The Eclipse 500 delivers. These customers tell the tale.

Ken Ross, president, North American Jet Charter Group LLC

Accepting the aircraft for delivery for our clients was very exciting. They were absolutely thrilled. They were amazed at how quiet and smooth the aircraft was when they flew in it. The conversation and noise level was like riding in the back of a luxury limo. And they remarked at how comfortable inside they were. They were very excited to be part of a new, emerging and innovative industry.

It’s been 100 percent universal: our clients consider the Eclipse 500 to be a lot quieter and more comfortable than flying on the airlines. There has not been one person who has not experienced the flight in that aircraft and been amazed at its quiet and smooth ride.

The Eclipse 500 is quick, it’s agile. It gets up out of the pattern altitude into flight levels very, very fast. We have no problems flying at 180 knots and climbing up to flight levels in the mid-20s and -30s very, very quickly and efficiently.

It’s just a great joy to fly from a pilot’s perspective. All my pilots have remarked what a wonderful airplane it is to fly. It met my expectations—clean and simple, quick, very efficient, very easy to fly. And the view from the cockpit seems to be very open and airy.

What’s most important to North American Jet is the ability to move the business traveler from point A to B in an efficient and safe manner. Our day trips are what we’re known for and are growing. It’s amazing the responses we’re getting from clients saying that this is a very efficient form of transportation.

I don’t think there’s another airplane that can operate as economically as the Eclipse 500 right now. From the owners’ perspective, the aircraft is extremely efficient and, compared to the traditional business jet, very economical to operate.

For our mission profile, which is 600 nautical miles or less for a day trip or an overnight trip with one or two business travelers, clients are very comfortable taking the Eclipse. The price is probably 30 to 40 percent cheaper to take the Eclipse than it is to take the Lear. Even if we take the third passenger, they’ve enjoyed it. They’ve remarked on a trip of an hour or an hour and a half that it’s very comfortable and it’s not any less legroom than they get on the airlines.

It sips fuel; that’s very efficient. We’re burning 380 pounds at cruise an hour. That equates out to close to somewhere between 60 and 65 gallons per hour.

I think the Eclipse 500 is the most efficient, safest and most economical VLJ in the marketplace.

William Herp, President and CEO, Linear Air

On a 250- to 500-mile trip, the Eclipse 500 Jet is really the sweet spot for a 135 commercial operation. If you look at the statistics for most private charters, that’s where the bulk of the trips are. The Eclipse 500 Jet is a terrific performer because it gives you a turbojet performance at single turboprop prices.

The first time I flew the Eclipse 500, what struck me was how quiet it is and how short the takeoff roll was. Operating here about 100 feet above sea level on a relatively warm day, the performance was still quite good.

The aircraft itself is robust. It’s achieving, to a large degree, the design objectives of reliability, dispatch, and performance. The aircraft was stable in flight. On a fair weather, cumulus day with a lot of convection, there was the quiet and the relatively short ground roll and high performance in terms of climb rate and the ability to handle the bump quite nicely.

When our customers see it on the ramp, they say, “Oh, that’s smaller than I thought it was going to be.” But when they get in the airplane, they say, “Oh, this is bigger than I thought it was going to be.” It’s been designed in such a way that there’s a lot of room inside. In fact, we had one man who is 6'10" who climbed on board the airplane, sat down, and said, “Wow, this is nice. Very comfortable.”

The engines offer turbine engine performance at single turboprop prices because of their fuel economy. Compared to other business aircraft, the Eclipse is the most fuel efficient and environmentally sensitive on the market.

We can access 500 airports. To be able to say that we fly small, quiet aircraft, quieter than any of the piston aircraft that are by and large seen as the right use for these airports, goes a long way toward allaying the concerns of the citizens of the communities surrounding the airports that we’re operating from.

Eclipse Aviation’s greatest strength is unwavering commitment to the vision of affordable, reliable turbojet personal transportation. It’s the commitment that the company’s made to achieve the design objectives, the volume production objectives, and the customer support objectives that enable that vision of affordable personal air travel in jets. We’ve had tremendous support from the customer experience team. They’re terrific.

It’s a terrific aircraft. If you’re looking for an aircraft that provides the best value for 500-mile nautical range profile, then there really is no other game in town.