UNDGUY

It's not going to get any cheaper? Of course its going to be cheaper, thats the whole idea. It's going to allow a whole new segment of the population to travel by charter rather than commercially. The FAA is concerned that VLJ's will cause too much congestion in the airspace system. What does that tell you about the number of VLJ's that are predicted to be purchased? There are going to be a ton of people who can now afford a jet that couldn't before VLJ's. Everyone of those VLJ's is going to need a pilot. I predict that there will be a "pilot boom" as a result. Do some research and I think you will change your mind about VLJ's.

With an acquisition cost of one-third of today’s small jets and the lowest operating cost of any jet, the Eclipse 500 provides the lowest cost of jet ownership ever achieved. The purchase price of the Eclipse 500 is $1.52 million (June 2006 dollars) and operating costs are $340 per hour. The least expensive jet on the market today, with similar performance, costs close to $4.5 million to buy and more than $675 per hour to operate. This breakthrough has made the benefits of private jet transportation available to a much broader segment of the population. http://www.eclipseaviation.com/about_eclipse/faq/

I've sat in both prototypes and prefer the Mustang for comfort and styling. Indeed, the Eclipse is so tiny as to be cramped for my stiff back and long legs. But its performance--in speed, range, short-field utility and direct operating costs ($0.67 per mile)--trumps Cessna's, at half the price.

A previously skeptical trade publication, Aviation International News, now gives the Eclipse 500 a 75% chance of success. That's about as high a ranking as a new aircraft gets in this risky field, and it matches AIN's success probability for the Cessna Mustang.

Here's to Eclipse--and to the confounders of cynicism that make America great.
Rich Karlgaard http://www.forbes.com/business/forbe.../0110/031.html