Live data from Hacker News

Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

gothamair.com

171–180 of 217 posts

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#171
post #93
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Europe, and every single ISP in my area advertises like this. Every single price on their website is the new-customer 3-month promo rate.

I hate when people do this, also I think it doesn't work on anyone from my generation. That was part of my reason for choosing Sonic.net. Which country do you live in ? I know nobody does ISP introductory prices in France.

http://offres.numericable.fr/tripleplay

The prices in bold are only for the first 12 months

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#172

Unfortunately it requires me to get on something that is kept aloft by an extremely complex collection of moving parts that twist, wibble and vibrate. And doesn't glide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9c4I3nRIFA (Explained by the same guy who explains the differential in that old instructional video)

That's a great video, and you're right about the "extremely complex ..." stuff.

But helicopter crashes are frequently survivable. Here's some anecdotal evidence. Long ago I knew an ex South Vietnamese Army guy who crashed two helicopters in a single day during the war. Also my old boss, Annapolis grad, once mentioned crashing a helicopter somewhere in Texas. Even knowing that, I still flew with him in his Beech and in his Aeronca Air Knocker. The younger we are, the more we believe in our own invulnerability and good luck.

Having said all that, I share your trepidation. Fortunately, today's commercial jets are orders of magnitude safer (as measured by actual crash statistics) than helicopters and general aviation fixed wing aircraft.

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"And doesn't glide" -- as opposed to, say, autorotation? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorotation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2a9H8Xw8Mo

I've seen people do autorotation landings (only for training, fortunately) and... I'll take something with wings, thanks :)

As the very video you link to explains, a helicopter does have wings. They just look a lot different than in a "fixed wing" design. :)

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#174
post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot €20 choose a seat - it's €0 if you want a randomly assigned seat but somehow the website mislead me in to clicking it, it took me 20 minutes to get this far in the booking, I'm scared to press the browser back button and I'm so frustrated now I'm blind to the clear and easy method of modifying the my previous selection, if there even is one, because the page changed as soon as I clicked. Maybe the site has…

Don't they put the "no seat preference" option in a drop-down containing a list of city names or something crazy like that?

Yes! In alphabetical order no less :)

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#175
post #69

For 99$ this is something that doesn't even require you to be some hedge fund brat to use. Not sure what the current cab prices are these days, but i remember paying about i think 80$ for a cab from JFK to central Manhattan. You can get it a bit cheaper if you book a car service instead of grabbing a cab from the airport but it's still not sums that would break anyone's pocket. A taxi from central London to Heathrow…

OT but I've never really understood the Heathrow Express economics--and I've asked Londoners and they've never been able to give a good explanation either. I take the Piccadilly line in and I've never understood the justification for taking the Express. Maybe if I were staying right around Paddington but not if I'm going to have to take the tube or a taxi anyway.

It's much cheaper with a Network Railcard - 22.40 roundtrip. With all HEX tickets, you can use them in any direction (i.e., it's two unlimited one ways basically) and the first is good for 3 days, the second "return" one good for 30 days, so I usually keep a few active for regular trips. 11.20 each isn't bad at all vs Uber if you're time sensitive and already nearish to Paddington.

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#176
This makes sense for business travellers if you need to get to JFK for a flight at say 6pm on a weekday. Traffic then is easily 1.5 hours and the variability is too high to comfortably rely on it. If it means an extra hour or two of meetings for that consistency in getting to the airport, seems easily worth the cost of a limo to the airport.

As a side note these things are like venture debt - they seem to only work in boom times. Every time there is a tightening in the financial markets these businesses tend to fold, as in US Helicopter, NY Airways, et al. Bubblicious!

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#177
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who lives in a city with a population of approximately 100,000 in the greater metro area - Launceston, Tasmania - I'd like to take a moment to reflect on your comment. Google Maps tells me Manhattan to JFK Airport is a 32 kilometre taxi ride and takes three hours, plus it takes two hours to clear security at the airport. I'm a little astounded by those numbers. Five hours to get from the couch at home to t…

There is no way google maps says that takes 3 hours, right now it shows 27min but obviously there is no traffic right now. In order for that trip to take 3 hours you would need a perfect storm of EXTREME traffic, zero knowledge of the city, and no gps to help you navigate. I would be astounded by those numbers too, but they aren't even close to accurate.

You're right, sorry. I was looking at the distance on Google maps and then the 3hrs OP had mentioned. I didn't even think to look at Google maps time, which presently states 30 minutes. Looking now at what I've written it's obvious I didn't word that how I intended it. Thanks for picking that up.

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#179
There's an interesting anecdote from Finland. A company called Copterline flew between Finland's Helsinki and Estonia's Tallinn for many years with two Sikorsky S-76 helicopters. The trip was over the ocean and took 18 minutes.

Sadly one of their copters crashed into the ocean in 2005, killing all 14 aboard. The reason was purely technical. The hydraulic steering system got stuck due to debris that had came loose from an inner coating. The copter was impossible to steer and started spinning around its axis, and spun 13 times until hitting the ocean.

It was the beginning of the end for the company. Later in 2008 they started again with two AgustaWestland AW139 copters. I was aboard once, and it was a fantastic experience. However, it boggled my mind how much even a modern helicopter vibrates. It's a wonder to me how copters can withstand the constant violent vibration. Apparently they can, except in rare cases.

In 2004 Copterline transported 75 000 passengers. If all flights were full (12 passengers and 2 pilots) it means about 17 flights a day, every single day.

Copterline went out of business in December 2008 because it was unprofitable. It's sad, because flying on a helicopter is a cool experience mortals like me usually can't experience without commercial flights.

Re: Gotham Air: Manhattan to JFK in 6 minutes for $99

#180
I think 3 hours is an exaggeration. From LGA to Columbia University (The north end of Upper West side of Manhattan) by M60 bus route takes 45 minutes (as of Google maps at 6am today) and the worst I have had is 90 minutes. And the cost of bus ride is a little over 2$. The distance is approximately 8 miles (13Kms).
Post reply on HN