As I said.... a scam pure and simple.
Paul Lamar
I should have checked the web site. Eclipse is claiming
1330 pounds of fuel or at 6 pounds per gallon 221 gallons.
Good trick considering the main gear is stored in the thin jet wings.
Wing span is 36 feet and the 182 is 37 feet so I kind
of doubt they have 221 gallons in the wings. There must
be a 130 gallon fuselage tanks somewhere near the CG.
130 times 232 cubic inches per gallon is 30,160 cubic inches.
That would take a fuse tank 60 inches by 60
inches by 8.4 inches. Well perhaps.
Endurance claimed is 3.66 hours or 60 gallons an hour for both engines.
That right there is out of my price range at $2 bucks a gallon.
Anybody have the specs for a Cessna Citation? The Cessna
site is not talking. All fluff and no claims.
Paul Lamar
Paul,
I dont think that you are the target market for such an aircraft, so I
doubt the Eclipse folks will be to upset about your opinion of the fuel
consumption. :-)
If it becomes certified and reaches production, what else is there on the
market to compete with it in terms of performance and price? Nothing that I
can think of off the top of my head. Not that I'm an expert since its a
little out of my price range as well.
Mike Wills
That is another good point. The year 2000 price was an unrealistic
$875,000. The nearest "low cost" Citation is $3.5 million. There is
no magic here. All the manufacturing and marketing cost are near
the same. Just because you make
it a bit smaller the cost does not drop that much. The last price on the
engine was $100,000 each. The price of a IO-520 is $30,000 but Cessna
charges near $300,000 for a new 182. That tells me they cannot make money
at the price they are quoting. This is another reason or excuse to
declare bankruptcy. Obviously the stated cost is BS too. The bizjet
bis is nothing if not highly competitive.
Paul Lamar
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