My opinion on the Light Jets; like Eclipse.

[Guest Citationpilot]

Personanlly I think that the idea is good, but the outcome will be bad. These new jets will end up doing the same thing the V-tail bonanza's, P210, and Malibus did. People with a some money but not a lot of time will go out and buy one of these jets and end up killing them selfs. Think about the same thing happend with P210's. What I think will happen is that a lot 400 hour pilot with a M/E rating will go out and purchase these aircraft. Now below 10,000 feet speed is limited to 250 knots so these aircraft will be just as fast as Lears on a majoraty of the flying. Do you think a 400 hour pilot could fly a lear. You might be thinking yeah but what if this airplane is flown buy a Proffesional pilot or in a corporate flight department. If the owner buys one of these jets he is obviously looking for the cheap way out of a new jet or he wants to fly it himself. I can tell you from experience that no CEO or Executive will want to cram them selfs into a little jet like the Eclipes. I would like to hear your opinion on the jets be them good or bad.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I've been following the Eclipse almost since its inception. The Air Taxi concept sounds a bit far fetched--Moller has been touting something similar--air travel to the masses--with his Aircar. I suspect we may never see the Eclipse in production though, considering the recent engine issue, they have lost some of the efficiencies promised. As to the Aircar, I believe I was in high school when I first heard of it--as to when, you'll know in a moment... When it comes to low-time pilots putting themselves in danger, I presume you may mean the low cost would place more pilots in the buyer's seat. But we already have jets for sale under $1M--usually high time, single pilot certified Citations. Check out www.aso.com to see what I mean. I agree the risks may be more--stats prove that out. But I'd worry more about some fool in a Porsche. We had one clocked just shy of 150mph recently. He could have killed just as many as an Eclipse had he plowed off the interstate into a playground. At least we have some protection and proficiency reqs. before a pilot can get into a jet. But mostly I think safety comes with wisdom, and not necessarily time in the cockpit. Better said, I'd take a wise 400hr pilot vs. a 2000hr pilot who is an arrogant hmm hmm.... The two recent AWA pilots caught with alcohol in their blood are an example of that... :)I admire your experience--one of my high school buddies from many years ago went for his PPL and got it when he was 16. So in the late 70's, while my friends were going to Eagles and Fleetwood Mac concerts, my friend would take me up in his Cessna. I remember one moonlit flight after we'd graduated in '79....we flew out of APC, then headed out over to Pt. Reyes, then down over the 'Gate, downtown SF, then back home to APC.... It was one of my most memorable flights.I took a few lessons later on in my 20's, but never went beyond it. "Lazy eye" in my left eye meant I had too much red tape to go through for a medical--seemed too much of a gamble to have it come down to a waiver. Now, with Sport Pilot coming out, my wife has encouraged me to pick up where I've left off. So I may see you in the air someday, albeit a bit slower...BTW, give my FS2002/2004 Malibu Mirage a try. I just finished revamping Chuck Dome's Mirage, and you can find it in the file library...-John

[Guest Citationpilot]

Yeah I downloaded that Malibu, nice job. I know what you mean about the 1 million dollar citations but the citation is much more expensive to maintane then a brand new jet that is smaller and souldn't have as many problems as a 30 year old airplane most certinaly will. Those jets for 1mil have run out engines which are very expensive to overhaul. Hanger space and runway legnth will both be smaller the cost per hour will be much less and the time and experience to fly will be much less for the eclipse the what the citation. Also the newer jets will have the all-glass panel which is much more attractive then the old gauges the citation I fly has. The company that I get to fly anlong with spent 1.2 million on a Citation 550 with 200 hours left on the engines and it didn't even have a gps. All it had was loran. What would you rather have an old Citation w/o even a GPS which will cost 100,000's of thousands of dollars to get RVSM certified or a Brand New all glass mini jet. You seem very well educated isn't there any thing you can do to fix the eye problem.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

"You seem very well educated isn't there any thing you can do to fix the eye problem."The chance passed me by early in the 60's. It was discovered only recently that the time to catch the condition I have was between age 3 and age 6. I wasn't diagnosed with it until I was eight, as I recall. There is no corrective surgery. I learned only a few years ago it wouldn't keep me out of the cockpit. In fact, I understand now there's many pilots who are totally blind in one eye. But still, you catch a medical examiner on a bad day, and a thousands of dollars investment in a PPL is wasted.Enter the Sport Pilot license, where the visual acuity required for a Driver's license is all that's required. I have an unrestricted license, with near perfect vision in my right eye, and considerably better night vision for some odd reason than most people--which has saved my life more than once while driving. Anyway, I do plan on going for the Sport Pilot as soon as the training programs are in place--then I'll look for a used two place--perhaps like a Jabiru or something similar. Just being able to escape with my wife to Vegas--only two hours by air, would make the investment worthwhile :)

[Guest Citationpilot]

Good you plan on buying a sport plane.