Several years ago Bill Gates invested into a little aviation firm founded by his friend Vern Raburn in his old stomping grounds of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Today their Eclipse 500 jet just received provisional FAA certification!
This 1.3 million dollar plane holds 4 passengers and travels faster than commercial jet aircraft. It is small but comfortable, with an interior designed by BMW. Notable is that during certification it achieved the status of being the quietest jet aircraft in the world. The era of the affordable Very Light Jet (VLJ) has now arrived. To celebrate, here is a video I took three months ago when the jet was on display for the Business Jet Preview in Scottsdale. The first 15 seconds of the clip is a general look at what it was like there at the Scottsdale air park. Then the Eclipse 500 is the star of the show for the remainder.
Watch the Eclipse video (2 minute WMV filmed in high definition. 13 megs.)
Want one? Better get queued in line now -- over 2500 people have already put their money down, making for a three year long waiting list!
(Many thanks go out to the Albuquerque Journal for linking to this post on their home page.)