Very Light Jet Talk

Cirrus Jet First Flight!

JoeN — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:53:00 GMT

Its a big day for Cirrus. The Cirrus Jet took its first flight just a few hours ago. I will update the post with pictures when they start rolling in.

Update: Sounds like the flight went to 10K feet and lasted 48 minutes. Pictures from the-jet.com taken from the L-39 chase plane.

Eclipse Certification Under Investigation!

JoeN — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:34:00 GMT

This should be interesting. Conspiracy theorists arise. The certification of the Eclipse 500 has gone from murmurings heard round the net to a federal investigation. Poor Vern seems to be having a little setback in the PR department in the last month or so. Hmmm, if the price increase to 2.15 mil didn't create position selling urgency, the recent throttle jam and federal investigation might make one pause to consider.

Eclipse Pilot MDW Story

JoeN — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:56:00 GMT

This is in interesting article detailing the experience of the 22,000 hour captain piloting the Eclipse with stuck throttles. It sounds like it was well handled given the co pilot was log building and not type rated in the plane. Basically he would have handled it as a single pilot emergency. scary stuff.

Cirrus Jet Prototype V1

JoeN — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:26:15 GMT

It looks like the Cirrus Jet Prototype "V1" is complete. Static run up testing has been conducted. Taken from the-jet.com and cirrusvillage.com here are progress pictures and a gootube video link. Okay, so this thing looks, umm, well, odd. Something like the progeny of a Mattel toy and duckbill platypus perhaps? Nevertheless, check out that gear. Nice and beefy. I hope the rest of the plane is a match in fortitude.

Eclipse Emergency AD issued

JoeN — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:52:00 GMT

I certainly hope there is more to this story than the NTSB report suggests. To understate this would be to say that this is not a favorable development for Eclipse taken at face value. This appears to have happened to a two pilot crew, but I really hope this is addressed before a similar event with a single pilot owner operator. Here is the text of the NTSB announcement.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 12, 2008 SB-08-27

NTSB ISSUES URGENT RECOMMENDATIONS TO FAA TO INSPECT ALL ECLIPSE 500 THROTTLE QUADRANTS

Washington, DC - The National Transportation Safety Board today issued two urgent recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration to address a safety issue concerning a failure that resulted in uncontrollable engine thrust in an Eclipse 500 airplane and the lack of emergency procedures developed for that failure.

The Safety Board recommended that the FAA should require immediate inspection of all Eclipse 500 airplane throttle quadrants to ensure that pushing the throttle levers against the maximum power stops will not result in an engine control failure, and that the FAA should further require that all units that fail inspection be replaced and replacement parts be similarly inspected.

The Board also recommended that the FAA require Eclipse to immediately develop for the Eclipse 500 airplane an emergency procedure for a dual engine control failure and incorporate the procedure into the airplane flight manual and quick reference handbook via an airworthiness directive.

On June 5, 2008, an Eclipse 500 airplane, N612KB, on approach to Chicago Midway Airport, experienced a failure that resulted in uncontrollable maximum power thrust from two Pratt and Whitney Canada PW610F turbofan engines. After referencing the emergency procedures of the airplane’s quick reference handbook, the pilots shut down one of the engines. However, following the shutdown of the engine, the other engine rolled back to idle power and continued to be unresponsive to the throttle. The pilots declared an emergency, were cleared to land on any runway and were able to land the plane without injury to the two pilots or two passengers.

“The Eclipse 500 is still a new aircraft model, with some 200 hundred having been delivered,” NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said. “This incident demonstrated a technical safety-of-flight issue that we believe needs immediate attention.”

The Safety Board noted that the dual-channel failure of both throttle levers occurred after the airplane had accumulated only 238 hours and 192 cycles since new. As a result, the Board is concerned about the reliability of an assembly that fails in such a short time.

Furthermore, when the failed throttle quadrant assembly was replaced on the accident airplane, pushing the throttle levers on the replacement unit against maximum power stops caused an R ENG CONTROL FAIL message to appear on the crew alerting system display.

The Board further noted that the Eclipse 500’s flight manual and quick reference handbook provide an emergency procedure for a single engine control failure, but not for a dual engine control failure, such as occurred in the incident. The Safety Board is concerned that should there be another dual engine control failure aboard an Eclipse 500, pilots will be without guidance and may be unable to restore control.

