The price of the Eclipse 500™ is $1,520,000. The 6 passenger jet makes owning a jet more affordable than ever.
see: http://www.eclipseaviation.com/index.html for more info.
2007-03-01 06:34:42 · 6 answers · asked by acesjet 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
While it makes private jet aviaion more affordable... the eclipse will not have the comfort level of a business jet or anywhere near the range... its max range is a little more than 1000 nm... Also, the jetsons have areas on their homes for landing, thats not going to happen in our lifetime... eclipse jets decrease travel time for private pilots but won't do much more as range, cost, and the fact that they still have to land at an airport are important factors.
2007-03-01 08:29:37 · answer #1 · answered by ALOPILOT 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No I do not think so.
There are too many other factors that will keep us stuck in the pre-Jetson era.
1) runway length - you still need a couple thousand feet of runway which means not everybody can have an airport at home and at work
2) skill required - even though it might look like a cute little thing, it is still a fast and highly complex machine
3) air traffic control system - the way we do things today (and the near future) just couldn't handle the Jetsons
4) safety - with all the advances in the past decades, air travel is still safer than car travel, but even though we kill dozens of people per day on the highways, the world isn't ready to hear about the same number of air deaths from commuting
5) weather - flight at night and in the bad weather is WAY more difficult than hopping into your car in a blizzard
If the VLJ's get us a step closer to the Jetson's, it is a very small step.....so small that we may not see the importance of the step until 100 years from now when somebody writes a history of flight and sees this as a turning point.
Right now though, I don't see it.
2007-03-01 23:43:53 · answer #2 · answered by chercham 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not with an Eclipse,
1.6 Mil just gets you in the door,
and the old rule of it costing 1/4 of the purchase price to maintain a jet aircraft annually makes it even more expensive to own. hangar, maint, etc, etc.
Not to mention the training that somoene would have to attain to be able to not only fly the craft responsibly, but also to satisfy insurance requirements.
the eclipse brought us no closer to the jetsons way of life than the 747 did.
One could easily lease from an on demand charter service, for a LOT less money and get a larger much nicer ride.
the BD-5J is the only personal jet that even attempted this Jetsons feat. you could build one fron scratch for under 100K engine and all, and have your own little fighter plane.
But if we keep getting fatter we will need those rolling floors to get around!
2007-03-02 09:16:27 · answer #3 · answered by fighterace26 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only when you can take off from your driveway and land at your work's parking lot will things be like the Jetsons. Would owning your own Cessna 172 make you like the Jetsons? No, because it would probably take more time to drive to the airport, get the plane ready, fly to another airport if you work close to one and then get out and drive to the job.
2007-03-01 22:45:18 · answer #4 · answered by pharmman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I disagree with your basic statement: there are a lot of single-pilot jets out there that can be bought for 1.5 mil, nicer than the Eclipse, too. They're just not brand new.
2007-03-01 22:56:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It won't - you'll still be governed by the rules of the air.
You sound like a salesman for Eclipse!
2007-03-01 16:15:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