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 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.

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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 500 taxijets 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.

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