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New breed of 'very light jets' poised for takeoff in 2006
The Boston Globe ^ | January 2, 2006 | Peter J. Howe

Posted on 01/02/2006 8:22:22 AM PST by george76

One of the most breathlessly anticipated revolutions in U.S. aviation is poised to take off in 2006, as new super-fast, relatively cheap airplanes called "very light jets" finally go into service.

Thanks to breakthroughs in the performance of engines for small jets, along with better airplane manufacturing techniques...a new breed of aircraft for a new category of travel:

jet-speed transportation between as many as 5,500 U.S. airports, in planes that cost as little as $1.5 million.

That's a fraction of the price of today's private jets.

Pending final certification by the Federal Aviation Administration this winter...Eclipse's six-seater E500 could be taking to the skies in July.

The planes can cruise at more than 400 mph, twice the typical speed of private propeller-driven planes.

"This is the absolute future, and everybody in the aviation business knows it," ...

Because VLJs weigh as little as a minivan, they can land on runways as short as 3,000 feet - compared with the 4,000 or 5,000 feet required by the smallest private jets today.

Huge cost savings

The advantage of VLJs is they potentially will cost a third as much to buy and half as much to operate per hour as traditional small jets, vastly broadening the market for air taxi and charter services.

Today, about 98 percent of U.S. air travelers fly through just 460 commercial airports, and 70 percent through just 30 huge airports ...

Some of the most zealous evangelists for VLJs have predicted the planes will quickly replace hub-and- spoke misery for high-end business travelers, the lifeblood of commercial airlines, with millions flying in small, comfortable planes from suburb to suburb - paying prices comparable to those for first-class tickets but avoiding big airports.

(Excerpt) Read more at rockymountainnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 400mph; 425mph; airplane; airplanes; albuquerque; aviation; denver; e500; eclipse; eclipsee500; faa; jets; lexington; linearair; mass; planes; privatejets; sixseater; usaviation; vlj
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1 posted on 01/02/2006 8:22:24 AM PST by george76
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To: george76

i want one, been watching it for years, it was suppose to ne 775-950 k

1.5 is a bit out of my budget


2 posted on 01/02/2006 8:32:00 AM PST by Flavius (Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: george76
Pending final certification by the Federal Aviation Administration this winter...Eclipse's six-seater E500 could be taking to the skies in July.

I want one.

3 posted on 01/02/2006 8:32:51 AM PST by Ditto ( No trees were killed in sending this message, but billions of electrons were inconvenienced.)
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To: Flavius

Fractional fee ownership will be interesting to watch.

Sharing the purchase price and maintenance should be allot cheaper than a larger jet.

Landing in shorter runways should be a big bonus for many folks.


4 posted on 01/02/2006 8:36:36 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: Aeronaut
One for the Aviation list.


5 posted on 01/02/2006 8:40:13 AM PST by GaltMeister (“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”)
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To: GaltMeister; Ditto

Nice Picture.


6 posted on 01/02/2006 8:41:55 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: george76

yes i agree, overall this is extremely cool


7 posted on 01/02/2006 8:42:12 AM PST by Flavius (Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: Flavius
1.5 is a bit out of my budget

Rent it instead when you need it. If they charge $300-$400 per hour for a jet sans pilot a couple of people could cost justify using it in rural areas where tickets typically cost $300-$400 per person regardless of destination.
8 posted on 01/02/2006 8:42:19 AM PST by Milhous (Sarcasm - the last refuge of an empty mind.)
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To: All

Pardon me for not jumping on the bandwagon, but I have become weary of hearing announcement after announcement of new aviation breakthroughs and then when I read about them I discover

THAT THEY DON'T GO ANY FASTER WHATSOEVER THAN 25 YEARS AGO.

Airplane makers care only about lower fuel costs. I care about not spending my life sitting on an airplane droning along at 400 knots. Yeah, I know they are playing games with this announcment and comparing them to Cessna 172s, but after that is out of their mouth they then leap forward to talk about chasing high end business travelers.

I will give them this. I will likely drive a shorter distance to and from the airport, but what are they going to do with TSA announces they have to expand staff 5 zillion % to put security at all these minor strips?


9 posted on 01/02/2006 8:48:30 AM PST by Owen
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To: Milhous

Air taxi and charter services should love this six seater jet.

Moving over 425 per hour should get allot of us to where we want to be.


10 posted on 01/02/2006 8:48:52 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: Flavius

"1.5 is a bit out of my budget"

Yeah, mine too. I think I'll wait a couple ofyears and pick up a pre-ownded jet for maybe $800K. ;)


11 posted on 01/02/2006 8:51:10 AM PST by DogBarkTree
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To: george76

http://www.eclipseaviation.com/index.php?a=flyagain


12 posted on 01/02/2006 8:57:09 AM PST by martinidon (Bush won sKerry lost and Soro's is out millions for nothing!)
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To: GaltMeister
Pussy Galore's Flying Circus?
13 posted on 01/02/2006 8:58:58 AM PST by fish hawk (creatio ex nihilo)
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To: george76
I read the article at Rocky Mountain News, and (unless I missed it) didn't see a range for this pup.

Has anyone seen a max range figure for it?

14 posted on 01/02/2006 9:00:21 AM PST by Babu
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To: Babu

"a generous range of 1,280 nautical miles."

"A 41,000-foot ceiling avoids most severe weather, and this extraordinary jet gives you access to more than 10,000 airports..."


15 posted on 01/02/2006 9:02:27 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: Babu

1280 miles


16 posted on 01/02/2006 9:04:34 AM PST by martinidon (Bush won sKerry lost and Soro's is out millions for nothing!)
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To: martinidon

Thank you. The site was very useful.


17 posted on 01/02/2006 9:07:25 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: Owen

Here's the problem: thanks to increasingly tighter air traffic control procedures, flying faster won't get you any more benefits unless you're flying intercontinental flights. Those increased ATC controls was why Convair wasn't able to sell that many 880 and 990 models during the 1960's.


18 posted on 01/02/2006 9:07:51 AM PST by RayChuang88
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To: GaltMeister; Tijeras_Slim; FireTrack; Pukin Dog; citabria; B Knotts; kilowhskey; cyphergirl; ...

19 posted on 01/02/2006 9:09:43 AM PST by Aeronaut (It is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how the war began.)
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To: Aeronaut

It is the way General Aviation is evolving. 20 years from now there will probably not be any piston aircraft in production.


20 posted on 01/02/2006 9:14:12 AM PST by Pusterfuss (Proud member: Minnesotans for Global Warming)
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