Very light jet

see also: List of very light jets

A very light jet (VLJ), previously known as a microjet, is, by convention, a small jet aircraft approved for single-pilot operation, seating 4-8 people, with a maximum take-off weight of under convert|10000|lb|kg|-1. They are lighter than what is commonly termed business jets and are frequently used as air taxis.

Development

A number of designs are currently in development, and will feature advanced avionics with glass cockpit technology. VLJs are intended to have lower operating costs than conventional jets, and will be able to operate from runways as short as convert|3000|ft|m|0. In the United States, where the majority of these jets are being designed, NASA and the FAA have encouraged their development and foresee their widespread use in point-to-point air taxi service. The Small Aircraft Transportation System would provide air service to areas ignored by airlines.

These "on-demand" air taxi services depend on low cost projections and high demand to become a reality. The viability of these services is the subject of much debate among industry experts. Richard Aboulafia, an aviation industry expert and a self-described "VLJ agnostic", believes that the VLJ phenomenon may turn out to be one of the greatest disappointments in the aviation industry, due to the hype and economic infeasibility of large-scale air-taxi operations. [cite news | publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | work=Aerospace America | url=http://www.aiaa.org/aerospace/images/articleimages/pdf/AA_May06_CRO.pdf | first=John | last=Croft | title=Very Light Jets: Boom or Blip | date=May 2006 | accessdate=2007-02-27|format=PDF] [cite news | authorlink=Richard Aboulafia | first=Richard | last=Aboulafia | url=http://www.richardaboulafia.com/shownote.asp?id=211 | title=March 2006 Newsletter | date=2006-03-13 | accessdate=2007-02-27]

In total, over 3,000 VLJs have been ordered from three manufacturers. Cessna Aircraft Company, based in Wichita, Kansas, delivered the first ever production VLJ, the six-seater Citation Mustang, to Mustang Management Group of Fresno, California on November 23, 2006. [cite news|url=http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/12_47b/briefs/CessnaDelivers_Mustang_VLJ_193819-1.html|title=Cessna Beats Out Eclipse In First VLJ Delivery|last=Trautvetter|first=Chad|publisher=AVweb|date=2006-11-23|accessdate=2006-11-29] Cessna has over 500 orders for the Mustang, mainly from owner-operators. Cessna received full certification for the Mustang on September 8, 2006. [cite news | url=http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2006-01-19-little-jets_x.htm | title=Smaller, faster, cheaper new jets may transform flying | work=Associated Press | publisher=USA Today | date=2006-01-19 | accessdate=2006-09-26] Cessna received FAA certification to fly into "known icing conditions" on November 9, 2006. [cite press release | title=Cessna Citation Mustang Cleared for Flight Into Known Icing Conditions | publisher=Cessna Aircraft Company | url=http://www.cessna.com/news/article.chtml?ID=OkyZWtgijxh0LUYbsDyGikkPGeGJ5pvxB2bQ5dSrEokZusIQpN | date=2006-11-09 | accessdate=2006-11-29 ] Cessna received its FAA Production Certificate for the Mustang on November 23, 2006.

Eclipse Aviation, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has 2,500 of its Eclipse 500 aircraft on back order.cite news |last= Huber |first= Mark| title=Eclipse targets hefty initial production run | publisher= Aviation International News | date=2006-10-17 | accessdate=2006-12-12 | url= http://www.ainonline.com/Publications/nbaa/NBAA_06/Eclipse1_d1.htm ] Eclipse received their full certification for their Eclipse 500 three weeks after Cessna's Mustang on September 30, 2006. Eclipse expects to receive certification for flight into known icing conditions in 2007. Eclipse has announced that they intend to deliver 515 airplanes in 2007 and eventually plan to have a production capacity of 4 airplanes per day. In a letter to customers and investors, Eclipse Aviation CEO Vern Raburn on November 26, 2006 addressed concerns that the company had not yet delivered its first aircraft. Raburn explained that the delay was caused because the FAA was concerned about the Eclipse not meeting conformity requirements, but he wrote that he still expected Eclipse to deliver the planned 10 aircraft in 2006. [cite news | last=Raburn | first=Vern | title=Eclipse Aviation Customer/Investor Update 11-27-06 | publisher=AVweb | date=2006-11-27 | accessdate=2006-11-29 | url=http://www.avweb.com/news/features/Eclipse_ProductionUpdate_193862-1.html ] Eclipse did not meet Raburn's delivery expectation, but they were eventually able to deliver a single copy of its VLJ on December 31, 2006. The official delivery ceremony and keys were handed over on January 4, 2007. [cite news | title=Company second in U.S to deliver light jets| publisher=Associated Press | date=2007-01-05 | accessdate=2007-01-16 | url=http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2007/01/05/news/national/124563828378132.txt ] Eclipse has now received its FAA production certificate [cite press release | url=http://www.eclipseaviation.com/index.php?option=com_newsroom&task=viewpr&id=1242&Itemid=52 | title=Eclipse Aviation Receives Production Certificate | publisher=Eclipse Aviation | date=2007-04-26 | accessdate=2007-04-29] and has been delivering more certified VLJ's since.

