Who Can Resist a Cute Little Jet Like That?

The headline in today’s Daily Hampshire Gazette read “Why Drive When You Can Fly?” and it was for a story about the hot new very light jets, or VLJs that are the big news of aviation these days.

In Hartford CT’s Brainard Airport one of the jets attracted a big crowd at a recent trade show for private plane and aircraft owners. And who can resist a little jet that flies three passengers and two crew for more than 1000 miles without a fuel stop. The leader in the field is the Eclipse, with engines made in Connecticut at Pratt and Whitney, a division of United Technologies. A Chicopee-based company called Pogo is planning on offering air charter using 24 of Eclipse jets starting in 2009.

Another of the new little jets is the Cessna Mustang. These too, are so in demand that there’s a backlog and a waiting list of private propellor-driven rigs who are dying to make the switch to a sleek cool jet.