On December 9, 2008 the Phenom 100 program attained a major milestone when the Very Light Jet received Brazilian certification.   “This certification makes all of us at Embraer very proud. The Phenom 100 was conceived, developed, and certified in less than four years, which is very noteworthy,” said Emilio Matsuo, Embraer’s Senior Vice President, Engineering. “Furthermore, the performance figures obtained demonstrate the product’s excellent design.”   The Phenom’s certification comes without restrictions such as Flight Into Known Icing.  You may recall that the Eclipse 500 Jet didn’t gain FIKI certification until several months after it received type certification.  The Phenom 100’s Garmin G1000 avionics suite, which was also certified, allows for a low pilot workload and enhanced situational awareness allowing the Phenom’s certification to include single pilot approval.  Initially you can expect air taxi companies to offer their services with two pilots but within 5 years I expect we’ll see some US operators providing single pilot jet service in these aircraft.  European air taxi operations are required to provide two pilots on all passenger carrying flights.  Pilots will love the new avionics but passengers also benefit by state of the art systems through enhanced safety.  New avionics systems make flying easier and therefore safer.   

 On the heels of its Brazilian certification Embraer expects to gain US certification for the Phenom 100 “soon” with deliveries to begin in the “coming weeks.”  Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) use these vague terms because there may be some last minute issues that delay the certification.  I’d guess that they will get the US certification by the end of December or early January and deliveries of the aircraft should commence almost immediately.  Many of the first customers are already trained to fly the Phenom 100.   There are a number of air taxi companies planning to utilize this Executive Jet for their services.  They will need some time to train their aircrews and integrate the aircraft into their operations.  We should start to see the Phenom 100 available for air taxi service within the next few months.    I’ll make a best guess and say the first US air taxi Phenom 100 customer will fly on June 29th 2009.    Some air taxi companies are already flying with the Cessna Citation Mustang and the Eclipse 500.  The Phenom 100 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW617F-E engines which gives the Phenom better fuel consumption rates than originally estimated, saving as much as 3.6% on longer trips.   Embraer produced an aircraft that exceeded other design goals as well.   The demonstrated top speed of 390 knots (true air speed) is 10 knots faster than initially projected.      

(*) MTOW, SL, ISA(**) MLW, SL, ISA(***) NBAA IFR reserves (35 min) with 100 nm alternate; 4 occupants @ 200 lb each   Read the rest of this entry »

Airline travel is becoming more and more difficult, time consuming and unsure.  Delays are becoming a common occurrence and travelers are looking for alternatives.  Passengers have lost the romance of flying commercially.  An airline flight used to be something you would dress up for.  Now it is more like a bus ride.  Long security lines and the fear of terrorist attacks and exposure to airborne viruses have reduced the appeal of airline travel to a necessary evil.  People are looking for a viable alternative and air taxi may be their answer.   Next Generation small aircraft and creative new business models may provide a viable solution to the travel problems faced by a growing number of business travelers.  Air Taxi services have been with us for decades but only the very wealthy could afford them.  So what makes the new Air Taxi business different?  Why are there so many new start-up Air Taxi businesses and why does it finally seem that air taxi service can be affordable?

New jet engine technology has made possible a smaller jet that is able to carry smaller groups of people than previous jets.  It is more efficient to carry two people in a small jet than to carry two people in a large jet.  Most business jet trips are flown with only two people in the airplane.  The new jets are faster and cost about the same per mile as a comparable turboprop aircraft for trips of 300-1000 miles.  This is significant for more than the benefit to the client.  Speedier aircraft save the aircrew time and allow them to avoid many of the fatiguing effects of slower turboprop and piston aircraft.  Jet aircraft are quieter and vibrate less than propeller airplanes.  Faster aircraft will enable Operators to complete more flight legs in a day making their flying shifts more profitable.  FAA regulations limit pilots to a flying “crew day” to avoid accidents caused by pilot fatigue.   Since the new jets go faster pilots will be able to cover more ground in a given crew day.  Jet engines enjoy a better reliability record than do piston or turboprop aircraft.  In line with this statistic the flying public views Jets as “safer” than propeller aircraft.  Safety is enhanced by an aspect of the smaller jets that also allows them more flexibility in landings.  The new jets are designed for slower landing speeds and allow operations into and out of smaller airfields than larger jet aircraft.  This opens up more geographic flexibility and increases safety in the landing environment.

