventuring and Logistics
That's quite a lot of transport assets, though most are small and they're very dispersed. I'm not saying it's too much or anything, and a lot of those if run by charter and freight companies could at least cover their costs, but he's got a decent sized private air fleet there.
One way to curry favour with local authorities would be volunteering the smaller planes for SAR work, and using both the smaller and larger ones for relief work after hurricanes.
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02-07-2020, 12:19 PM | #86 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: Seaplanes or Amphibious Aircraft for Caribbean Adventuring and Logistics
Quote:
Mind you, the four Grumman Gooses that used to belong to Antilles Air Boats are actually and legitimately kept as sort of functioning museum pieces, dedicated to the aviation history of the Antilles islands (and kept on islands they used to fly to). They aren't kept at any sort of mission-ready profile and don't have a full-time salaried pilot assigned to them or anything, although all of them have a pilot available that can be warned to prepare them and remain on alert if the Night Riders are carrying out a mission nearby. The Sandringham is a similar deal. It's function is to provide a way to fly the people of Kessler's network who live on Dominica and St. Lucia somewhere, but as they are mostly retired Night Riders, the Sandringham has been called upon maybe twice in the past decade. Otherwise, it's a museum piece lovingly maintained as the treasured relic of an Antilles Air Boats non-profit. These five aircraft are included among the logistical fleet as they could be used that way in an emrgency, but they are really kept because Kessler is actually an enthusiast of seaplanes, Caribbean aviation and the Golden Age of Travel. There are tours. Air shows. Annual fancy balls where the guests are flown there in old Antilles Air Boats seaplanes with dressed-up crew emulating an idealized old-school Caribbean travel experience. Maureen O'Hara is always invited and came several times in the 90s. Kessler flirted outrageously with her. As for the numbers otherwise, I added a bunch of more economical smaller planes anywhere I could see actual savings in total yearly costs by supplementing less efficient types that cost a lot per hour with more mundane planes for more mundane work. For any where it makes sense for the model, that's a good idea. Also good cover, because SAR is what they would probably be doing if called upon to respond immediately and go into a dangerous situation.
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04-04-2020, 07:54 AM | #87 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Light Aircraft that is Fun to Fly
So, in New Orleans, the team there has the use of a Lake LA-250 Renegade. It occurs to me that the pilot attached to the team, Mike LeBlanc (b. September 16, 1970; Baton Rouge, LA), is paid quite highly and enjoys flying quite a lot. So he might have convinced his bosses to buy a smaller plane than the Renegade (able to take two passengers), which he is allowed to fly for fun and pay for his own fuel.
LeBlanc is a former Marine aviator who flew F/A-18c jets. What sort of light airplane might he enjoy flying? It doesn't have to be amphibious, but in order for him to be able to justify his bosses acquiring it (without buying it personally), it has to be able to take one or two passengers from New Orleans to the Houston metropolitan area more economically than the Renegade. Ideally, it should be a plane that is simple to prepare for flight, is responsive in the air and makes a good plane for flight instruction. Suggestions?
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04-04-2020, 08:48 AM | #88 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Light Aircraft that is Fun to Fly
Quote:
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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04-04-2020, 09:29 AM | #89 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: Light Aircraft that is Fun to Fly
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LeBlanc likes fast cars, motorcycles and supersonic jets. He buys the cars and motorcycles personally, but as he could probably not justify his bosses acquring a supersonic jet (and even if he's highly paid, can't afford one personally), he'll want whatever modern light aircraft is most fun to fly and requires little hassle to take up for a recreational jaunt with little notice. There are a few Cessna 172P Skyhawks in use for similar things. Is there anything (can be a touch smaller if required) that is clearly more fun to fly?
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04-04-2020, 09:40 AM | #90 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Light Aircraft that is Fun to Fly
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I have no idea if you can still get OV-10 "Broncos" (which are statted up in Gurps Seals in Vietnam). https://www.aircraftcompare.com/airc...-ov-10-bronco/ Okay, maybe. The "similar aircraft" links on the page shouldn't encourage you though. No one is going to sell you an XB-70 "Valkyrie". :)
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Tags |
aircraft, caribbean, monster hunters, seaplane, vile vortices |
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