Air journeys are undeniably the fastest and most hassle-free ride of all. If you want to ship your cargo, cargo planes will make it possible within hours.
If you are looking for the quickest journey, jets will make it possible even from one continent to far away from other continents in glimpses.
After the mighty invention of the Wright brothers, various types of airplanes have been designed for tens of intended functions.
Before diving into the details of any jumbo or small jets, let’s divide airplanes into three-parent categories.
- Private jets
- Propeller Planes
- Commercial Airplanes
With the advancement of technology, engineers and technicians are trying to improve every aspect of airplanes to ensure the safest and quickest journeys.
Let’s explore all these types of airplanes and categorize them based on strengths, weaknesses, and intended functions.
Let’s dive into the smallest airplanes or private jets without delay.
Different Types of Private Jets
Very Light Jets- for Short Trips
Private jets with a short flight duration, usually 40 to 80 minutes, are mostly Very Light Jets. Such planes usually cover regional destinations.
They offer a space for up to eight passengers. An added advantage of these jets is that they don’t require a whole crew for flight; only a single pilot is enough to serve the purpose.
They don’t offer separate lavatory compartments but a privacy curtain containing an emergency toilet.
The first model of these lightest business jets, the Cessna Citation Mustang, was introduced in November 2006.
These are the best partners for trips whose intended destinations are off the tracks of commercial airlines.
Light Business Jets
The types of airplanes super-seceding very light jets mainly include these Light Business Jets.
These can travel in a range of 2400 nautical miles or even more for transcontinental trips.
Such private jets can carry twice as many loads as very light jets, meaning the maximum takeoff load is 20,000 lbs.
They can fly with an average speed of 500 mph, making them an ideal private trip choice on par with commercial jets.
They even have cabin pressurization, which makes them fly at higher altitudes without worrying about oxygen’s shortcomings.
Light business jets contain lavatory compartments and all technological facilities for remote meetings.
Mid-sized Private Jets
These jets can carry ten passengers simultaneously, designed explicitly for longer transcontinental trips.
They even have more enhanced and well-balanced amenities than light business jets. Mid-sized business jets can also travel at a speed of 500 mph.
They have the added feature of landing on smaller runways with pre-installed pressurized cabins to make your trips smooth and comfortable.
These jets travel up to 3000 nautical miles in a single go. A special type of these jets is called “super mid-size,” they are equipped with higher speeds and fuel-efficient systems.
These can even cover longer distances of 3600 nautical miles with an impressive speed of 580 mph.
Heavy Business Jets
These businesses have pre-installed every major facility for private or business meetings or conferences.
They can carry 10 to 18 passengers in a single trip and can hover nonstop for six to eight hours.
In simple terms, their powered design allows flying for more than 6,000 nautical miles. It’s the king of converting commercial travel to private journeys.
They can even fly above the weather to ensure high speeds without compromising comfort.
These jumbo jets have spacious cabins where even offices can be established. The Boeing 747 8 VIP is a masterpiece of this category.
Heavy business jets also feature super-lucrative luxury. These amenities provide an optimal working environment for the passengers during this long journey.
Military Jets
The military jet category is quite dubious. Regarding spacing and other facilities, they are private jets, but their intended use is neither private nor commercial.
For instance, you can’t keep fully armed military jets like the F18 Hornet. However, these jets are unquestionably the market leaders.
Military or supersonic fighter jets are built to engage in real-time combat with enemies.
Specialized weapons and systems deployment in their body make them more expensive than any business jets.
They have their separate bases and runways, usually under the command of the country’s naval and air forces.
An amazing feature that makes them special is that they can refill without landing. They usually follow a V-shaped pattern while flying, just like the birds.
These planes have multiple subcategories depending on weapons range, precision, flight time, and refilling span.
Different Types of Propeller Airplanes
Private Single Engine
Many people believe that propeller-driven systems are becoming obsolete with the advent of most modern supersonic multi-engine jets.
In reality, these propeller engines still hold many modern flight operations. Almost 27 percent of flights use propeller-engine airplanes.
The main reason for their excessive use in the market is that 80 percent of US domestic flights are one or two hours long.
So, when you have private propeller planes that can even travel to the remotest locations, why bear the hassle of private boarding jets?
Such types of planes are very common in the remote areas of many American states, especially in Alaska- where a dog shed is the only way of proper transportation.
These places can fly up to 200 miles in a single run. Although a single-propeller engine’s capability for one go is less, it can be an ideal partner if you seek local flights.
Twin Turbo Propeller Planes
Twin-turbo propeller planes or turboprops possess larger hauling capacity, but their operating costs are comparable to those of most light jets.
These planes can land even on grassy fields or makeshift runways. An added advantage is that a single pilot is enough to fly them without hassle.
Turboprops also have a special quality for diving and straight climbing without stalling out.
In propeller engines, the shaft rotates to turn a variable-pitch propeller, which propels the aircraft; in contrast, jet engines use exhaust gases for this purpose.
They can yield satisfactory outcomes even at speeds of 0.6 Mach, but still, they are not counted in supersonics.
The reason behind this happening is that the propeller loses its efficiency at higher speeds.
Military Turbo Propellers
Militaries around the globe still prefer turboprops because of their fuel-to-mileage ratio.