Adam Aircraft announced that they had an order backlog of 282 of its Adam A700 VLJ offering.cite press release | title=A700 Adam Jet Chosen by Magnum Jet | publisher=Adam Aircraft Industries | date=2006-10-16 | accessdate=2006-12-12 | url=http://www.adamaircraft.com/pressreleases.asp#66 ] At the time Adam folded on February 11, 2008, Adam had a prototype plane flying, with full certification expected later that year.

Florida-based air taxi provider DayJet, which on October 3, 2007 began its Eclipse 500 service, planed to operate more than 1,000 of the VLJs within five years. Dayjet ceased operations on September 19, 2008.cite news | title=Very Light Jets Enter Fractional Market | publisher=Halogen Guides Jets | date=2007-11-02 | accessdate=2007-11-13 | url=http://jets.halogenguides.com/articles/885-very-light-jets-enter-fractional-markets ]

Interior amenities

A New York Times article from August 29, 2006 posed the question, "Will having a lavatory on board be the key factor in short flight success?"cite news | last=Sharkey | first=Joe | title=Big Battle in Small-Jet Skies | publisher=The New York Times | date=2006-08-29 | accessdate=2006-12-12 | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/business/29jets.html ] A July 2006 NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams broadcast also discussed the issue of the Eclipse 500's lack of a toilet.cite news | last=Di Piazza | first=Karen | title=No Throne Room on Eclipse VLJ: Real Issue or Media Hype? | publisher=CharterX | url=http://www.charterx.com/resources/article.aspx?id=2314 | accessdate=2006-11-29 ] Passengers needing to relieve themselves on the Eclipse 500 will be required to bring along a portable container. Eclipse Aviation's CEO Vern Raburn suggests that most of his company's customers will be using the VLJ for short flights from 300-500 miles in length in 40-80 minutes and that the lavatory issue is not going to be a problem for VLJ customers. The Eclipse 500 has the option of an electric flush, remove to service lavatory with a privacy curtain, but this option comes at the expense of one passenger seat.

Rick Adam, CEO of Adam Aviation, disagrees and says, "people are not going to get on a plane without a bathroom, at least they are not going to do it more than once". The Adam A700 has a 7 seater configuration with rear lavatory with a privacy curtain. The Cessna Mustang also has an emergency toilet, but it is located between the cockpit and cabin. The Embraer Phenom 100 offers a fully enclosed lavatory with a solid door. These toilet-equipped planes are considerably more expensive than the Eclipse, but they may be preferable for owners, especially those planning on using their jet's full range. The new air taxi service companies, which make up the bulk of the Eclipse orders, have done surveys that show that having a toilet is not a concern for most of their passengers. The CEO of DayJet says that even if his company outgrows the Eclipse 500 in the future, he will also have his company's larger planes configured without a toilet.

ee also

* List of very light jets
* List of very light jet operators
* [http://www.very-light-jet.com Very Light Jet News]

References

* [http://www.pmi-media.com/vlj-order.asp The VLJ (Very Light Jet) Market 2006-2017]
* [http://www.atsl.cee.vt.edu/aiaa_papers.htm#Evaluating Evaluating the Efficiency of a Small Aircraft Transportation System Network Using Planning and Simulation Models (2006)]
* [http://www.atsl.cee.vt.edu/aiaa_papers.htm#Nationwide Nationwide Impacts of Very Light Jet Traffic in the Future Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) (2006)]
* [http://www.atsl.cee.vt.edu/sds_papers.htm#TSAM A Transportation Systems Analysis Model (TSAM) to study the impact of the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) (2005)]
* [http://www.atsl.cee.vt.edu/trb_papers.htm#Integrated_Model An Integrated Model To Study The Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) (2003)]

External links

* [http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/04/25/206082/EBACE+2006+Show+preview.html EBACE 2006 Show preview (Series of Articles), Flight International, April/May 2006]
* [http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_busav_story.jsp?view=story&id=news/aw042406p01.xml TIME FOR AN ECLIPSE?, Aviation Week, April 2006]
* [http://www.ainonline.com/ain-and-ainalerts/aviation-international-news/single-publication-story/browse/0/article/ain-special-report-vljs-fly-in-the-face-of-critics VLJs fly in the face of critics, Aviation International News, March 2006]
* [http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/03/01/205135/Flight+Interview+Vision+of+Eclipse+Aviation's+Vern+silences+the.html Flight Interview: Vision of Eclipse Aviation's Vern silences the sceptics, Flight International, March 2006]
* [http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2005/05/10/197623/Dawn+of+the+VLJ.html Dawn of the VLJ, Flight International, May 2005]
* [http://web.nbaa.org/public/ops/vlj NBAA]
* [http://www.ebanmagazine.com/mag_story.html?ident=8460 JetBird targets the mass affluent - EBAN - September, 2006]
* [http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/05/21/afx3740257.html JetBird featured on Forbes.com, May, 2007]
* [http://www.atsl.cee.vt.edu/tsam.htm Transportation Systems Analysis Model] - TSAM is a nationwide transportation planning model to forecast air taxi demand in the United States.
* [http://www.very-light-jet.com News, Information and Comparisons of VLJ's and VLJ Operators]