On Tuesday, June 10, 2008, the Safety Board gave a preliminary briefing to the FAA on the status of its investigation into this incident and informed the agency of the Board’s intention to issue urgent recommendations.

The Safety Board is continuing its investigation.

A copy of the Board’s safety recommendation letter may be accessed on the NTSB’s website at the following link: http://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/letters/2008/A08_46_47.pdf.

and

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 13, 2008 SB-08-28

NTSB CHAIRMAN LAUDS FAA FOR QUICK ACTION ON ECLIPSE 500

Washington, DC – National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker today applauded the Federal Aviation Administration for its fast response to the urgent recommendations issued yesterday by the Safety Board on the serious airworthiness issue involving the Eclipse 500.

Last night, the FAA issued an airworthiness directive addressing dual engine control failures on the Eclipse 500. The directive informs pilots of the incident where a pilot lost left and right engine control while landing an Eclipse 500. It also provides pilots with operational procedures to recover the control of their engines in the event of a similar incident.

The AD, which is being sent to all owners and operators of Eclipse Aviation Corporation Model EA500 airplanes, also calls for a test procedure of the throttle quadrant to be conducted before their next flight. And, the pilots are required to report the test results to the FAA.

“The quick FAA response to the urgent recommendations we issued could save lives,” Rosenker said. “Additionally, the NTSB is looking forward to reviewing the results of the FAA-required inspections of these aircraft.”

Next week, the FAA and Eclipse will be conducting further evaluations and tests on the throttle quadrant from the incident aircraft.

Eclipse Aviation Customer Weekend

JoeN — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:44:00 GMT

I had an interesting visit at Eclipse aviation this past weekend. Eclipse holds an annual owners/position holders event and this year a buddy of mine invited me to attend. I have been interested in getting a closer look at the plane and the operation and this seemed like a good chance to do it. The 500 is in competitive space with the Meridian, TBM, and Mustang and certainly deserves a fair shake outside of the operational problems of the company. I have made comments in the past about Eclipse as a company and Eclipse management purely based on publically available information.
So lets start with the good part. I think the plane is a decent idea from what I can tell without flying it. I have heard lots of comments about how small and cramped it is, but it really isn't much different than a TBM interior and is definitely more roomy than a Meridian. It would certainly fit my mission requirement for size, payload and passengers. Fit and finish also seemed similar to all of the other new planes I have reviewed and considered. Having spent many hours in a Cirrus, I definitely like the side stick control as well. I had a chance to talk with a number of folks who had taken delivery of their planes and without exception all seemed to be pleased with the flying characteristics of the plane.
Now for the bad part. I was told I would be able to fly it, but did not due to what I suspect was a bit of paranoia. Apparently, my name was routed over to the "marketing and brand manager" instead of a typical demo pilot channel. I didn't put it together until I met the guy and he started by asking me my name and if I ran the "VLJ blog." Then started the paranoia. "Are you going to write more lies about Eclipse." Huh?! That got my attention. So much for marketing. Apparently though he/they are aware of the site, they haven't spent much time actually reading it since the extent of my comments have been related exclusively to the business practices of the company and founder. Based on Raburn's own admission those practices have left something to be desired. Raburn mentioned in his talk that by their own count, they have missed over 400 promised deadlines. Most of the weekend's sessions were in some way about confessing how they had screwed up and what they were doing and planning to do to fix the problem. Honestly, I wish them the best of luck. I have always said the company and the founder are visionary and the reality is they have built a pretty cool little jet. I really, really wish that they had made some choices earlier in the game like not trying to build a software company along with an aircraft company. Why not pull something off the shelf like a G1000 so we don't have to sit and scratch our heads about a Garmin 400 "FMS"? I suspect the same stubborn characteristics that explain that warped decision making also explain how they have managed to raise an unbelievable amount of capital. It is easy to knock a company sitting on the sidelines, but I just don’t get why they don’t focus on one aspect of an incredibly difficult process and leave the peripherals like avionics to a vendor. The G1000 has been virtually flawless and has done everything it promised from day one. It works beautifully in the Mustang, Phenom 100 and TBM 850. There is a reason it has now been chosen by so many aircraft manufacturers. When I asked one of the techs about this issue he said Eclipse felt they could provide more functionality than was present in other glass panels. In an ideal world perhaps that would have been true based on early projections, but it is clearly not the case today.

