Linear Air Eclipse Jet Operation out of BED - Status Update?

[On Your Six]

How's the new Eclipse operation going for Linear Air out of BED? I know that an Eclipse was delivered and flown to BED a few weeks back - I think I saw it sitting on the side when I flew into BED recently.

How many more will arrive in the near term? How have the Caravan customers responded - do they like the Eclipse? How do the Linear pilots like the Eclipse?

 

[GONEFLYIN21]

Its still sitting in their hangar collecting dust, it does the occasional demo but their demo to flight ratio is a bit lopsided. With that said though I think they still need to do their proving runs which the FAA has been slow at getting to. Its a neat little plane hopefully it will work out well for them. As for how the Van customers like it, I'm not really sure...Im sure the thought of going from KBED to Nantucket in under an hour will be nice but they will trade that leg room for it. The other problem I see is the lack of room for anything large like golf clubs which come in handy on the cape....but for the average business person going to KTEB or HPN it should work out well. I think the pilots are split between the plane, Its a jet that part is cool but its small, and somewhat slow and has a low "useful" load.

 

[FrozenPilot]

Proving runs have been scheduled, finally! The FAA has been slow, but like everywhere else, its due to staffing.

I'm rather impressed by the plane so far. Its a lot smaller than I expected, but a lot roomier than I expected too. Small it is, cramped it is not. Definitely limited on what you can carry, so marketing the plane as a car service with wings has been a great idea. The customers I've come across are really excited about it and are aware of the limitations. Lot of rumors and unknowns still, but its good to see the delays haven't damped the enthusiasm of the company or the customers.

As far as future deliveries... again more rumors. I'll just wait and see when it happens. Hopefully 1 by year's end, several next year.

 

[stratocoaster]

Proving runs scheduled for 5Nov07.

 

[stratocoaster]

Second e500 Arrives on Property

The second Eclipse E500 was delivered to Linear Air today.

 

[On Your Six]

The second Eclipse E500 was delivered to Linear Air today.

That's good news. How many more do you expect over the next few months? Is there talk about basing additional E500s at airports besides BED (maybe HPN, HEF or out West) in the near term?

Lastly, do you have dedicated E500 pilots or do they also fly the C208?

 

[RightTraffic]

Linear Air Interview

What's the technical interview like at Linear Air?

 

[FrozenPilot]

There are more Eclipses on the way, each base will get them when there are rated crews based there. Lots of hiring going on. The idea is to avoid having dual-rated crews, ie. flying both the Caravan and Eclipse. '08 is going to be a busy year with lots of changes. Seems to me like a good time to get on-board.

Technical I believe was a 25 question test, mostly short answer. Very nice people all around.