Letters to the Editor
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Fuel!
Nice article (as usual - Patrick, have you checked out how many disgruntled subscribers at Table Talk who cited your column as one of the few reasons they still subscribe to Salon, and how many of those of us who hate the new design and lay-out that some weeks read _only_ your column nowadays?).
And a big thanks for the link to that article about Branson and cellulose ethanol. Could you hunt up some fuel engineer/scientist to interview about how viable running airplane engines on ethanol really is? I'd like a technical column again, for a change. Heck, even a general article on airplane engines and fuel efficiency (as compared to cars, boats and lawnmowers) would be nice. (I think you've touched on this lightly in some column, but it was some time ago.)
It was also very interesting to read that there's an extra tax on airplane fuel in the US that gets directly passed on to the passengers. Is this on top of or instead whatever (minimal) taxes you guys have on gasoline?
I have a hazy memory of airplane fuel (at least for airlines) being tax-exempt or at least taxed wayyy less than petrol for cars etc in many countries. Could you do a comparison? Does it matter very much for airlines where they fill up? Is it even possible (given weight constraints for landing etc) to save on fuel by carefully chosing where to make a stop on longer hauls, or are airlines just stuck with whatever the price is where they happen to land?