Back to the paranoia. It struck me in the accusations that Eclipse has become so paranoid of criticism and trying to stop it, that they have become distracted from some of their goals, not the least of which should be appealing to new potential customers like me, not worry about what the "bloggers" are saying. Granted some of the most vocal critics spent some time in my forum area. However, some of the irresponsible behavior was moderated leading to the groups departure back to unmoderated territory. The fact of the matter is this is a VLJ website not an Eclipse website. The whole point of starting it was to encourage discussion of all VLJs since it is of great interest to me and apparently many others.

Of course the other big announcement of the weekend was the price increase. It needed to happen to give the company any chance of making it as I have said for some time. I am sure glad I was not out of pocket on a deposit for 5 years only to be told that the price increase applied to me since I had not been invoiced for the 6 month payment. OUCH!

2007 Cirrus SR22 GTS Sterling Turbo For Sale

JoeN — Sat, 10 May 2008 20:32:48 GMT

This is my second Cirrus and a terrific airplane with very few squawks in a ~year of ownership. The first annual was just completed and is available for review along with the rest of the logs. The plane is in great shape, hangared and well maintained with all scheduled oil changes, ADs and applicable SBs completed. The TTSN is ~250 hours. The flight time hobbs is ~20% less. This plane was configured with every single factory option available at the time of delivery with a total invoice price of 530K. I took factory new delivery of the plane on 02/16/2007. Almost two years of warranty coverage remain on the plane expiring on 02/16/2010. Read my factory delivery review here. Save the brain damage of buying a G3 Cirrus with 700 changes plagued with problems. The G2 airplanes have been thoroughly vetted over the last 4 years since introduction and are now reliable trouble free planes. (Ask your local Cirrus Service Center how many times they see a G3 in the shop vs. a late model G2. Ask about inaccurate fuel guages, autopilot oscillation with full scale deflection from the factory, freezing ailerons, and much more).

My only reason for selling the plane is I am buying a turbine aircraft. I am a realist and want to close prior to taking delivery on my new airplane so I have priced the plane to sell immediately. There is no better 4 place single engine piston on the market. Please contact me at 813-283-0383, by using the contact page on the website, private message, or the following email address: highflying at gmail dot com. $437,000

Features & Options

TTSN: ~250 Hours

Avionics

Primary Flight Display (PFD)
EX5000C Multi-Function Display (MFD)
GMA 340 Audio Panel
GTX 327 Digital Transponder
Engine & Fuel Monitor (EMax™)
GNS 430/430, Autopilot 55X
Weather Datalink & Audio Entertainment (XM)
WX-500 Real-Time Lightning (Stormscope®)
Traffic Information (SKYWATCH™)
Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (TAWS-B)
Electronic Approach Plates (CMax™)
Flight Director

Other Features

Built-in Oxygen System
406 MHz ELT
Fan Powered Ventilation System
Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS)
AmSafe Airbag Safety Restraints
TKS Deice Protection
Dual Alternators
Dual Batteries
Factory installed Reiff Preheater

Paint & Graphics

Leading Edge Protectant
Tinted Windows
Polished Spinner
Sterling Gray/Silver Exterior
Black & Silver Accents
Black Leather Interior

Engine & Performance

TCM IO-550-N, 310 hp, 6-point mount
Hartzell 3-Blade Lightweight Composite Prop
Tornado Alley Turbo Normalized
Platinum Engine

No requirement to lean for best power when operating at high altitude airports with the turbo Cirrus. The turbo requires a single mixture adjustment through all phases of flight

The turbo is extraordinarily capable allowing the aircraft to capture ideal tailwind altitudes through 25,000 ft.

View of Duluth, MN Harbor at 22,000 ft.

If anybody happens to be interested in a house or two at one of the most spectacular fly in communities in America, I will be happy to do a combination deal with the plane.

