>>>>Heck the whole universe harms the global environment (solar radiation, asteroids, comets... ) so what's the harm in a little jet fuel based ozone depletion or excess fat intake in the grand scheme of things? *L*
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>>>Speaking of which... I was once waiting for a bus after landing on a small airport, and went out for a smoke. Accidentally, so did the pilot who flew me there, and we had a little chat about the bumpy ride we had. The plane was one of the smallest I've ever been in, only about 30 seats. And so I learned that this type of plane uses 450 lb of kerosene per hour, while an equivalent jet won'd do without about 1400. But the airlines plan to phase the small wing-flappers out and replace them all with jets.
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>>If the jet flies 3x as fast, you basically break even ...
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>You don't, unless you're flying to another continent. And not on these small planes.
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>This was a DC to NY flight, which took about 1,5 hours, plus 1,5 hour that I take to leave home before the flight, plus about 2 hours that it took me to get from White Plains to Manhattan - six hours. A jet would have to waste 20 minutes gaining altitude and 20 minutes losing it at destination - at which time I assume it has to fly below its optimal speed, so it would save me about 45 to 55 minutes out of the total of five hours. I'll take the wing flapper over a jet anytime for short flights.
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>Now this may be irrelevant, and I probably already wrote about this, but...:
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>For my trips to NY, I'm taking a bus. Fron Norfolk (nearest airport) to NY it takes about 2,5 hours on a wing-flapper, plus the 1,5 hours before, plus the hour or more after, which is above five hours. If I take the bus, it takes me 20 minutes to get to the station, and another 20 to cross the part of Manhattan - the station is in Chinatown. And I don't get searched, get a cigarette break just minutes before departure, one halfway, and one as soon as we arrive. And you get to deal with a family business and not with a complicated system with lots of small print. Can't beat that.

We're basically comparing apples and oranges. I just wanted to point out that the measure of efficiency is not lb/hr, it's lb/mi (or kg/km). I agree that other factors have a huge effect on "travel time" efficiency.