Retired 18-wheeler dealer will be the first Canadian owner of plane that could revolutionize air travel
When his $1 million flying taxi comes off the assembly line, retired truck dealer Archie Fraser will become the first Canadian owner of a microjet outfitted with Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines.
"I just like my toys," he said.
So you want to be a top gun? Owning a Javelin is the answer to your dreams.
At age 16 I drove a dirt-colored Honda Accord with rattling speakers and iffy brakes. My friend Si drove a Pontiac Catalina Safari wagon with a wood-paneled exterior and a loose, billowing headliner. Chris’s car was a Plymouth K-Car that went 0 to 60 in, well, never, unless he pointed it downhill. Cast-off family cars each, but to us they represented independence and freedom, and inspired parking-lot pride each morning at school--pride that lasted until the moment Tee Clarkson arrived in his black Saab 900 with leather interior, turbocharged engine and pounding stereo system. Tee had money, yes, but also something else. Flash. Swagger. Pluck enough to pull into school in a car that made the rest of the lot irrelevant.
Entry of VLJs
ORLANDO — This is not your father’s business aviation industry. The successful outreach by fractionals in the 1990s to the business community will soon be extended with the advent of the microjets, or very light jets (VLJs), to a wider market. The impact on airports and fixed base operations is today difficult to predict; but the VLJs will have an impact. Meanwhile, outside financing of FBOs continues to grow.
Private aircraft no longer just for rock stars
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Once reserved for the seriously rich or the seriously rock 'n' roll, private jets will soon be within easier reach, thanks to a new breed of low-cost lightweight planes that are expected to revolutionize the corporate aviation sector.
The Wall Street Journal
FAA Projects Sharp Increase in Use of Business Jets in Next Decade; A Plane for Just $1.5 Million
March 1, 2006 By Laura Meckler and Avery Johnson The use of private business jets will triple over the next decade, driven by the introduction of relatively inexpensive "microjets," the Federal Aviation Administration predicted.
The New York Times
February 28, 2006 By Joe Sharkey We have a getaway place in Tucson, near Saguaro National Park. Usually, we've noticed, the coyotes get to yowling around 4:30 in the morning. There must be a thousand of them in the desert and the Rincon foothills, and why they set up this commotion just before dawn is a question I cannot answer. The yowling chorus lasts no more than a minute.
Kiplinger Business Forecasts
Get Ready for a New Age in Business Travel: Affordable Jets for Hire Will Create Trips Without Connections
February 20, 2006 By Martha Lynn Craver - As early as this summer, business travelers will be able to get to their next sales pitch or strategy meeting more quickly and with fewer hassles. In June, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to certify the first new very light, very cheap jet, the E500 from Eclipse Aviation. Following on its heels are the A700 from Adam Aircraft and Cessna's Citation Mustang. These so-called microjets, which seat from four to six, will cost about a third of other jets currently on the market. The E500 from Eclipse Aviation will cost about $1.3 million and the A700 from Adam Aircraft, $2.2 million. They'll be able to fly at over 400 miles per hour and have a range of up to 1500 miles. Also, they are quieter and more fuel efficient.
"Baby" jets are causing an aviation buzz but will the market exist?
Tired of long security lines and middle seats on commercial air carriers? An alternative is at hand: entrepreneurial air taxi operators envision a future in which business travelers are rapidly ferried between regional airports in small, fast Very Light Jet (VLJ) aircraft, at prices anywhere from 10 to 50 percent more than today's fully refundable, full-fare commercial ticket, and far lower than existing business or fractional charter costs.
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