I don't know how many have paid attention to what's happening with VLJ development and it's pricing lately, but I can see why it's been quiet lately. The 2009 price for the D-Jet is now $1,890,000.00. That's a long way from the $1 millionish that many promised.

The Piper Jet uses terms such as "business jet" in their recent promotions in what I believe is deliberate to set marketing expectations. That language was obvious in their Oshkosh demonstration seen on You Tube. It looks like our dreams of the "personal jet" has faded away.

I stated in another thread recently that Cirrus still needed around $100,000,000 to bring the Cirrus jet to market. The Cirrus CEO announced the other day they need $120,000,000! Pretty good guess, huh? I wonder if Cirrus is checking the sofa in the Pilot lounge for quarters?

IMO, they all look like their pricing is getting too close to the Cessna Mustang, which is the only serious VLJ. I know Cessna wouldn't want it to leak out, but there have been some speculative Mustang deliveries in the lower 2's. Piper is riding their entire future on the Piper Jet is I'll bet they have a price/marketing problem. Watch, Piper will be pushing the mid $2s before their first delivery.

My favorite was the single Eclipse, but that's gone for the time being. I guess I'm still looking for my own V-Tail!

Good post Rick! Having just checked out the Cirrus Jet at Osh, Jeff Snyder and I discussed that we both really liked nearly everything about the plane: the room, speeds, layout, etc. I later suggested that I didn't think they'd be anywhere close to their suggested pricing and that by the end of the day they'd be in the 2M range, perhaps as high as 2.5M and that this was entirely too close to Mustang pricing.

We then headed to the Mustang exhibit to compare the stats of the two and, IIRC, we both agreed that for the money you got a lot more plane with the Mustang. If these guys aren't able to keep the initial costs down, Cessna is going to eat their lunch.

In short, I completely agree with your premise here.

Or more appropriately:

IMO the problem with the VLJ's is "operating costs".

I took a picture of an Eclipse the other day at PDK. Cool airplane but smaller than my Bo and probably 10X more to operate. Probably more to operate than a Pilatus. Who is going to buy that?

Good point Jason.

Additionally, I've determined that for my needs, I'd be a a lot better off buying a home with a grass strip. I'll save over an hour of driving, loading and unloading cars, and planes, and food/bathroom stops each time we make a trip. It would take a pretty long trip for one of these to shave that same time off the flight to make our door to door times equal out. And at easily 8-10x the operating costs at that.

Now where's that copy of Airpark Realestate I got at Osh...

I really think (and hope) Piper and Diamond will suceed with their own single Jet, it should be lower cost to operate than the Mustang being single but both will be delayed.

I'd buy a DJet for a million $$.

I know.

These VLJ companies had the opportunity to hit the market with single engine jets and they blew it.

Eclipse got their product to market but it was too much to operate. Who was making the decisions over there?

I don't think it started out as a scam. Vern Raburn had a pretty good concept with the friction-stir welding (quick) and the little Williams jet engine. But the whole game plan went out the window when the Williams engine could not develop the planned thrust and they had to switch to P/W.

There is also a common corporate culture that punishes the bearer of bad news. Everybody wants a "team spirit" which usually means that anyone who expresses any doubt about the validity of a project is accused of "negative thinking" and subsequently forced out of decision-making roles.

I don't think it started out as a scam. Vern Raburn had a pretty good concept with the friction-stir welding (quick) and the little Williams jet engine. But the whole game plan went out the window when the Williams engine could not develop the planned thrust and they had to switch to P/W.

There is also a common corporate culture that punishes the bearer of bad news. Everybody wants a "team spirit" which usually means that anyone who expresses any doubt about the validity of a project is accused of "negative thinking" and subsequently forced out of decision-making roles.

They say the best managers don't micro manage, but I can't help it. It's in my blood.

They say the best managers don't micro manage, but I can't help it. It's in my blood.

Jason,

It's my understanding that there is a maximum limit to what can be micro-managed and you eventually hit a ceiling. That is the point where delegation has to come in to play. It's where authority and responsibility are handed off to capable mangers who then manage the process the micro-manager developed.

I too tend towards micro-management, it's the single hardest thing that I am trying to overcome in conducting business.

IMHO micro-management is the single biggest threat to achieving "maximum" potential.

edit: But then again I'm not flying a G36 looking to upgrade to a Pilatus either

Mr. Soeté, that is a lucid, intelligent, well thought-out post.

-- My Cousin Vinny, 1992