Eclipse 500?
 

hey,

would like a professional opinion..wat do u guys think of the eclipse 500?
i'm looking into purchasing an aircraft for personal use. Apparently eclipse has boasted low costs, but everytime i check up on them they seem to be raising the price of the jet. Also, whats a fair pay for contracting a pilot out to fly it?

Well, the Elcipse 500 has a relativly low operating cost of around $500 an hour. The very light composite material its made out of has got me a little skeptical of its safety record. I'll wait and see how it performs before I pass judgement on it. For pilots try www.linearair.com

Insurance premiums will make this, and most VLJ's very prohibitive when compared to the lower operating costs of comparable turboprops and cabin pistions. I really don't think the VLJ will be an earth-shattering development because there are already two similiar jets on the market (CJ and Premier) with relatively low operating costs and about the same range with payload. Most companies find it cheaper to put two pilots in it than going single pilot in these jets.

Isn't the cruise speed about .65? That sounds slow for a jet. The range is short too. A fast turbo prop is probably a better buy? King Air 350 or Cheyenne 400.

hmm yea it seems like there would be more costs to the eclipse. yea i'm also looking into the king air 350, thats actually where im leaning towards.

the operators who have options for the airplane are only planning on carrying 2 passengers because the weight restrictions will prove to be a problem... there is not much room for passengers in the airplane considering it is essentially the same size as a seneca but with turbofans on the tail... cramped quarters.. not everyone is 150 pounds so getting 5 pax plus a pilot in there is going to be a problem

yea it does seem pretty stuffy from the pics! the king airs seem like a good way to go, been lookin at both the b200 , 350.

350's a nicer plane than the 200 (which is also sweet), but it requires a type.

theres a few of us going in on this airplane, space was one of the issues. we will be using the airplane quite a bit between all of us. looking at bout 20-30 hours of flying time a month at most. whats the average salary for the b200? co pilot / captain
60 - 75g for captain
30 - 45g for co pilot , is that fair?

You'd have to check with the Be20 drivers on this board to be positive, but those seem like higher-than-average salaries to me. At those rates, I doubt you'd have a problem finding applicants (where do I submit a resume? :D ). Also, unless your insurance carrier requires a right-seater, the 200 is a single-pilot plane.