The trajectory for single-engine very light jets is up and to the right. List prices for what were initially envisioned as $1 million pocket rockets are now bumping up against, and in some cases through, $2 million–and likely to go higher.
Meanwhile, program development is slowing, even stalling. The central reason for the continuing delays is lack of cash and lingering uncertainty about how many deposits can be converted into firm orders if and when aircraft are certified.
Much like their twin-engine cousins, when the fog lifts there may be only one or two single-engine VLJs that actually make it to market–and stay there. But which ones?
None of the four OEMs that are seriously campaigning aircraft in this category–Cirrus, Diamond, Piper or Stratos–have sufficient internal resources to both get their designs certified and to place them into production. Newcomer Stratos is the lone entry in this group without an actual aircraft flying; it does have brochures and a mock-up.