Additionally, they are prepared at much lower prices than fighter jets, and amazingly, turbos show excellent performance in lighter attacks.
An added feature of cheaper manufacturing makes them a more favorable option, especially in the regions where heavy fights have infinitesimal ratios.
Their sole purpose is to transport military cargo ranging from weapons to other things of battle importance.
One of the turboprops, Embraer Super Tucano, can transport weapons with an impressive weight of 3300 lbs.
Modern engineering has always kept them in military barracks and bases. Most military combats usually occur at lower altitudes, which is undoubtedly a stronger zone of turboprops.
Although such planes are less efficient than jets at Mach speeds, they provide stronger forward upthrust.
Amphibious
Amphibious planes are specialized to land and take off over water bodies like lakes and seas.
Even keel adjustments can make them ideal for landing over snow and ice bodies.
Special types of amphibious planes with retractable wheels can land on landing strips.
In short, these planes are true flag bearers of their names, ‘amphibious,’ meaning all-rounders that perform on both land and water bodies.
Such multipurpose planes carry some disadvantages along with all these fantastic features.
Most amphibious planes equipped with all landing capabilities require higher maintenance costs.
Aerobatic Planes
Performing high-speed maneuvers is the most exciting part of every pilot’s career, but most don’t get hands-on experience with fighter jets.
Aerobatic planes are perfect alternatives to fighter jets. They are equipped with massive speeds and can assist in dives and rolls.
These easily maneuvered airplanes allow pilots to perform multiple stunts. Their lightweight also makes them compatible with choreographing drills.
Flying these planes is not a simple task, as flying these biggies requires hours and hours of tedious practice and out-of-box coordination.
Military men are easy to suit for aerobatic planes because they have already undergone many such drills.
Though jets are becoming common in national parades, the jet master can also ace these.
So, the learning curve greatly diminishes if you have flight schooling or a military background.
Different Types of Commercial Planes
Light Passenger Jets
Such types of airplanes can carry 60 to 100 passengers in a single flight. Their small sizes make them the most appropriate choice for economic airlines.
In light passenger jets, the central aisle divides the seating into two equal parts, but there can be two aisles in bigger ones.
They operate at a cruising speed of 545 mph for 1800 miles. They can carry passengers from central hubs to regional and even to nearer transcontinental destinations.
Due to their smaller and more economical design, these jets generate hefty revenue for their owners, especially when flights start from central hubs.
Though they can travel to nearer continental locations, airlines prefer them to be within the region and even within countries to avoid heavy regulations of seas.
All these measures turn them into the most economical option for passengers and airlines.
Mid-size Passenger Jets
They are also named narrower body planes due to their sleek and narrow shapes and designs.
However, their passenger-carrying capacity is way greater than light passenger jets.
For instance, the Airbus 350-1000 can carry up to 350 passengers, and the Boeing 747 can hold 600 passengers in a single run.
A few of them, like the Airbus A380, can carry 853 passengers, and the race continues. Boeing 737 can hover up to 3000 nautical miles in a single flight.
All these features make them the perfect choice for seasonal routes as well as smaller flights.
Airplane giants Boeing and Airbus are trying to rule this category with their impressive investment-to-profitability ratio.
These airplanes can be a good adventure for longer trips, but airlines prefer the most appropriate path for each kind of plane.
Cargo Airplanes
Cargo planes have an amazing advantage over all other types of airplanes in that they are convertible.
For instance, depending on usage and requirement, we can convert the Boeing 747 into a passenger or cargo plane.
This Boeing giant can carry up to 65,000 cubic feet of diversified cargo.
The recently launched Airbus Beluga XL possesses a capacity of 78,000 cubic feet of cargo, leaving Boeing in second place.
One impressive feature of these airplanes is their diversity. Beluga carries 78,000, while Cessna- another cargo airplane- carries 340 cubic feet of cargo.
To add to your curiosity, these planes are not only jets; a few have propeller engines like Cessna.
Their interiors are especially covered with aluminum to avoid maximum deterioration.
Passenger Turboprops
Turbo propeller planes are more fuel-efficient than jet engines; however, turboprops lack reliability, one of the most important factors for any airline service.
The fuel economy of these types of airplanes has kept them in competition because fuel is unquestionably one of the biggest expenses of any airline.
An added feature of shorter runway requirements keeps turboprops in a tough knock with the jet airplanes.
So, many shorter flights are easily managed to fulfill market requirements and demands.
Bombardier Q400 can carry up to 80 passengers in a single run.
Jumbo Passenger Jets
The ‘Jumbo jet’ sobriquet was first awarded to the Boeing 747, the first wide-body commercial airplane.
Even Boeing’s manufacturers never imagined such a level of popularity, but astonishingly, 1554 articles of it were sold within a short period.
These have the potential to be converted into cargo or passenger and even a combo of both of these facilities.
Airbus is the new leader in the jumbo jet industry as it has impacted the airline market too quickly.
However, the massive size of the Airbus 380 made these lose their worth in the business spectrums of many investors.
These large jets occupy too much space and time to fill up and are almost useless for regional travel.
Only journeys from central hubs to other bigger hubs have proved somehow profitable for the airlines.