HERE

Adam Aircraft

JoeN — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:22:00 GMT

According to this article the new Adam Aircraft owner, AAI Acquisition, may drop the A500 in favor of A700 development only. Its about time was my first thought. The A500 saga reminds me a bit of Eclipse with respect to certification and production delays. The difference of course with Eclipse has been its ability to obtain inordinate amounts of VC capital. In fact, if nothing else, Vern Raburn should be congratulated for his amazing ability to find funding for a company that has consistently underperformed. Anyway, if the new owners of Adam Aircraft focus on bringing the A700 to the market, it would be one of the first good decisions by the new company. I continue to be shocked by aircraft startups that try to certify multiple new models at a time. A single aircraft certification demands incredible resources and seems to be consistently underestimated much less trying multiple models simultaneously-ludicrous. Why not focus on a single good product and get it on the market and revenue in the door before choosing to hemorrhage hundreds of millions more. Unfortunately, the Adam A500 was never a good product and other than a unique design offered very little in terms of payload, range, and speed over existing products in the market relative to price. It should have been jettisoned long ago particularly since insolvency makes everything so transparent.
Discuss it in the forums

Cessna Mustang and TBM 850

JoeN — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:51:00 GMT

I recently had a chance to do some demo time in both a Cessna Mustang and TBM 700. I spent an hour in the Mustang and four hours in a TBM 700 over a weekend. Both are very capable machines and certainly worth consideration, but it was not difficult for me to decide which plane I am interested in purchasing. I would like to get a more detailed review together when I get a bit more time, but in the meantime one of our forum contributors has a great review of the Mustang which is a thorough and comprehensive assessment of the aircraft and certainly more information than I will post. Once a G1000 version of the TBM 850 is available I will spend some time reviewing it relative to the Mustang, but I doubt my conclusion will change since it was based on factors that are not changing from the 700 to 850. There are a number of commercial reviews of the TBM, but I have not seen one reviewing the G1000 850 yet. If a reader happens to know of one please link to it in forums.

Which VLJs will Survive?

JoeN — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:59:00 GMT

From a recent question in the forums:

I think the same fundamental tenets that make a good business in any industry apply to VLJ manufacturers as well. Not the least of which is capitalization. The clear survivors will be Cessna and Embraer. Both companies have multi billion dollar existing product lines and extensive and successful jet building experience, are well capitalized, and in the case of the Mustang already have a three year order book. The Mustang is a good example of prospective consumer demand in the VLJ market segment. Cessna delivered the product that was promised in the time frame promised and as anyone who has flown one can tell you, it is a wonderful machine. Another indication of the strength of the VLJ market is the robust demand for similarly capable turboprop aircraft. There are a number of owner pilots like me, who are tired of flying high performance singles without FIKI, pressurization and and the reliability of a turbine engine. Right now all of those upgrade orders are going to the turboprop manufacturers, but the moment VLJs like the Mustang are available in a reasonable time frame, I predict there will be an exodus from the turbo prop to the turbo fan. There will always be a place for the single engine turbo prop simply due to the reduction in operating expenses with a single engine. However, the desirability and mystique of operating a jet is clearly compelling. The twin engine reliability components whether real or imagined will also weigh on the decision making of some. Statistically single engine turbines have a comparable safety record to multi engine turbines, but for the same reason the Cirrus SR22 has become the single best selling plane in GA, the twin engine VLJs similarly will flourish due to the "just in case" component.
Honda will most likely survive as well given the funding and name recognition. More importantly, Honda does not fail at much of anything. They have shown themselves to be careful students of the markets they intend to enter. Diamond and Cirrus as single engine turbine VLJs have a good chance of surviving as well given their successful existing product lines and reasonable funding. The dark horse in the mix is Epic. With the recent 200M infusion from Mallya, innovative product spectrum, and Canadian certification its a reasonable bet. How Piper's history of bankruptcy will influence the development of the Piper Jet is unknown, but its a natural step up from the Meridian and hopefully will avoid the structural issues that have plagued the PA46. Piper has a long history in GA, but the amount of money required to bring a clean sheet jet design to the market cannot be underestimated.
The rest including Eclipse, Spectrum, Excel, and Adam will be tango uniform eventually. How these products will survive following a restructuring remains to be seen.