Very Light Jets tend to be slower than larger jets in the enroute environment.  This can cause complications for air traffic controllers as they attempt to sequence the little jets in with normal traffic flows.  As Next Generation air traffic control systems (NexGen) is implemented this minor VLJ limitation will begin to disappear. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hopes to spend more on upgrading the Air Traffic control system in coming years to support the Small Airport Transportation System (SATS).  This expenditure is an important part of the infrastructure of air travel and should be viewed as a stimulus for growth rather than an unnecessary expense.  In the current financial environment legislators may argue to limit spending in this area.  I hope they will be able to see the benefits of bringing air traffic control up to speed.  This will provide the ability to fly into many smaller airports in poor weather conditions.  “Free Flight” technology will allow aircraft to easily maneuver to avoid conflicts without the need for rigid routing allowing more direct flights and better advantage of prevailing winds.  Advancements in avionics provide next generation pilots with better tools than were available in older aircraft, for lower cost.  New techniques in design, manufacture and testing make the new generation of aircraft better suited to the hard use of an air taxi aircraft.

The world-wide-web is now available to anyone with a Laptop computer or PDA.  Automated online services can make quick connections between a traveler and aircraft operators in a way that was not imagined in previous generations.  25% to 40% of Charter aircraft flights are flown empty due to the inherent inefficiencies of on demand travel.  This is the single biggest reason why prices for air taxis have heretofore been affordable only to the ultra wealthy.  Easy online access to empty leg information will allow travelers to find these efficiently positioned aircraft and book them for a bargain while increasing the revenue to operators who otherwise would have absorbed the cost of the flight.  Many online booking services have already brought the percentage of empty legs down.  Taxijet.com is designed to make rapid connections between traveler and operator in an online auction format to support the growth of the air taxi industry and bring more efficiency to on demand air travel.

Recently we have seen some signs of weakness in the air taxi business that is delaying their entry into large scale use.  Dayjet was an ambitious undertaking that ceased operations on September 19,  2008.  Eclipse Aviation is struggling to find investors willing to pump money into their Eclipse 500, the VLJ that sparked the dreams of new air taxi hopefuls.   These and other air taxi related businesses are feeling the economic pinch but the concept of air taxi has never rested solely on the shoulders of these early pioneers.   The news is not all bad however.  Taxijet Spain, not affiliated with Taxijet.com, announced on October 30, 2008 that they intend to build a fleet of 30 Eclipse 500s with 150 pilots by 2013.   They are positioning themselves for the expected economic turnaround in 2010.  Linear Air has been operating the Eclipse 500 successfully in the northeast US.  North American Jet provides a robust service using the Eclipse 500 in the Chicago area.  Memley Aviation provides Eclipse 500 air taxi service in the Fresno area with some of the best pricing we’ve seen.  Other US based operators flying the Eclipse 500 include:  Guardian Air, -  Baton Rouge Air Charter, - Wilson Air Charter, and Alpine Air.

Today Eclipse Aviation announced that the European Aviation Safety Council (EASA) has certified the Eclipse 500 jet.  This certification will allow Eclipse Aviation to be registered in any of the 37 European countries.  Also today Eclipse Aviation announced FAA certification of its Avio NG 1.5 avionics suite.  “Obtaining EASA certification is one of Eclipse Aviation’s greatest accomplishments,” said Roel Pieper, Eclipse Aviation CEO.  “With the additional FAA approval for Avio NG 1.5, EASA certification enhances Eclipse’s capacity to spread the global reach and impact of the Eclipse 500, and we expect many new orders from all over Europe, Russia and Turkey to follow.”

Dayjet may make a comeback and I’m still hopeful that Eclipse Aviation will secure the financing it needs to continue production.  Fortunately for travelers there are other aircraft manufacturers and other air taxi operators in the game as well.  The air taxi business is not dependent on the Eclipse 500.  At their current pricing level of $2,150,000 the Eclipse 500 may still be a good value but it does not represent the disruptive technology that its founder Vern Raburn set out to create.   Had Mr. Raburn and Eclipse Aviation been able to produce the Eclipse 500 in the volume they promised and at the price they promised we would have seen a real shift in the value equation for air taxi travelers.   So air taxi prices won’t come down quite as far as we hoped but other Light Jet and Very Light Jets such as the Cessna Citation Mustang, Embraer Phenom 100 and Hondajet will help bring the price of air taxi service down while improving convenience and comfort.  Embraer expects to certify the Phenom 100 very soon and produce 10 of the aircraft by the end of the year and 120-150 in 2009.  The Hondajet is expected to enter service in 2010.  The Citation Mustang is in production and US based operators providing charter service in this aircraft include American Jet International Corp,  OpenSky Aviation, -  26 North Aviation, - Gary Jet Center, - Scott Aviation, and  TWC Aviation.

