Has anyone out there been following the Safire Aircraft Company, and their S-26 all-new six pax twin turbofan Personal Jet? This company is getting more ink right now in aviation magazines than Cirrus Design Corproation and the SR20.
This Personal Jet aircraft and company has been of interest to me for the past several months, and yesterday’s e-mail that I received from AVweb states that they now have over 500 booked orders.
My signed contract for this plane was received also in yesterday’s mail - #355 and was dated March 13, 2000.
I’m interest to know if any of you guys have placed your order with Safire for the S-26??
If you have - post a reply message, or send me an e-mail message…
Thanks, and best regards to all…
Gerry Mengo, #173 & #279
I have been following the news on the Safire S26 which is interesting. I also see a new company called Eclipse http://www.eclipseaviation.com/ is designing a personal jet. Maybe turbofan planes one day will be in same price range as single engine planes as the technology developes.
What effect do you think the ready availability of aircraft like the Safire and Eclipse at $800,000 would have on the sales of and used price of aircraft like the Malibu, the Meridian, and the Extra 400?
Would lower used prices on these aircraft put downward pressure on other aircraft or would the entire market expand with the new products?
I would think lower prices on the those models could push down 210’s which would push down 182’s and so on.
I have been following the news on the Safire S26 which is interesting. I also see a new company called Eclipse http://www.eclipseaviation.com/ is designing a personal jet. Maybe turbofan planes one day will be in same price range as single engine planes as the technology developes.
The Eclipse package looks hard to beat. With the Williams involvement and the Gates/Allen connection, these guys will not have trouble with financing. And if even half the people Gates and Allen have made gazillionaires buy one they’ll be sold out for decades!
I have Safire position #211.
I must admit I was quite concerned when the Eclipse announcement came out a couple weeks ago reflecting their exclusive deal with Williams, effectively leaving Safire out in the cold. (It would seem the guys at Eclipse know how to play hardball.)
I don’t know anything about the new engine manufacturer (Agilis) other than what’s on their website.
I’m sure Cirrus is watching these developments very closely as they also are apparently interested in a “personal jet”. Fine by me as long as SR20 production doesn’t suffer.
I have been following the news on the Safire S26 which is interesting. I also see a new company called Eclipse http://www.eclipseaviation.com/ is designing a personal jet. Maybe turbofan planes one day will be in same price range as single engine planes as the technology developes.
The Eclipse package looks hard to beat. With the Williams involvement and the Gates/Allen connection, these guys will not have trouble with financing. And if even half the people Gates and Allen have made gazillionaires buy one they’ll be sold out for decades!
I have Safire position #17. I placed the order the first day they started taking orders and have been amazed by their success. It shows there is alot of pent-up demand for a plane with those attributes. We’ll have to wait and see if the new turbofan performs as advertised.
Does anyone know if there is a site like this one for the Safire or Eclipse position holders?
Does anyone know if there is a site like this one for the Safire or Eclipse position holders?
I’m not aware of one (not that that means too much) but I could easily set up another forum on this site.
What effect do you think the ready availability of aircraft like the Safire and Eclipse at $800,000 would have on the sales of and used price of aircraft like the Malibu, the Meridian, and the Extra 400?
Well, assuming the Eclipse etc. are actually delievered at something close to the projected price (which depends almost solely on the engines, the rest of the plane is not much more than an overgrown SR20) then it must have an effect on those high-end singles. The Piper Meridian is priced, I believe, at around $1.35M. Given a choice of a 6 seat turboprop single at that price, or a 6 seat twin-jet at $800K, what would you choose? Or compare it to a TBM700 at over $2M?
While the Eclipse will not kill these aircraft overnight, just as the SR20 will not kill Commander/Trinidad/Saratoga sales overnight, it will only be a matter of time.
The charter/fractional ownership market for the Eclips and Safire will be huge - the twin engines provide the necessary redundancy, and the economics are inescapable.
All we have to see now is aircraft being built - but the success of the SR20 gives me great hope that it will indeed happen, though I expect it will take longer than currently projected.