The only other thing besides the SF50 that generates so much emotional and unfathomable rancor on the internet is Rickenbacker model 4000 bass guitars.

You need to stop putting words in other people's mouths. None of us claimed we are the majority.
Mike C.

I could easily afford an SF50, I will never own one because I think they are BUTT UGLY.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I think AirCams are one of the uglier planes made, but if you gave me one you wouldn't hear from me for at least a month. I'd be too busy flying it all over the country.

I don't have to look at it if I'm in it.

Jim, you are too smart to keep it. First thing you would do is sell it and buy a real jet with the 3.5M

I'd get at least *one* flight in it. I like to fly and compare different aircraft types.

I'm no Winkle, but it would be my 31st type. 50 would be a nice number to hit before I'm done. Keep learning as long as you can!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brown_(pilot)

There are quite a few jet pilots in SF50’s if you look on the forums. Some from military and airline backgrounds, and they think pretty highly of their little jets. I think if you have the mission within its envelope, which are a few people not going too far, it is hard to beat. The limits on range and payload are pretty well known. But didn’t I read somewhere the average biz jet leg is 250 nm?

95% of all car trips are less than 31 miles.

No one would buy a car with 31 mile range. A jet that can do 250 nm would be just as stupid.

The range of a plane defines your effective radius of travel. If you add a stop, the effective speed of the plane drops significantly. Jets, in particular, want to get high and stay there for efficient operation, so a fuel stop is a serious hit.

Mike C.

95% of all car trips are less than 31 miles.

No one would buy a car with 31 mile range. A jet that can do 250 nm would be just as stupid.

The range of a plane defines your effective radius of travel. If you add a stop, the effective speed of the plane drops significantly. Jets, in particular, want to get high and stay there for efficient operation, so a fuel stop is a serious hit.

Mike C.

95% of all car trips are less than 31 miles.

No one would buy a car with 31 mile range. A jet that can do 250 nm would be just as stupid.

The range of a plane defines your effective radius of travel. If you add a stop, the effective speed of the plane drops significantly. Jets, in particular, want to get high and stay there for efficient operation, so a fuel stop is a serious hit.

Mike C.

Mike, I am with you on range. To me range is king. Opens up a dream world of travel. When you have to make a fuel stop, especially with weather right where you need fuel, adds time, stress, and increases risk. Also more than doubles flight planning workload. So I get the practicality aspect. Just pointing out that a shorter range jet still has utility, and the SF50 has some really attractive attributes. As to range… there was a jet stream howling yesterday. In my M600 I could make the 2907 nm trip from Portland Maine to Madrid Spain non-stop with 45 min fuel reserve. That would be with a 128 knot tailwind at FL290 in economy cruise burning 22.7 gph. There are some practical reasons why one would not want to do that, but wow. Makes the world a lot smaller. The SF50 would not meet my personal needs and desire, but can see why it meets others well.

The EV comparison is an excellent one Sal, I am against government interference in the free market, I’m against EV’s as a solution to environmental problems, I hate what battery production does to the planet, I’m concerned about the load these cars will put on the grid, and my list goes on.

My wife and I live downtown, we both drive bug SUV’s, we’re thinking of adding a car, and it will probably be a Tesla, we love them.

Plus, I have an Tesla charging station in the garage three spaces from my Yukon. Add to that the fact we’d rarely leave the city in it and it becomes the perfect choice for us.

As Sal said the decision paradigm in these purchases often goes well beyond aircraft capabilities.

I bought an EV because it is a better driving experience. I plug it in once a week at home, and there is a lot of satisfaction of never having to stop at a gas station. The way it performs is fantastic. I'm not buying a gas car ever again.

EV + jet covers my needs. Anything beyond the range of the EV is a jet trip.

Both my jet and my EV are solar powered. Unfortunately, it was sunshine from millions of years ago capture as oil (for the jet) or coal (for the car).

Oddly, there is a path to convert the jet to modern sunshine and less of one to do that for the EV.

As to the "80% of missions" standard, that's bogus. It should be "80% of miles". The long missions end up being a higher faction of your miles. If my jet only covered 80% of my trips, it would be a real bummer.

The other aspect is that once you get a longer range airplane, your mission mix often changes. You go further, do more. The longer range plane is an enabler, not a limiter if it was short range.

My objective is to get the most capability for the dollar. The SF50 clearly isn't that, so others have a different objective. If I bought an SF50, it would cost me significantly more money and reduce my capability quite a lot. That's like paying Lexus money to get Yugo performance when you could have bought a Toyota. Everybody gets to choose.

Mike C.

Aside from the autopilot this has become my number one reason I love my Tesla. I hate pumping gas.

Chip-

Not sure how much a timesaver it is. Just bought a Rivian, and between the online stuff, the type rating training at the the service center, the hours spent with the contractors figuring out how to get 60 amp power to my garage, figuring out the app and the software.... I think I am up to 3 or 4 years of gas pumping, and I don't even have the car yet So far my experience has been a little interesting but frustrating. Looking forward to trying the car out though.