"Viperdoc" wrote in message
...
Eclipse is on the financial bubble. They need to sell around 500-600
planes a year to even begin to recoup their costs, and they have had a lot
of setbacks like the engines and avionics. If the engine and avionics
encounter difficulties, then the whole production process comes to a
grinding halt, with no cash inflow. Unless they get a lot more venture
capital (or is it capitol), they won't be around for long. Same goes for
all of the other VLJ's, except possibly Cirrus or Cessna.

Cessna's Mustang is not, technically, a VLJ, and Cirrus' VLJ is going to be
a lot further out than Eclipse. Eclipse has solved it's engine problems and
it's avionics solution is well on it's way to being solved. They've
delieverd 11 so far, and have had their first revenue flight.

Eclipse has over 2000 orders booked and just got about 300 more from some
group in Eastern Europe.

Then, watch for Honda to let the dust settle and have them introduce their
own jet- they obviously can bankroll the whole process from start to
finish. If it has the same reliability, fit, and finish of an Acura, it
will be a winner, despite a more realistic and higher price point. I plan
on buying a used TBM at that point, since their value will likely drop
tremendously when this happens.

Honda's VLJ is nice, but at nearly $4M, it's nearly the same price as a CJ1.
An Eclipse 500 goes, right now, for about $1.8M with most options, and about
$1.9M for a Part 135 capable airplane.

Eclipse also has a "By the hour" package that will, ostensibly, result in an
per hour operating cost of around $415/hour, assuming Jet-A stays at about
$4.25 a gallon. Of course, at 55-75 GPH, if fuel prices DO climb, Eclipse
will have even more of an advantage over its competitors.

My take is that the VLJ market is going to replace the piston twins, and
possibly many turboprops. Cirrus will get the short-haul air taxi market and
Eclipse will get the longer hauls and those when they need to top terrain
and weather.