Next generation Light and Very Light Jets fit into a niche between business class airline travel and higher end charter aircraft.  Air taxi operators hope to capitalize on this niche and provide customers with new travel options that provide them value.  Operators of existing aircraft are making gains in efficiency of use that is bringing down the price of air taxi services even in older aircraft.  They are experimenting with new business models such as per seat pricing and using technology to aid in efficient aircraft positioning and maintenance.   The price of fuel is a very large part of the cost of operating aircraft and recent reductions in fuel prices has also reduced the end price of air taxi and aircraft charter.  I saw the price for unleaded automobile gas at $1.57 yesterday downtown. 

Some piston air taxi operators have also been doing quite well by providing short haul regional services with a single pilot.  These small aircraft are very comfortable, decked out with the latest avionics packages and they can fly into very small airports.  Business travelers are finding these small aircraft can give them the extra two hours of sleep they need before the big meeting.  SATSair and ImagineAir are two companies thriving with this business model.  Also providing Cirrus SR22 air taxi services are Hopscotch Air in the Northeast and Skyway Air Taxi  providing service from New York to South Carolina to Ohio.  Not all attempts to provide air taxi service with the SR22 have been successful.  An air taxi operator in Bismark ND that flew the Cirrus SR22 light propeller aircraft closed its doors a few years ago citing weather related restrictions as a major contributing factor to its demise.  So you may not see these light piston aircraft in areas that are routinely affected by severe weather.  They have a harder time avoiding weather than jets.  Jet aircraft can generally fly high enough to get above thunderstorms while propeller driven aircraft must maneuver around.  Propeller aircraft are more susceptible to icing problems than jets (generally speaking).  These small propeller aircraft can provide you with quick transportation at near airline prices and you can often sit in the front seat if you like.  Personally I see that as one of the biggest advantages of flying in a single piloted aircraft.  It is fun. 

Wherever you want to go you can hail an air taxi.  A wide variety of airplanes are available for your use.  Prices are still not what they can be but we’ll bring them down together.  Use Taxijet.com to make more efficient use of aircraft and save yourself some time and money in the process.  As more people look to air taxi as a quicker and more comfortable travel option the air taxi industry will grow.  With growth comes economy of scale and lower prices.

There are thousands of underutilized airports across the nation gearing up for taxijet service in 2008. By flying from a small local airport you may be able to realize significant time-savings by eliminating long drives to larger airports. Smaller airports generally have very easy security check in procedures so you can save time there as well. You can often drive onto the flight line and load your bags right into the jet and you’re off. Toss your keys to the valet and you’ll be in the air in no time. But how many airports can support new Very Light Jets? Will the airport down your street one of them?

Several articles I’ve read claim that there are between 2,300 and 5,400 airports available for VLJ air taxi service but they don’t list the airports. I wanted to have a more definite answer so I dug into the FAA’s airport database, did a little math, mixed in a bit of aerodynamics, an understanding of regulations and a pinch of common sense to find the true answer to this question. I’ve compiled a list of all the US Public airports with runways long enough to support the Eclipse 500 in three operational categories:

Figure 1. Number of US airports that can support Eclipse 500 operations

There are 3,443 US airports with runways long enough to support commercial operation of an Eclipse 500 (3,031 public and 412 private). To see if an airport near you is one of them just find the airport in the list and check the runway length column. If the runway length is highlighted yellow you won’t likely see any commercially flown VLJs at that airport unless the runway is lengthened. If the runway length is highlighted green or blue the longest runway at that airport is long enough to support an Eclipse 500 taxijet. Blue highlighting means that junior crews and single pilot operations are not permitted to land there but experienced two pilot crews can legally land. Green highlighted runways are long enough for all commercial operations of the Eclipse 500, including single pilot ops.

In order to provide a simple analysis of a very complex subject I made several assumptions:

Aerodynamic forces such as temperature, aircraft weight and wind greatly affect the landing distance of an aircraft. I’ve made the assumption that landing weight is 4,000 lbs. That’s 371 lbs above the advertised empty weight. More weight will mean longer landing distances. The wind is assumed to be calm and temperature is assumed to be standard (59 deg F). Colder weather means shorter landings and warmer weather means longer landings. I used the Eclipse 500 performance figures for this analysis (Landing Flaps, Dry Hard Runway). The landing performance chart gives a sea level landing distance of 2,432 feet and a landing distance of 3,263 feet at an airport elevation of 5,000 feet. The landing distance increases about 16.62 feet for every 100-foot increase in elevation. I used this relationship to interpolate other distances for the varying airport elevations.

