Russellville Group Plans Air-Taxi Service

Owning a jet is about to become much more affordable.

As Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, N.M., begins manufacturing its “very light” Eclipse 500 jets in late June, more than 2,500 of the aircraft have already been ordered.

At about $1.3 million each, the 5,680-pound, twin-engine, six-seat Eclipse 500 is super cheap. Previously, it cost about $5 million to buy a jet aircraft.

A Russellville-based group of entrepreneurs figures that about 800 of those pre-orders are from individual owner-operators who’ll want someone to manage the airplanes.

So, Ryan Partin of Russellville, Steve Trimble of Prior Lake, Minn., and Jeff Muhlenkort of Spring, Texas, have formed Pilot Investors Group Inc. to manage Eclipse 500s and provide an air-taxi service to the nation’s smaller airports, which would relieve air traffic at major hubs. Partin said the air-taxi industry is designed for mid-range trips of about 200 to 600 miles.

Partin — founder, president and CEO of Pilot Investors — said 80 percent to 90 percent of charter planes that are privately owned are chartered out to help defer costs.

Most owners will get about 300 hours of use out of a jet during any given year. The Eclipse 500s are designed for 2,000 hours of annual use, said Partin, who is also a pilot. The Eclipse 500 jets have a cruising speed of 431 mph.

Partin believes his group can also provide service to charter travelers at less than the going rate, which is between $1,200 to $1,900 per hour for a comparable aircraft.

“The Eclipse 500 advantage is easy to see when you compare its costs to aircraft that have similar prices,” Eclipse Aviation says on its Web site. “The purchase price and total operating costs of the twin turbofan Eclipse 500 are comparable to the lower costs of propeller-driven aircraft, yet its performance and capabilities are superior to these as well as other jets costing hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars more.”

The Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F engines are a new generation of high-bypass turbofans that are rated at 900 pounds of takeoff thrust.

Pilot Investors wants to launch with 10 aircraft under management in mid-2007. They hope to begin buying airplanes by their second year to resell fractionally.

But first, Pilot Investors has to raise money for the endeavor. The group launched an equity offering in May shooting for $4.5 million from investors, but Partin said he can get the business off the ground with the first $2 million of that amount. As of June 7, Partin said that about four investors had responded by that time saying they were “definitely interested.” He said about 30 people had inquired about having Pilot Investors manage their Eclipse 500s through their Web site at www.pilotinvestors.com.