Piper Meridian Review

JoeN — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 20:34:00 GMT

While twiddling my thumbs waiting for one of the VLJ manufacturers to produce a plane that is both reliable and available, I have been contemplating the existing single engine turbo prop market. The main competitors are the Meredian by Piper, the TBM by Socata, and the PC12 by Pilatus. Each plane is known by signature characteristics. In the case of the PC12, it is the SUV of the skies hauling more payload farther than any aircraft short of business jets in the tens of millions. The new TBM850 is the race car of the group offering close to 320 kt speed with excellent payload and range. The Meridian is the price leader of the bunch, has the shortest full fuel range at 1000nm with reserves, and is marginally faster than the PC12 at 260-270 knots. Full fuel payload is 540 pounds which is acceptable, but lower than the other two. All three planes now have a full glass cockpit, with the PC12 now offering Honeywell, Garmin for TBM, and Avidyne for the Meridian. The PC12, TBM850, and Meridian feature P&W engines derated for longevity and thermal concerns to 1200, 850, and 500 HP respectively with associated and correspondingly lower fuel burns. Now for the breath removing component-a PC12 costs almost 4 million new and for the privilege you can wait until 2011 for the order backlog. The used market has a few available, but the resale market for PC12s is so vibrant you could expect to pay in some cases more than the original list price to get one. The TBM 850 costs almost 3 million and once again you can wait in line for the privilege of getting one of the new glass panel editions. The Meridian is just short of 2 million and is immediately available from dealers. Since the Avidyne glass was implemented in 2006, many late model already depreciated examples are available on the resale market as well.

I decided to call up my local Piper dealer to arrange a demo flight and chose to demo a 2006 model with 400 hours. Identical in every way to the brand new ones this 2006 seemed like a reasonable alternative to buying new given the 400K reduction in price.

Starting with the preflight items, the first notable item is the design of the air intake for the PT6. Without going through nauseating detail, unlike other PT6 installations, the Meridian constantly filters debris and does not require a separate take off and landing configuration for the air intake to deal with potential bird strikes or other FOD. For what it is worth, the Meridian is a very aesthetically pleasing symmetrical plane lacking in bulbous protuberances that characterize planes like the PC12, which looks to me like a wild boar in full attack mode.

I was pleased to see that the horizontal stabilizer and rudder have been significantly beefed up from the Piper Mirage which is one argument made in favor of the Meridian over the Mirage Jetprop conversion. The Meridian was spin tested over 650 times during certification and offers a great deal of rudder authority.

The Cabin door opens in two pieces with the lower half serving as the stairs. At 6’4” one of my major concerns with the Meridian was accessibility and cabin comfort. I found entering and exiting the cabin to be perfectly manageable and no difficulty even when considering loading luggage since the luggage space is behind the seats in the back. The cabin area is arranged with club seating which was adequately comfortable. It appeared to me that with careful placement four guys my size could all completely extend their legs. The seats directly behind the pilot and co pilot are not quite as wide as the aft most seats since a narrow passageway to the cockpit is required. I will not say that squeezing into the cockpit is not a gymnastic maneuver since it is, but once in the seat I found it to be reasonably comfortable. Over the last few months I have been flying quite a number of hours in several different Citation models. My analysis is that entry to the Meridian cockpit is both easier and more comfortable once there than any of the Citations I have flown. The one exception to this is the Citation Mustang which has no console FMS and has a gloriously uncluttered cockpit, but this model falls under the VLJ category of unavailable since delivery slots are now out to 2011. The only potential concern I found was the placement of the yoke since it hit my knees during aggressive maneuvering, but so do all of the Citations I have flown.

