Unicom: 08/05

Turbines, Plus Cirrus
I disagree with many of the points in “Are Turbines Safer?” (June 2005). To start, the argument that turbines are prohibitively expensive to fabricate is no longer true. Widely available and relatively inexpensive CNC machining equipment is easily capable of the necessary precision. When/if small (200-300 hp) turbines are built in the same numbers as piston engines, the manufacturing costs will end up being very similar (greater precision, but fewer parts).

The author says replacing piston engines with turbines wouldn’t help safety. The assertion is that a higher-performance engine will cause people to be in more accidents (weather, loss of control). As ad...