FAR part 135.4 is an FAA regulation that allows highly experienced two-pilot aircrews to land on shorter runways than single piloted aircraft or aircrews that don’t meet the experience requirements. Aircrews that are “eligible” under FAR part 135.4 are allowed to land if they can stop in the first 80% of a runway. Aircrews that do not meet the standards are “ineligible” and must be able to stop in the first 60% of a runway or they are not allowed to utilize that runway. To be “eligible” an aircraft operator must meet or exceed these standards:

1.  Two-pilot crew
2.  Pilot in Command
a)  Minimum flight experience – 1,500 hours
b)  Airline Transport pilot and applicable type ratings
3.  Co-Pilot
a)  Minimum flight experience – 500 hours
b)  Commercial pilot and instrument ratings

Pilots of “Non-Commercially” operated aircraft (FAR part 91) are free to land on any runway that is long enough for the aircraft to come to a stop within the full length of the runway. To clarify: Let’s say we’re landing at a sea level airport where the performance figures indicate the Eclipse jet will need 2,432 feet to land safely. If we are flying our own aircraft (Non-Commercially) we are permitted to land if the runway is 2,432 feet or longer. If our hired aircrew is “eligible” we can legally land on any runway equal to or longer than 3,040 feet in length. If our hired aircrew is “ineligible” (such as single pilot) we need a runway at least 4,053 feet long in order to make a legal landing. This rule gives passengers an added safety buffer and helps to keep the accident rate low.

The Eclipse 500 is not suited for landing on helicopter pads or turf, dirt or water runways so I eliminated all of them from the table. For airports with more than one runway I eliminated all but the longest runway. I then calculated the necessary landing distance at each airport for each category of operation. Some runways may have additional surface available to make legal landings on shorter runways. I did not include these stopways in my analysis.

Another factor that may indicate future availability of taxijet service at your home airport is the amount of money in the pockets of your neighbors. Air taxi service is expensive when compared to airline ticket prices so aircraft operators will try to position their services as close as possible to areas of wealth. In this 2005 data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) you can see the per capita income of your area as a percentage of average US income. Air taxi companies will likely try to provide services at airports with high per capita income before airports near areas of lower income.

Many airports are becoming over congested and the FAA and local airport authorities are making plans for expansion to accommodate the expected increase in air traffic. But that’s another story.

Find your private jet on www.Taxijet.com.   Air Taxi & Aircraft Charter Exchange

On Monday Eclipse Aviation announced a partnership with European Technology and Investment Research Center (ETIRC) that marks a significant point in aviation history. Eclipse Aviation has been struggling lately with lower than predicted production rates of its Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet but with the equity investment by ETIRC of “substantially in excess of $100 million” new life is breathed into the startup aircraft manufacturer.

Roel Pieper, ETIRC CEO, said that Eclipse is “way ahead of the other players … and the market needs a clear winner.” ETIRC thinks that the Eclipse is the “right product… for air taxi especially.” “Eclipse will go into history as the standard for VLJs by a mile.” He explained that the market is far more than they had imagined and they see an exploding need for business travel.

Vern Raburn, CEO of Eclipse Aviation stressed that this is not an outsourcing move but an acceleration of production. He said that Eclipse Aviation has hired back almost all of the workers that were laid off last October. They now employ 1600 workers and plan to add another 700 workers to their Albuquerque New Mexico facility this year. Vern mentioned that plans for production at the Double Eagle airport have not been changed and that production at that facility should begin in two or three years.

Vern explained that this partnership is a way for Eclipse to solve two fundamental problems: Funding, and a way to service other parts of the world. Vern said that ETIRC is now the largest equity investor in Eclipse Aviation but is still a minority investor. There are no plans to merge the companies and the intent is to stay independent.

Vern explained that all aircraft parts will be produced in Albuquerque and shipped to Russia for assembly by ETIRC and that the finished products will be virtually identical to aircraft produced in the US. The city of Ulyanovsk is currently the leading candidate for the assembly plant with production expected to begin late in 2009.

There are 2,650 Eclipse jets on order now with an expected delivery date of early 2010 for new orders. Vern says he expects the order book to grow. He couldn’t predict when the Eclipse would gain its flight into known icing certification but said that he expects it in the first half of 2008.

This significant announcement is great news for those who wish to get involved in the next generation of air travel. It means that there will probably be many more Eclipse 500s that will need pilots and that the traveling public will benefit by their availability. New travel options will begin to emerge in 2008 and the price of aircraft charter will drop as more of these aircraft are produced.

View the webcast of the event.

Book an Eclipse 500 on the Taxijet Air Taxi and Air Charter Exchange.