Is it possible to fly 'dozens of captives' to safety in a 'single-engine Cessna' in one trip, or is that an AI hallucination?
AJ
Is it possible to fly 'dozens of captives' to safety in a 'single-engine Cessna' in one trip, or is that an AI hallucination?
AJ
Is it possible to fly 'dozens of captives' to safety in a 'single-engine Cessna' in one trip, or is that an AI hallucination?
Dozens as in more than one dozen (at least 24)? No. But that doesn't necessarily make it an AI hallucination. Plenty of human authors get shit like that wrong.
They do have a couple of single engine models that could handle 1 dozen passengers.
The Cessna Caravan and Grand Caravan EX are single engine turbo props and have a nominal capacity of 10-14 passengers.
On the other hand, what most people think of when you say single engine Cessna is their piston driven planes and the largest of those only seats six.
https://cessna.txtav.com/
You can't pack a plane like a clown car. Planes, especially small planes are sensitive to weight and weight distribution.
Exceed the maximum weight capacity and you probably won't get off the ground, and will probably crash if you do.
An unbalanced plane will be unstable in the air.
I think the answer depends on need and ingenuity.
Ask everyone here about how many people an AH-64 Apache can carry and the majority will possibly say two crew and that's it. Yet it has been used on more than one occasion as a troop transport carrying an additional four soldiers to the two crew.
So as to how many a Cessna can carry? Depends on how much room they have to take off, how heavy the captives are (how long have they been captive and how emaciated they are). How old the captives are (are they small children) and how much they have ripped out of the plane to make it lighter (seats, radio etc etc).
The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan can seat 9 passengers up to 14 under some conditions with a take off weight of 8,700 pounds.
So if you don't mind bending a few rules you can take as many passengers as you want by just using the limit of weight.
As an example if each passenger weighs 250 pounds then you could take 34 in one trip.
So if you want figure out what model of Cessna you have and look up its take off limit then judge if you fit that many in the plane.
The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan can seat 9 passengers up to 14 under some conditions with a take off weight of 8,700 pounds.
So if you don't mind bending a few rules you can take as many passengers as you want by just using the limit of weight.
I think that the maximum takeoff weight includes the weight of the aircraft and fuel.
The Cessna Grand Caravan EX (the version currently listed on their web site https://cessna.txtav.com/en/turboprop/grand-caravan-ex )
Shows the following:
Maximum Takeoff Weight 8,807 lb (3,995 kg)
Basic Empty Weight 5,310 lb (2,409 kg)
Useful Load 3,532 lb (1,602 kg)
So you only have 3,532 pounds for passengers assuming no luggage.
Using your 250 lb average that gives you a max of 14 passengers.
Interesting note: The maximum landing weight is 300 pounds less then the maximum takeoff weight.
Interesting note: The maximum landing weight is 300 pounds less then the maximum takeoff weight.
It's fun to share this bit of information with your passengers..."Any of you know how to use a parachute?"
If you are talking about a common, non-turboprop Cessna, your are only talking about a maximum of 1400 pounds "useful" weight capacity. Or 4-6 passangers.