It has been a while, but as I recall the pilot powered up the aircraft and while waiting for the computers (aka) avio processing center to boot, it decided to command the left gear to retract.

Fortunately the pilot was quick to react and immediately powered off the aircraft. Believe it or not he was quick enough on the switches that the wing never actually contacted the ground and no damage was done.

I'm not trying to be negative. I really liked Eclipse when they were talking about it being a $1MM bird. I wrote an article discussing moving up from the 58P to it and conceptually, it had a lot in common with the 58P with jets: dimensions, payload with full fuel, range, etc. Of course, it was also different in speed and altitude.

I had a friend just replace a glass panel and I think $11,000 for one not in warranty is pretty optimistic. Last I read about the manufacturer, they weren't supplying glass to any other birds--has that changed? On many glass panels, they don't fix things--they replace the panel.

Good luck. I had a fella here take me up and let me fly his before going in for the upgrades. I loved the way it flew, but was very glad I had the discipline to read the escrow agreement and not participate in the first batch. I have another acquaintance with one in a hangar sitting without upgrades; he also purchased a Mustang and that's what he's flying. But, it's only money (g).

That full fuel payload simply won't work for me, and it's not just payload; it's room. Kids with car seats, play pens, etc, take up lots of room. With kids and ladies, the potty seems to make a real difference. But, for one without those needs, neat flying bird.

Best,

Dave

Not that I haven't followed the Eclipse with interest but this is a typical example of someone selling something on a sales pitch and not a passion. Of course it remains to be seen what comes of it with the new owner. What about the Sikorsky "agreement"? That seemed pretty supportive.

That's an insurance miracle right there!

Hmmm...kinda like the useful load of a Bo. Can't argue with addictive giddiness of the speed but as others have said, this plane had so many short comings due to arrogant and inept management. Beyond avionics that are better in new c172's, leaking caustic goo from the fire extinguishers in the original engines, electronic board replacement that controlled cabin lights for $10k, and in many ways a VFR limited plane ( without any automation, no wx, no ice, I feel it's limited beyond VFR), its perfect for your training mission. When you first posted this thread, I was intrigued with the notion. However, I would advise against buying one, even with Sikorsky support.

If an eclipse is a VFR only airplane, then so is your Bonanza

I am not saying that the eclipse is the greatest airplane in the world. Far from it! It definitely has it's drawbacks, but there is nothing that can come even close to it for the same money. I believe it is going to fit my current mission profile very well.

If you spend any amount of time in aviation, you will learn that every aircraft is a compromise.

Except that the Bo doesn't have to fly through known icing conditions on a fair number of flights.

I have done 4 flights in the airplane so far. All with some actual. None in icing conditions (known or otherwise). The current owner has flown it ~175 hours this year and not yet had to cancel a trip due to icing.

Lowest cruise alt FL340 for a short trip, other flights at FL410 and FL400.

I was reading another thread on beechtalk where several posters said that ATC would never even clear an eclipse up to FL410 because it is 'too slow.'

There is just so much misinformation when it comes to this little airplane. I don't get it.

Anyway, the FIKI discussion is moot because as it sits now, this airplane is going to be upgraded in April ....

Ted that is rubbish, In the 500 so hours that I flew Eclipse jets, I can only remember a handful of times I wasn't assigned my filed altitude. And those where peak traffic times for the airlines on those routes. Very rarely did I fly above 370 though because you pay a big speed penalty going higher and I like to go fast

It is however quite common at those altitudes to get vectors to give way to faster traffic in trail. In almost every case they are going to turn you before they turn them. Be prepared though to get a lot of inquiries from ATC requesting your cruise Mach number



You did mention earlier in a post that it was a mil to upgrade the airplane to IFMS. That is true for a ETT aircraft. You already mentioned that this one is a non ETT. Eclipse says call for pricing on those, but I can tell you that there is a lot of structural change that needs to be done on these aircraft and it is extremely labor intensive. I am willing to bet that it will add another 250 to 300 thousand to the price of the upgrade. So you are probably looking closer to 1.25 mil or more. I will also be inclined to say that the aircraft will be down minimum of four months and possibly as long as 6 months based on past performances of Eclipse Aerospace. The last Avio NG aircraft that I was involved with took 5 months before they had it ready to go.

$1m is the price, and Eclipse is being very aggressive in attempting to get the owner to commit to upgrade ... I don't want to spell out the details on a public board, but I will definitely be calling you to pick your brain sometime in the next week or 2 and I will tell you all about it.

Thanks again, Dave- I am happy to have you as a resource!

Looking forward to it.

So they sold you a VFR airplane and now want another million or so to upgrade which will include FIKI? Seriously? Why didn't folks just buy the plane that already had that as part of the original purchase price, ie. Mustang?

Scott, try to follow along here. This has already been discussed a few times in this thread.

This is not a VFR only airplane.

The people who bought them new originally got the shaft. They were delivered before the final certifications were done (basically all we are taking about is FIKI, moving map, coupled autopilot, and radar) The company was terribly mismanaged. Take a look at their business plan and you would swear it is something Madoff came up with. It is the kind of story a movie could be made about ...

Eclipse went broke, shut their doors, and left owners with 'unfinished' airplanes. The guy who bought the company was able to shed all the 'IOUs' to outstanding customers, and made them pay to have the airplanes upgraded ('finished' would be a better word) by the 'new company.'

A lot of people lost a lot of money. If you bought a new Eclipse back then, you would probably be wishing that you had done anything else with the money. One guy paid 1.5 million for his airplane the day they filed bankruptcy. Wired the money that morning and they never did give him the airplane! Most people only lost $100k deposits or got an airplane that was delivered without everything as promised ...

Let's take the current value of an original Eclipse (~$600,000). Spend $1m on the upgrade and you have 1.6m into basically a brand new airplane that has quite a bit lower DOC than a Citation Mustang. (at half the acquisition cost)

So they sold you a VFR airplane and now want another million or so to upgrade which will include FIKI? Seriously? Why didn't folks just buy the plane that already had that as part of the original purchase price, ie. Mustang?

So how do these ostensibly smart people get suckered? I remember reading as the Eclipse moved from initial announcement to debacle. If you were walking around thinking you were going to get a jet for $850K you were an idiot. I knew that just like I knew the Thielert diesel would never pan out. $80K for an engine that every couple hundred hours you had to unbolt some random piece and mail back to Germany for analysis. Nonstarter.