Looking for any comments here about feasibility or the best options.
Our company is looking at a new aircraft, and I'm convinced it could do very well for guided bike tours (think heli-biking, but cheaper). The problem is loading bikes into the thing. It's normally a 10 seat aircraft, 5 rows of two including the pilot. Seats can be taken out in minutes, so the plan would be to take out two rows of seats and take 5 passengers and 5 bikes (the same as an AS350 helicopter). Here's a pic:
The only dimensions I have:
Cabin Height .......................................................... 44.9 in (1.1 m)
Cabin Width ........................................................... 50 in (1.3 m)
Cabin Door (width) ............................................................. 50 in (1.3 m)
I will still need to check if two rows taken out will fit a bike long-ways.
Is it possible to load 5 bikes standing up side by side with 50 inches of width? Would it be better to lay them flat with large pieces of foam between them? As long as we can keep the loading under 10 minutes it should be fine, but these will be random bikes, possibly without quick release front wheels, 29ers, etc.
Here's a couple pics of a GA8 with a couple bikes loaded. The GA10 will be the same but with a stretched fuselage and an extra row of seats. It has the same dimensions as above.
Our company is looking at a new aircraft, and I'm convinced it could do very well for guided bike tours (think heli-biking, but cheaper). The problem is loading bikes into the thing. It's normally a 10 seat aircraft, 5 rows of two including the pilot. Seats can be taken out in minutes, so the plan would be to take out two rows of seats and take 5 passengers and 5 bikes (the same as an AS350 helicopter). Here's a pic:
The only dimensions I have:
Cabin Height .......................................................... 44.9 in (1.1 m)
Cabin Width ........................................................... 50 in (1.3 m)
Cabin Door (width) ............................................................. 50 in (1.3 m)
I will still need to check if two rows taken out will fit a bike long-ways.
Is it possible to load 5 bikes standing up side by side with 50 inches of width? Would it be better to lay them flat with large pieces of foam between them? As long as we can keep the loading under 10 minutes it should be fine, but these will be random bikes, possibly without quick release front wheels, 29ers, etc.
Here's a couple pics of a GA8 with a couple bikes loaded. The GA10 will be the same but with a stretched fuselage and an extra row of seats. It has the same dimensions as above.