[HN Gopher] The fabulous Flamingo, a motorhome made from an aban...
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The fabulous Flamingo, a motorhome made from an abandoned aircraft
Author : GordonS
Score : 71 points
Date : 2021-11-27 15:32 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (uk.motor1.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (uk.motor1.com)
| speed_spread wrote:
| I look at those tiny windows making up the split windshield and
| all I see is a giant pedestrian-squashing contraption. To think
| that this thing is allowed to move on public roads at speeds
| greater than 3mph is terrifying. This should have been a trailer.
| bitxbitxbitcoin wrote:
| If you like that, check out the Winnebago Heli-Home.[0] It
| actually flew.
|
| [0] https://www.thedrive.com/news/34753/the-winnebago-heli-
| home-...
| ljf wrote:
| Cheers that was too interesting not to post! Looks amazing
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29361699
| bitxbitxbitcoin wrote:
| I first learned about it on HN so credit's due to that OP!
| dylan604 wrote:
| Everyone of my family members that owned an RV has said that
| gas mileage was aweful. I'm wondering what would be worse, this
| heli-home or a regular RV. How much advantage of being able to
| travel in the literal "as a crow flies" distances vs ground
| roads, price of regular fuel vs aviation fuel, etc. However, at
| least in an RV, you don't need sound deadening headphones and
| intercoms the entire time of travel.
| t0mas88 wrote:
| For a mid sized helicopter like this, you can expect around
| 40 gallon per hour and a speed of about 100 mph.
|
| So I don't think this is a solution to the RV fuel
| consumption problem.
| GekkePrutser wrote:
| Jet-A1 is a lot cheaper though than unleaded petrol or car
| diesel at least here in Europe. Especially because it's
| untaxed.
|
| Still it works out much more expensive for the chopper
| obviously. Those really guzzle it.
|
| And this one looks so old that might be piston based in
| which case it would probably run on avgas which is a lot
| more expensive than car fuel.
| p_l wrote:
| Tax depends on who is buying, usually. IIRC in Poland
| private plane owners who are not buying through airclub
| pay tax on fuel, but airclubs don't, which results in
| every non-road-legal 4 stroke engine on airfield running
| on AVGAS-100LL ;)
| GekkePrutser wrote:
| Seriously?? I thought Avgas is still much more expensive
| than regular unleaded fuel.
|
| It sure was when I flew but I'm not sure whether we were
| paying taxes. We bought it through the airclub but it was
| not a commercial club. So we probably did pay it.
|
| But we paid something like 3,50 euro per liter and this
| was when regular petrol prices were 1,50 or so. I was
| told it's so expensive because the special production:
| They add dehumidifying agents against condensation etc.
|
| I heard a lot of clubs are going for turbodiesel
| conversions now but the problem is that they have to be
| completely replaced every X years, they can't just do an
| engine overhaul like they can on the old Lycoming avgas
| engines.
| t0mas88 wrote:
| It's only untaxed for commercial operators, not for your
| own helicopter or airplane.
| GekkePrutser wrote:
| Ahh ok I didn't know this. I never flew anything with
| Jet-A1. Only Avgas.
| riedel wrote:
| Fun fact is that EU introduced a directive that any state
| could tax it in 2003 but no one did. So much for the
| green new deal...
| GekkePrutser wrote:
| Well it's not really green if they do it. It will have to
| be done worldwide.
|
| Otherwise all the operators will fuel up to the brim at
| tax havens and be much heavier (and thus burn more fuel
| which is bad for the environment). And skimp on fueling
| at expensive locations and as such introduce dangerous
| situations (like RyanAir was already caught doing!). I
| think this was also the reasoning behind the no-tax
| thing.
|
| They could make it mandatory for intra-europe flights for
| example but then the airlines will just introduce little
| side-hops to places like Dubai and Northern Africa for
| the sake of it. There just is no good solution unless the
| world agrees on taxation everywhere. That would have been
| a good point to raise at Glasgow but it was once again
| all form over function.
| GekkePrutser wrote:
| Lone Starr would love that!
| squarefoot wrote:
| How beautiful, loved it! Kudos to the creator for the patience to
| do the adaptation. I wish we could build and use such a thing
| legally in the EU, but we have much smaller roads which would be
| easily clogged by a monster like that. If I may raise some
| criticism, the rear abrupt cut off looks odd. I would add a few
| Space Shuttle styled rocket nozzles over there, then hide the air
| conditioner exhaust in one of them.
| p_l wrote:
| Well, it wouldn't fit in some cities, but I do not believe a
| motorhome is for city trips, is it?
|
| This one maybe a bit too big but I think something similar
| would be doable even with some tiny rural roads.
| verve_rat wrote:
| Holy shit do I hate the hyperactive editing of that video.
|
| It is a video about a thing you want us to look at, maybe let us
| have a good look. Long slow pans, not jittery jump cuts.
|
| FFS.
| Stevvo wrote:
| I love that you can get something like this road-legal in the US;
| in Europe you wouldn't stand a chance.
| [deleted]
| p_l wrote:
| The only issue in Europe would be the loading gauge possibly
| being too big, but that's _specific to this car_ , not specific
| to making your own custom car.
|
| And with motorhome you're not going to take trips to tiny old
| city roads anyway, so you can go big.
|
| Your only practical issue is that you need to have C-class
| driver license for many bigger motorhomes, due to weight limits
| on normal B-class driver's license. (C-class is trucks,
| including semi-trailer tractors)
| chrismorgan wrote:
| I'm curious why you reckon it wouldn't stand a chance. In
| Australia and New Zealand I'd expect it to be fairly
| straightforward (meaning fiddly in places but perfectly
| doable), so long as it isn't too wide (it's within half an inch
| of the US limit, by the sounds of it). I know one New Zealander
| making a fairly outrageously large, heavy and wide RV at
| present, and he knows all the details that will be required to
| get it road-legal (a family member has done something slightly
| less extreme before) and reckons it'll be fine.
| dylan604 wrote:
| How does it getting approved in Australia or New Zealand help
| counter it being harder to approve in EU?
| chiph wrote:
| My understanding is that Australia can be pretty picky. Dick
| & Pip Smith drove an Earthroamer (a $500k offroading RV)
| around the world and when he got to his native Australia
| there were several things he had to alter, even though it was
| titled in Colorado, had Colorado plates, and had a 12-month
| Carnet from the government for it. The ones I remember were
| he had to install wider fender flares to ensure full
| coverage, and replace the red rear turn signals with amber
| ones. Being famous there apparently didn't help.
| t0mas88 wrote:
| Australia and New Zealand are also less busy and have wider
| roads than most of western Europe.
| hellbannedguy wrote:
| You could get it road leagal in most states here. It stands out
| though. Cops in the USA have become Revenue Collectors in many
| parts of the country. Breaking down is not your worry. A $240
| parking ticket, or a $500 overnight oversized RV ticket is
| crushing.
|
| (I think RV's will be home to many lucky/skilled Americans. The
| homes close to jobs cost to much. I would like to see most
| available federal/state/local land set aside for free camping.)
| [deleted]
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