The good news: A 23-year-old pilot, Barrington Irving, completed his round-the-world flight in a Columbia 400 single-engine piston airplane, becoming the youngest round-the-world solo pilot (http://www.experienceaviation.org/). Irving showed excellent judgment by waiting for good weather, resulting in a trip length of three months rather than the planned one month but presumably greatly enhancing safety.
The bad news: His final destination was Orlando, Florida.
In other news, a bunch of us had planned to see the Eclipse very light jet today at Hanscom Field. This is kind of a Microsoft spin-off company, based in New Mexico. The machine was promised for 2003 at a cost of $900,000. It is finally limping off the assembly line in 2007 at a cost of $1.8 million. It was supposed to fly 1,800 n.m. through the clouds and then above them. After some problems with the jet, the FAA now limits the Eclipse to daylight visual conditions (day VFR) and operations with two pilots in front. Without being able to get an instrument clearance, the plane is limited to 17,500′ and probably can’t make it more than 600 n.m. Nonetheless, we were excited to sit in the plane. Sadly, when we arrived at the airport, the plane wasn’t there. Mechanical problems had grounded the machine in Ohio.
Phil,
Have you thought about hiring russian engineers from mig or su kb and starting areo startup.
Say to make a plane for 21 centure not to fly something from ww2.
Just a thought.
It seems like it’s harder to get a plane instrument-certified than it used to be. The adam guys are apparently having trouble, and now the eclipse. It’s obvious that in the case of the eclipse they’ve put some real money into it. (I saw it at the reno air races, and it wasn’t much louder than a car on the highway)
My guess is that the inevitable v.2.0 of this thing will probably cost 3+ million like the hondajet, and it might actually live up to some of the other promises of the eclipse.
You coming to Reno this year? Very little helicopter action, but all sorts of other neat stuff goes on.
Where did you get your information that the Eclipse Aviation is a Microsoft spin-off?
Although the CEO, Vern Raburn, was a Microsoft employee in the 80’s and Bill Gates is an investor in Eclipse, I don’t believe Microsoft has anything to do with this aircraft company. According to http://www.time.com/time/Innovators/Travel/profile_raburn.html, Vern left Microsoft in 1982.
I got to sit in an Eclipse a month ago at a little plane show at Oakland, CA airport… I was blown away by how cramped it was… I mean, I knew it was supposed to be small, but sitting in the passenger seats is WAY less luxurious than southwest or the backseat of a honda civic. Granted, I’m 6’3, but it wasn’t tight — it’s impossible.
I went from that to the sino swearingen — thought to be a cramped plane, they should always display it right after people sit in an eclipse — it felt spacious by comparison!
For flights (as a passenger) in the range of an eclipse, I’d take a Pilatus, thanks… way more comfortable, speed difference fairly irrelevant within the limited range of the Eclipse, capital cost for a used Pilatus vs. an Eclipse is in the same ballpark.
How is it a Microsoft spin-off? You said it yourself! The CEO used to work at Microsoft. Emperor Gates is an investor. And now the product is performing just like a Microsoft product: four years late without any of the promised features.
“Vern left Microsoft in 1982”
Yes, but but he kept working for Paul Allen:
“Raburn worked alongside Bill Gates and Paul Allen as one of Microsoft’s earliest employees. Later he ran Paul Allen’s management company, known then as the Paul Allen Group, from 1994 until 1997, when it was merged with Allen’s investment company to form what is now Vulcan Ventures. He also ran Allen’s Asymetrix Corp., an online education company that eventually went public and became Click2learn Inc.”
http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2002/02/11/daily17.html