JetSetterJoe.com

Aviation has always been a great interest of mine. As a child I spent countless hours putting together plastic models and pouring over the glossy illustrations of sleek jets and old prop planes that appeared in whatever books and magazines I could get my hands on. During college I got my private pilot ticket from Hill Aviation in San Juan, Puerto Rico, aboard the very same Cessna 172 Skyhawk that appeared in the movie Golden Eye.

Back then I couldn’t wait to get my ticket so I could fly cross country with my friends and relatives to exciting destinations where commercial jets didn’t venture. I soon discovered that the reality of general aviation is quite different. Even if one has a private ticket, it is hard go anywhere or get enough flight time for advanced ratings unless you own your own plane. Renting is expensive and, if you want to keep the plane overnight for a weekend trip, you typically have to pay for a minimum number of flight hours even if your trip does not require such a long flight. On top of that, weekends tend to be booked up so owners may be reluctant to rent their planes out for longer rides and most places will require expensive check rides before they allow new pilots to rent from them unless the pilot was trained at their academy.

As if this wasn’t enough, the places were one can go on the average light plane are limited by the slow speeds these birds typically fly. Most certified general aviation designs in production today date from as far back as 50 years or more. The reason for this is that the risk of liability in producing a new design is rather high so it is not profitable to produce new designs as the projected costs for possible litigation may far exceed the cost of development and production. The fact is that the most prevalent cause of general aviation accidents is pilot error rather than mechanical failure. Besides that, the leading “mechanical” failure is running out of fuel, which can many times also be attributed to the pilot.

Given all this, it makes more sense to fly commercial if you really need to go anywhere; however, this is not without its pitfalls. The current system of hubs employed by the airline industry is ridiculous. Why do I need to fly to Chicago just so I can catch a connecting flight to the Caribbean? Connections are a hassle and can turn into a nightmare if only one of the flights is late or if there is a problem in just one of the airports. Additionally, with the poor service most airlines offer and the way in which amenities have been cut to save money, it makes sense to minimize flight time if possible. Finally, new security restrictions make it necessary to be at the airport hours ahead of one’s flight. Since most people live up to an hour away from a major airport (without traffic), short hops come out to about the same time as driving.

Recently, I’ve been reading about some new developments that promise to open up the skies not only for private pilots but also for passengers. The first is the advent of Very Light Jets (VLJ). These jets are smaller and cheaper to operate than traditional business jets thus making them viable for air taxi operations and even for private pilots with fractional ownership agreements. Almost every town in the US has an airport that can handle these jets so it is a much more efficient way to travel for short hops than traditional airline travel.

The first VLJ to be certified was the Cessna Citation Mustang. The Mustang can fly at an altitude of 41,000 ft and a speed of 340 Knots, which makes it more than twice as fast as the typical general aviation plane. Additionally, the higher operating ceiling means that pilots can use the jet stream to achieve much higher speeds “over the ground”. (Ever wonder how come your flight to Phoenix arrived early even though it left late? It’s because the pilot “hitched” a ride in the jet stream. Most times this still doesn’t make up for airline screw-ups, though!)

The Mustang has a maximum range of around 1100 miles with full fuel so it won’t quite make a coast to coast trip but I doubt that anyone would want to do that anyway given the relatively sparse accommodations onboard. (Not that the coach cabin of the average airliner is much better, but at least it has a bathroom!) Despite this, VLJs promise to make short hops by air more palatable than the current system of hubs. Other companies such as Eclipse Aviation and Adam Aircraft have jumped on the VLJ bandwagon and, all in all, the technology seems very promising.

With all those new jets flying around, it is bound to become more difficult to coordinate air traffic in already crowded skies. This is where the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) comes in. For years I have been reading about how the FAA and NASA are trying to create a “highway in the sky” using new technologies like GPS and data links to create precise pathways in which air craft can fly without the need for coordination via radio with Air Traffic Control. In theory, a system like this could be used to design airplanes that virtually fly themselves. While this is still a far off dream (and a lot less fun), SATS holds the promise to revitalize general aviation and break the back of the hub system.

The crop of newly certified VLJs will undoubtedly be equipped with the latest avionics and glass cockpit technology that will enable them to fully take advantage of air control systems like SATS. This not only means that passengers will be able to fly safely in and out of more airports, but will also lighten the load for amateur pilots so that they can enjoy flying themselves around even more.

Personally, I can’t wait for these technologies to come to market. I am sick and tired of long rides to the airport, long lines at the security counter, late flights and rude flight crews. Besides, what could be cooler than jet-setting around in your very own VLJ!