Pilots Blog

The reports of the death of the Very Light Jet have been greatly exaggerated. To paraphrase Mark Twain it looks like the early obituaries for the VLJ may be premature. It certainly hasn't been a good 12 months for the VLJ healthwise, with the collapse of Eclipse and DayJet. However, there are signs that the patient is up and about, with the Embraer Phenom 100 now arriving with owners throughout the US, and certified and ready for European operations. The Phenom will join the Cessna Mustang as entry level business jets (with Honda and Cirrus to follow) that provide owner/operators with highly efficient mid range transport at a fraction of the operating costs associated with bigger corporate jets costing $20million and above. In the current economic climate it's now seen as "cool" to fly a VLJ and a smart purchase for the corporates looking to trim back ostentatious spending. If the Auto makers had flown to Washington in a VLJ for their taxpayer bailout it would have cost them a tenth of the outlay and probably a tenth of the headlines! Go to the MIU archive to see last year's VLJ-Europe proceedings and download: http://www.miuevents.com/archive/vlj-eu-08