very light jet

Stratos 714 VLJ Project Continues

Filed under: Wings

Four people, 400 knots, 1500 nautical miles--that's the slogan of the Stratos 714, a Very Light Jet which I first wrote about a year ago. Aero-News Network has an interview with Alexander Craig, the new CEO of Stratos during the recent NBAA 2009 conference. The company, which is based in Bend, Oregon, is bullish on their Stratos 714 which they say will bridge the gap between VLJ aircraft and full size business jets.

The composite-bodied aircraft will be powered by a centerline-thrust FADEC-controlled Williams FJ44-3AP turbofan which produces 3,030 pounds of thrust at sea level. The company's goal is to create an aircraft that is affordable to own and operate (current price is $2 million). In the interview (video after the jump) Craig doesn't reveal a potential production date for the plane but it appears that progress is being made and we get more news soon.

Source

Tags: aero-news, private jet, private plane, PrivateJet, PrivatePlane, stratos, stratos 714, Stratos714, very light jet, VeryLightJet, vlj

Continue reading “Stratos 714 VLJ Project Continues”

Stratos Aircraft Plans New VLJ

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Despite the glum economy another new manufacturer has announced plans to enter the Very Light Jet market. The Stratos Aircraft is based out of Bend, Oregon. Its Stratos 714 will fill be able to transport four people and their baggage 1,500 nautical miles, at a speed of 400 knots.

The composite-bodied aircraft will be powered by a centerline-thrust FADEC-controlled Williams FJ44-3AP turbofan which produces 3,030 pounds of thrust at sea level. The company's goal is to create an aircraft that is affordable to own and operate. The company is planning a 2010 production date.

Source

Tags: stratos, very light jet, vlj

Linear Air Expands New York Offerings

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Air taxi service Linear Air has announced the launch of its Eclipse E500 flight service in the greater New York City area. The company's aircraft are based at the White Plains/Westchester County Airport in New York, but will be servicing major and regional airports throughout the tri-state region as well as the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Linear Air serves 10 times more airports than the traditional commercial airlines serve. The Eclipse 500 is a very light jet which only holds a few passengers so to take your whole entourage to Cape Cod for the weekend you'll need to opt for their eight-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan turboprop. . In order to price out an book flights you need to become a member of Linear Air's service.

Source

Tags: eclipse 500, linear air, LinearAir, new york, NewYork, very light jet, VeryLightJet

Trouble For the Eclipse 500

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

A spot of bad news for the Eclipse 500. The FAA has recommended inspection of the throttles on the small jets after one made an emergency landing in Chicago last week. The National Transportation Safety Board has said that there is the need for an emergency procedure for dual engine control failure. So far around 200 of the popular private jets have been delivered. The one that landed in Chicago had only 238 flight hours. The Eclipse 500 is the basis of a number of fledgling airtaxi services so this first hint of trouble has been received with some amount of worry by industry watchers.

Source

Tags: eclipse 500, Eclipse500, very light jet, VeryLightJet, vlj

Virgin Charter Signs Up An Eclipse 500 Air Taxi

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Charter Marketplace, a place to shop for private jet charters online, just launched and already they have their first air taxi service offering trips on the Eclipse 500 very light jet. Linear Air which is based on concord, Massachusetts is the only air charter in the Virgin Charter network offering this plane. They have two Eclipse 500s currently and plan to pick up another pair this summer and also fly the eight-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan turboprop. The Linear Air service runs along the East Coast stretching from Canada to the Mid-Atlantic states.

Source

Tags: eclipse 500, linear air, LinearAir, very light jet

Eclipse Jets Go To Russia

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

More proof of Russia's economic power: the Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet will soon be made in Russia. The Eclipse is the first foreign jet aircraft to be made in Russia. Production will start next year in Ulyanovsk, the hometown of Lenin. Dutch investment company Etirc Aviation, Eclipse Aviation and the Russian Aviastar aircraft complex have laid the foundations for the new assembly plant. Russia's growing crop of millionaires will be able to pick up the plane for $1.5 million. Etirc Aviation has announced that they plan to produce up to 500 jets a year.

Source

Tags: aviation, eclise, jet, very light jet, vlj

Eclipse Concept Jet

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

The latest plane from Eclipse Aviation is the Eclipse Concept Jet, a a single-engine four-place aircraft. The concept plane represents Eclipse's vision of what a single engine VLJ should be. It's not for sale and is being used for market research.

Aero News Network was there for the first flight of the plane, a 70 minute trip on July 2, and has photos and videos of the experience. The plane was built in just over 200 days. The goal is to have the the plane hit goals of 345 knots, 41,000 feet and a range in excess of 1250 nautical miles. No word yet on when or if the concept will go into production.

Source

Tags: aviation, eclispse, plane, single engine plane, very light jet

Epic Elite Jet

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Epic Aircraft's entry into the very light jet market is the twin-engine Elite. The Elite made its first flight earlier this month. The carbon-fiber Elite uses two Williams Jet FJ-33-4 engines and can cruise at 412 KTAS and travel more than 1600 nautical miles with a payload of nearly 1700 lbs. The cabin has leather seats with lavatory and mulitmedia options available. The Elite will be available as a six-seat experimental category jet in 2007. The six-to-eight-place certified version of the jet is scheduled for 2009. The Epic Elite will make its official debut July 23 during AirVenture in Oshkosh.

[via General Aviation News]

Source

Tags: aircraft' plane, elite, epic, twin engine plane, very light jet, VeryLightJet

Eclipse 500 Jet Heads Into Production

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

One down, 2,399 to go. This week, Eclipse Aviation started production on their first Eclipse 500 jet for a customer. The first customer, pilot David Crowe, was there to start the automated welder and will receive his Eclipse 500 this summer. The FAA is expected to certify the Eclipse in late June. Eclipse is expects to employ 1,000 people by the end of the year and hopes to have 130 planes built. By 2008, the company plans to produce 1,000 planes per year. Once the Eclipse jets start to flood the market we will finally get to see if the predictions of air taxis ruling the skies.

Source

Tags: aviation, eclipse, flight, jet, jet aviation, plane, private planes, very light jet

Jet- Alliance Fractional Eclipse 500 Ownership

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

We've mentioned fractional options for the Eclipse 500 Jet before but Jet-Alliance offers a cheaper way to get your piece of a new Eclipse. They offer something called a “fractional alliance” where the owners share in the costs of ownership and operations of the aircraft plus an administrative fee to Jet-Alliance. For a 1/16th slice of the plane, the cost is $81,000 plus ownership fees starting at $15,000 per year and usage fees of $650 per occupied hour to cover fuel and engine reserves.

[via Very Light Jets Blog]

Source

Tags: eclipse 500, eclipse jet, Eclipse500, flight, fractional ownership, private plane, very light jet, wings

Jet Set Fractions

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

A new fractional jet ownership company is coming to Canada. JetSet Inc. will launch their program of Very Light Jet (VLJ) ownership, JetSet Fractions, at the Canadian International AutoShow. The program will use the MS760x, a four-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft which will be on display at the AutoShow. A total of 20 aircraft have been ordered for Canada and the U.S. and initial deliveries are scheduled for next month. Fractional shares are selling for US$60,000.

Source

Tags: airplane, fractional, very light jet, VeryLightJet, vlj

very light jet

Featured Galleries

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular

Also on AOL