Vapor Lite Jets

Here's a quickie link to AeroTalk.com while I work on my Pogo Jet posting on a Cameron Burr interview.......

THE PROBLEM WITH VLJ'S (Very Light Jets)

Should be called Vapor Lite Jets... most will turn out that way! Entrepreneours wanting to build business jets start by designing a small plane thinking an entry level jet means just what it says. But it is the wrong place to start. Cessna will be the first to admit, the 8,000 lb Mustang was much tougher to engineer than the 10,700 lb CJ1 even thoug both are essentially 6-place airplanes. The fewer pounds to work with, the tougher the task. Both the Eclipse and the Mustang are 6-place airplanes, both have similar systems and back-ups. Both have similar equipment and performance. Can Vern Raburn deliver an airplane 30% lighter than the industry leader, 5,640 lbs vs. 8,000 lbs? Does Vern possess secrets that Cessna has not learned in 60 years of building the lightest possible aircraft? Start-ups need to be realistic about weights! Cabin volumes are nearly the same which brings up another issue of scale. Bleed air requirements for pressurization are nearly the same for both aircraft. Proportionally, it is a bigger load for the two Pratt PW610's on the Eclipse with only 1,800 lbs of thrust vs the PW615's powering the Mustang with 2,700 lbs thrust. While bigger engines produce an abundance of bleed air, small turbines are marginal at best. P&W has a solution for this problem, but it is 4-5 years down the road, too late for the Eclipse.