Once in the Meridian cockpit it felt very familiar since it shares the same Avidyne PFD and MFD configuration of my current primary plane a Cirrus SR22 Turbo. The Meridian adds a copilot side PFD and other turbine related instrumentation and controls, but overall feels very similar to my Cirrus. Startup is accomplished with little other than pressing on the ignition, starter and start buttons. Engine monitoring is slightly different since you monitor torque and ITT instead of N1 and N2 for turbofans, but the reality is that the PT6 is derated to less than half of its thermodynamic horsepower capability and even in the event of an inadvertent over torque all the way to the governor, the engine is still well within its limits. Taxiing the Meridian took some getting used to mostly since it is controlled with the engine using the Beta function instead of brakes. Beta changes the pitch of the blades and allows the pilot to control ground speed. It also has a reverse function, but is POH limited to 60 kts on the ground. Beta mode is engaged simply by moving the thrust lever backwards past a detent. An additional detent is required to enter reverse mode. A sophisticated squat system locks out the Beta and Reverse modes in flight and only reengages when the gear is compressed on landing. With two pilots, full fuel, and 10 degrees of flaps I gently pulled back on the elevator and the Meridian jumped off the runway around 80 knots. Staying off the brakes was a bit of a challenge at first since my big feet had to be halfway off the rudders to not touch the brakes. Once airborne, the plane trimmed easily and once cleaned up began a 2000 ft per minute climb rate with IAS never decreasing below 140kts. A notable feature of the Meridian gear is that the gear are not only hydraulically actuated, but once retracted depend on the hydraulics to remain stowed. If the hydraulics are inoperative the gear simply falls down. A great feature in my opinion since there will never be any blowing or cranking to get faulty gear down. While hand flying through 14K ft I spent some time maneuvering and must say the plane handled beautifully. The controls were solid and unencumbered with immediate response to inputs. 50 degree steep turns felt very stable as did all other elements of flight. The first notch of flaps comes down at 168IAS and with gear down and idle power emergency descents are precipitous but feel very controlled. This maneuver highlights my only real issue with the Meridian and that is redline. Unlike a piston, the Meridian will blast through redline in every phase of flight without proper management. VMO (Max Operating Airspeed similar to VNE in a piston) is 188kts and requires power be quickly removed in descents.

The Meggit 1500 digital autopilot immediately responds to heading inputs without using a rate based equation as its predecessor the STEC 55X. It also features a constant airspeed mode which is tremendously helpful not only in managing the aforementioned low VNE, but also in busy airspace where speeds are assigned. My flight ended around 15K ft, and TAS was around 230 kts at 75% torque. Extrapolation of TAS to 25k ft shows this plane would easily obtain book airspeed numbers. On the return, speeds in the pattern were very similar to most pistons. Short final at 90 kts and over the numbers around 80 resulted in a fair landing. Using the Beta function, the plane seemed to stop incredibly fast.

As I expected the Avidyne panel was as easy to use and intuitive as it is on a Cirrus. One nice feature is the ability to sync both PFDs to cut down on workload in a two pilot operation. The thrust level requires deft inputs since it seems to require only ¼ of the movement of a piston throttle to achieve a similar result. Overall a beautiful, FIKI, pressurized aircraft well worth considering for under two million and available right now.

Eclipse 500-Get Real

JoeN — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:41:00 GMT

I have always been a fan of Eclipse and the 500. It is not because I am attracted to the self aggrandizing behavior of Vern Raburn, or to any other questionable facet of a company plagued with chronic under delivering disease, but to its innovation and vision. Raburn seems to be a blowhard with an uncontainable ego that jeopardizes the future of his company and vision, but his bleeding edge approach to aviation transportation has forced other companies into a competitive role. Cessna is now consistently selling and producing a quality light jet in the Mustang. Embraer like Cessna has plenty of real world experience building jets and the funding to back the phenom line. The question for Eclipse is when do you stop selling a dream and focus on reality? Aviation Week has a good article capturing the current state of dysfunction on the foundering Eclipse. I would love to see Eclipse transform itself from a marketing machine into a production company capable of handling half the volume it promises, but that still leaves it in the red. Raburn desperately needs to eat crow and go talk to the Klapmeier brothers in Duluth to learn how the best selling manufacturer (Cirrus) in general aviation balances marketing and production. The bottom line is simple, Eclipse must change their model and raise prices to a point that will allow profitability at sustainable production numbers.

Anticipating the Cirrus Jet

JoeN — Sun, 13 May 2007 02:22:00 GMT

As time wears on it appears that the Cirrus Jet may be an incredibly well thought out idea. All reports from those given a sneak peak are that the cabin size will be quite large. After actually getting in the cabins of most of the VLJs currently being offered at SNF this year, it becomes rather apparent that it was not on a high priority list for all but a very few. I have decided that if Cirrus delivers anything close to what they are suggesting (roomy cabin, high payload, full fuel, 4+ seats, reasonable range, 300+ knots, 1 Mil price) it will emerge as the clear winner of the owner pilot jet category.

Eclipse 500 Deliveries

JoeN — Sun, 13 May 2007 01:56:00 GMT

Looks like Eclipse is making progress with deliveries. Apparently an Eclipse position holder recently went to the factory and posted pictures of the experience.