Very light jet

The Eclipse 500 was heavily marketed as a very light jet

A very light jet (VLJ), entry-level jet or personal jet,[1] previously known as a microjet, is a category of small business jets seating four to eight people and often with a maximum takeoff weight of or under 10,000 pounds (4,540 kg),[2][3][4] although the Embraer Phenom 100, HondaJet and Cessna Citation M2 are all slightly over. VLJs are considered the lightest business jets and are approved for single-pilot operation.

History

There were early attempts to create small jet aircraft in this class in the 1970s and 1980s, such as the CMC Leopard.

After a flurry of interest in the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) and air taxi markets in the early 2000s, the VLJ sector underwent significant expansion. Several new designs were produced, such as the Embraer Phenom 100, the Cessna Citation Mustang, and the Eclipse 500. However, following the late 2000s recession the air taxi market underperformed expectations, and both Eclipse Aviation and air taxi firm DayJet collapsed. In December 2010, AvWeb's Paul Bertorelli explained that the term very light jet has lost favor in the aviation industry. "Personal jet is the description du jour. You don't hear the term VLJ—very light jet—much anymore and some people in the industry tell me they think it's because that term was too tightly coupled to Eclipse, a failure that the remaining players want to, understandably, distance themselves from."[1]

Single-engine designs were popular in the mid-2000s, before the global financial crisis diminished the market appeal of the category. Most of those programs, which included the Piper Altaire, Diamond D-Jet, Eclipse 400 and VisionAire Vantage, were all shelved and the only maintained aircraft are the Cirrus Vision SF50, which is now type certified and in production, and the Stratos 714, which expects certification in 2019. They are expected to compete with single turboprop aircraft.[5]

Two VLJs in history have won the Collier Trophy, known as the most prestigious aerospace engineering award in the United States — the Eclipse 500 (in 2006) and the Cirrus Vision Jet (in 2018).[6]

Target market

VLJs are intended to have lower operating costs than conventional jets, and to be able to operate from runways as short as 3,000 feet (910 m), either for personal use or in point-to-point air taxi service.[7][8] In the United States, the Small Aircraft Transportation System is aimed at providing air service to areas ignored by airlines.

Florida-based air taxi provider DayJet, which on October 3, 2007 began its Eclipse 500 service, planned to operate more than 1,000 of the VLJs within five years,[9] and had stated in mid-2007 that it planned to operate 300 Eclipse 500s serving 40 regional airports in the Southeastern United States by the end of 2008.[3] DayJet ceased operations on September 19, 2008.[9]

Production

The Cirrus Vision SF50 is the only single-engine VLJ currently certified with the FAA

Many models are under development or awaiting certification, while others have failed.[10] Six have so far made deliveries to customers:

The Cessna Citation Mustang was the first production VLJ, first delivered in November 2006,[12][13][14] and the Cirrus Vision SF50 is the first single-engine production VLJ, beginning deliveries in December 2016.[15][16]

Very light jets, 4 passenger mission[17]
ModelPricePaxLengthSpanint. Lint. W EnginesThrustMTOWRangeCruiseFuel/nmivar./hour[18]
Cirrus SF50$1.96M4-630.9 ft38.3 ft (11.7 m)9.8 ft5.1 ft1x FJ331,800 lbf (8,000 N)6,000 lb (2,700 kg)714 nmi278 kn (515 km/h)1.6 lb$662
Eclipse 550$3.0M4-533.5 ft (10.2 m)37.9 ft (11.6 m)10.0 ft (3.0 m)4.7 ft (1.4 m)2x PW6101,800 lbf (8,000 N)6,000 lb825 nmi317 kn (587 km/h)1.17 lb$889
Cessna Citation Mustang$3.4M5-540.6 ft43.2 ft9.8 ft4.6 ft2x PW6152920 lbf8,645 lb (3,921 kg)963 nmi301 kn (557 km/h)1.73 lb$1,015
Phenom 100E$4.2M5-742.1 ft40.4 ft11.0 ft5.1 ft2x PW6173390 lbf10,582 lb (4,800 kg)1,050 nmi324 kn (600 km/h)1.87 lb$1,152
Honda HA-420 HondaJet$4.5M5-642.6 ft (13.0 m)39.8 ft12.1 ft5.0 ft2x HF1204,100 lbf (18,000 N)10,600 lb (4,800 kg)1,065 nmi (1,972 km; 1,226 mi)361 kn (669 km/h)1.86 lb$1,135
Cessna CitationJet/M2$4.5M7-742.6 ft47.3 ft11.0 ft4.8 ft2 FJ443930 lbf10,700 lb (4,900 kg)1,174 nmi369 kn (683 km/h)1.99 lb$1,395

