Posted for George Braly <gwbraly@gami.com>:

Re:  Turbine Lancair - - and all other single engine turbine GA singles
under 5000lbs MGW:

And if you do all the numbers, carefully, including the IFR and payload
numbers, with two people on board, and baggage, and  *real world* turbine
fuel consumption while doing the terminal area departures - - - and while
doing the terminal area arrival,  and then while doing the terminal area
departure for the missed approach destination, and then doing the terminal
area arrival fuel consumption for the missed approach....

and if you do all these numbers carefully, for the turbine, you will find -
- carefully, that the real world conservative IFR NBAA range of the aircraft
is down around 500-600 nm.

IF you do the numbers, carefully.

In that case,  a piston engine Lancair will be faster on any trip from 600
to 1000nm, than will the turbine.

A friend of mine, who has written commercial flight planning software, just
did those numbers for ALL of the single engine turbine aircraft options in
the GA world.

He concluded that in anything less than a TBM,  that in order to fly from
Ft. Myers to Houston - IFR, he would have to stop in New Orleans for gas...
whereas, his existing turbocharged piston engine aircraft could fly from Ft.
Myers to Houston, and then fly on to El Paso, before needing fuel.

If you do the numbers, carefully. IFR reserves, ... legal IFR reserves - -
the turbine option is not yet viable and will not be viable until there is a
technological break through with respect to the specific fuel consumption of
the turbine engines . . and the laws of thermodynamics require that in order
to achieve that breakthrough,  that the first stage turbine inlet
temperature will need to be up in the 3000+F range, and nobody even has a
suitable material for the first stage turbine identified, hypothetically, to
accomplish that . . .  yet. Regards,  George