Thought it would be useful for the lurkers on this site to hear why I sold my Eclipse:


I decided it made both business sense and lifestyle sense last year to purchase a small jet.
.

I spent a substantial amount of time on this board - and on the CJP board as I evaluated the Mustang at the same time. Both boards have some great resources and the associations are run by some super folks. But there is plenty of wheat and chaff to separate on both. And each aircraft option has its' lesser and greater attributes.


In the end, I purchased a Total Eclipse in March. I thought (and still think) I made the right decision.
I had the Eclipse ABQ service center upgrade the aircraft to the latest 550 specs: the "Plus" upgrades and new windows(all 4) plus all actuators replaced and all SB mods accomplished. They did a great job! It was a pleasure to deal with Dennis Whiteturkey, Jon Fox, Sam Sandoval, and Cary Winter and the other folks in ABQ.
Started flying it in May (getting typed in theaircraft with Tom Norton’s company).
Flew it to Greenland and Iceland, and acrossthe US. Put 125 hours on it over 6 months.
Pretty much flawless. Supurb D.O.C.’s.
Simple. Safe. Cost Effective. Fun.
And mission ready.
True airliner replacement.

Since the Eclipse was basically perfect, I decided to sell it.


Spent a couple of months analyzing some options to make sure I was making theright decision.
Test flew the M2. Great plane. Different mission profile.
40% higher DOC’s. Plus higher indirect costs of about $100K peryear (not including depreciation).
But about 6% faster. With a bigger cabin (definitely made for more passengers to bringalong).
A little more difficult in systems management(IS&S Avio may be fun to beat up on - but it does do some things thatthe Garmin G3000 cannot).


Summary - taking delivery on 550-1002next month.

Andy, we all know that dollar signs and decimal points mean different things to different people, but I was struck by your emphasis on the 6% increase in cruise speed. Surely this alone doesn't justify the 40% increase in direct costs and the $100,000/yr in fixed costs. Was it the larger cabin that lured you? Was there something about the Eclipse that didn't sit right?

(Mind you, I am not in this market. I just happen to be up at 3 am.)

Chad,
And I an up @5 so wrong

It's not me

The guy bought a ground up new Eclipse

Sorry for the confusion writing and posting not my strong suit

So basically, the reason some are selling their Eclipse is because they are perfect?

I may know a few people here on BT that DID that with every one of their planes they owned.

go out on a high note

+1. Not following the post.

Also not following what plane you bought..... an M2?

[youtube]https://youtu.be/EIzei3vAqRY[/youtube]

Data observation:

- There are 25 Eclipse 550s on the US Registry, the earliest was 2011. That includes 4 which are still registered to Eclipse.
- There appear to be 5 2015 model year aircraft registered, though that includes 2 that are still registered to Eclipse.
- There are two additional still registered to Eclipse which include the two highest serial numbers (including the 550-1002 s/n referenced by the original post)

They don't seem to be selling like hotcakes, unfortunately, at least in the US. Roughly 5 per year does not make for a huge market.

My read is that he sold it to by a new one.

Yes, exactly. Though I'm unclear whether it was Andy's personal story or just his re-post of someone else's story.

is that what M2 means ? I thought maybe cessna mustang

is that what M2 means ? I thought maybe cessna mustang

Yes, exactly. Though I'm unclear whether it was Andy's personal story or just his re-post of someone else's story.