Business jet sales were suffering due to the ongoing late 2000s recession. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported in November 2010 that third quarter business jet sales were down 20.3% over the same period in 2009,[19] with light jets suffering the most.[20] Industry analysts PMi suggest that 1,700 VLJs will be delivered between 2013 and 2020, compared to 1,000 delivered up to 2013.[21]

Deliveries[22]
Year200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017 Total
Cessna Citation Mustang 1451011257343382088107 479
Embraer Phenom 100 --29710041293019121018 358
Eclipse 500 198161--------- 260
Cessna CitationJet/M2 -------1246413839 176
Honda HA-420 HondaJet ---------22343 68
Eclipse 550 --------12786 33
Cirrus Vision SF50 ----------322 25

Interior amenities

When these smaller jets were first mooted, there was much interest in the fact that they would not have a lavatory on board, with articles discussing the matter in The New York Times[23] and items on NBC Nightly News.[24] Some manufacturers argued that for short flights of 300 to 500 miles (480 to 800 km) and 40 to 80 minutes' duration the lavatory issue was not a problem[23] and air taxi service companies said that it was not a concern for most of their passengers.[24] Despite this, the Eclipse 500 had the option of an electric flush, remove-to-service lavatory with a privacy curtain - at the expense of one passenger seat, and the proposed Adam A700 design had a seven-seat 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. The 2015 Honda HA-420 HondaJet has a full lavatory at the rear of the aircraft with flushing toilet, full sink and closing door.[25]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Paul Bertorelli (December 2010). "Can Eclipse Make It?". AvWeb.
  2. ↑ "What is a Very light Jet?" (PDF). BenchMark (3). Burns & McDonnell. 2005. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-22.
  3. 1 2 David Noland (20 May 2007). "Mini-Jet Revolution, or Dot-Com with Wings?". Popular Mechanics.
  4. ↑ "Very Light Jet - VLJ". GlobalSecurity.org.
  5. ↑ "Getting personal with single-engined jets". Flight Global. 21 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "Collier Trophy". National Aeronautic Association. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  7. ↑ Croft, John (May 2006). "Very Light Jets: Boom or Blip" (PDF). Aerospace America. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  8. ↑ Aboulafia, Richard (2006-03-13). "March 2006 Newsletter". Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  9. 1 2 "Very Light Jets Enter Fractional Market". Halogen Guides Jets. 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
  10. ↑ Cox, Bill. "The Day Of The Personal Jet" Plane & Pilot Magazine, 1 May 2008. Retrieved March 2015.
  11. ↑ Stephen Trimble (11 May 2017). "Cessna rolls out last Mustang after genre-defining run". Flight Global.
  12. ↑ Trautvetter, Chad (2006-11-23). "Cessna Beats Out Eclipse In First VLJ Delivery". AVweb. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  13. ↑ "Smaller, faster, cheaper new jets may transform flying". USA Today. Associated Press. 2006-01-19. Retrieved 2006-09-26.
  14. ↑ "Cessna Citation Mustang Cleared for Flight Into Known Icing Conditions" (Press release). Cessna Aircraft Company. 2006-11-09. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  15. ↑ "Cirrus Earns Vision Jet Certification". AOPA. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  16. ↑ "Cirrus delivers first Vision jet, unveils new facility". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  17. ↑ "Purchase Planning Handbook: 2016 Business Airplanes" (PDF). Business & Commercial Aviation. Aviation Week. May 2016.
  18. ↑ Variable costs only excluding capital, annual costs and crew : fuel, maintenance, reserves, misc. "Hourly operating costs of 45 jets compared". Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. 16 November 2015.
  19. ↑ Grady, Mary (November 2010). "Report: GA Sales Continue To Drop". Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  20. ↑ Garvey, William. HondaJet flight testing is underway Aviation Week, 30 December 2010. Accessed: 9 January 2011.
  21. ↑ "ANN Daily Aero-Briefing 27 November 2013" Aero News / PMi, November 2013. Accessed: 1 December 2013. Original report Archived December 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  22. ↑ General Aviation Manufacturers Association (2018). "2017 Annual Report" (PDF). Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  23. 1 2 Sharkey, Joe (2006-08-29). "Big Battle in Small-Jet Skies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
  24. 1 2 Di Piazza, Karen. "No Throne Room on Eclipse VLJ: Real Issue or Media Hype?". CharterX. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  25. ↑ "HondaJet Lavatory - Toilet". Retrieved April 25, 2015.

References

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