The Fan Club get restive

Now that the judge has stayed our ‘motion to quash’ until the first of August, I think it’s time to review what Vern’s fan club are thinking. Clearly, to be a fully paid up member you need to have demonstrated below average intelligence and have a lot of cash lying around that you are willing to blow. Putting aside these obvious qualifications as future winner of the coveted Darwin Award, you must also believe Vern's fairy tales.

So, what have this merry band of owners/position holders been saying to each other since Vernicius the First put his hand in their pockets for the Con Jet? For a change, the ‘fan club’(his term, not mine) reacted poorly. It would appear that many have decided to cut their losses and run. They can of course now do this, as the price increase triggers a ‘refund event’, which is probably why Vern waited so long before he finally did the logical thing. The next group are prepared to wait for the Fisher Price Jet which MIGHT come their way, even at the higher price announced last week. Seems a bird in the hand is still worth more than two in the bush. Very few, if any, want to wait another 3 years (probably more) for the Con Jet. They are also very miffed that you can’t get anyone from ‘Customer Care’ to talk to once you’ve decided you want your money back. A desire to become an ex customer will do that to you every time….

You will be glad to hear that some of ‘them’ are finally convinced that ‘we’ were right. Even our old dentist friend thinks that The Great Raburn is dumping on his long suffering supporters. I can also confirm that several owners and position holders have joined us in another way. Lawyers are being hired all over the place, with EAC as the target. Seems that Vern going after us might have given his 'fans' similar ideas....

Mike Press, on the other hand, is having a field day. Positions, which have early serial numbers are changing hands because of the price increase. Sort of a ‘dead cat bounce’ I suppose. Although the blog has always maintained that a price increase was one of the few sensible things Mr. Raburn could do, he can’t do it again in the short term. EAC needs cash, and lots of it, to survive. Informed speculation has it that The Duke of New Mexico has indeed managed to find more money from somewhere in the recent past. If true, I would be most interested to hear the detail, to the usual address.

Tires are becoming a really, really big pain. An FPJ with three passengers, along with the poor pilot, had an incident this week in Midway. Loosing one tire on touchdown is, how shall we say, interesting. Blowing two is bound to raise the excitement level a notch or three, especially in such a small cabin. Nothing too special, one would think, with the number of tires your average FPJ will chew through. However, it appears the thought police in EAC have issued strict instructions that NO communications take place with the outside world on this subject. When you see reactions like this from a company, to what is a pretty standard event (OK, I‘m sure that pilot was unimpressed) you begin to suspect there is ‘no smoke without fire’. Why try to hush up something, unless there is more going on?

On a practical note, I think Gunner, and his excellent lawyer Norman, deserve our gratitude for their work on our collective behalf. However, I am coming around to the view that Gunner should not be left alone in supporting this financial burden and I would, on behalf of the blog, welcome offers of assistance. Helpful suggestions to the usual address, eclipsecriticng@gmail.com.

Finally, as the summer (at least here in the northern hemisphere) moves towards the longest day I would like to wish you all pleasant weather, good flying and plenty of ‘quality time’ with your families.