Tuesday, June 30, 2009

A new era looms

Folks, my time as custodian of the Eclipse Critic blog has come to an end. I thought it would be fun to provide you all with a photograph of myself in a genuine Irish pub, complete with pint of Guinness. It's the tall, dark and handsome one on the left. The more astute will have noticed the E500 model, a gift from Black Tulip, who in turn won it by correctly estimating the 'output' of Eclipse Aviation in 2007.

This is, I'm happy to say, the closest I'm ever likely to come to an Eclipse EA500....

Now it's my pleasure to introduce you to the new blog, which will offer a wider scope than this one ever could. I hope it will pick up on all that is good in GA, while keeping a wary eye out for anything 'fishy'. Phil Bell, with a background in aviation, has been working up to this since I put out my original announcement a few months ago. I wish him every success, and will contribute when the spirit moves me. Here's the new address:-


Enjoy it as much as I have this one, and you won't go far wrong.

From me, it's a heartfelt 'So long, and thanks for all the fish'.

Shane

39 comments:

Jim Howard said...

Shane, thanks for doing a wonderful job of carrying the torch!

Black Tulip said...

All the best Shane. We are counting on you to come visit us in former colonies.

Rich Lucibella said...

Shane-
None of us can express the debt we each owe you for the work you've done. Outstanding job.Thank you!
Rich Lucibella

airsafetyman said...

Shane thanks for everything. Outstanding job! You've earned your brew, or several!

JustinTime said...

Shane,
Is it true that the real reason you are giving up your post as the "Chief Critic" is because:

After years of communicating everything bad about Eclipse Aviation, you were able to devalue the company to the point where now you can afford to buy the company?

All this was done intentionally to build your own GA empire. Com'on Shane admit it!

airtaximan said...

Shane:
Thanks.

Atman

stan said...

Shane,

You not only carried the torch but kept it burning bright through the darkest days of the Eclipse.

I thank you for all your good work.

Stan

Bruce Taylor said...

I'm shedding a tear in my beer at the loss of the blog - and it is a BUDWEISER:)

Thanks again!

stan said...

In case any of you missed it from an earlier post, here is the history of the Eclipse model sitting on the bar:

"The collective wisdom of the blog was really evident during the 2007 contest to predict the number of deliveries. The average of all the guesses nailed the actual number.

The blogger coming the closest to predicting 2007 deliveries just happened to be the blog’s resident satirist, black tulip.

As a prize, I had pledged an Eclipse model which I could pick up on ebay. Instead, I was contacted by an Eclipse buyer who had cancelled his Eclipse and ordered a Phenom 100 in its place. So he offered his brand new Eclipse model still in the box which was sent directly to black tulip."

Black Tulip said...

May the Eclipse 500 model become our very own Reliquary, scrupulously handed down to successive Tenders of the Blog and Keepers of the (Jet-A) Flame.

fred said...

Monsieur Shane (with special emphasis on the Monsieur !)

we owe you more than words ...

you know (i hope) that you can feel permanently invited in my humble home ...

i might come to the beautiful Green island for the pleasure of sharing a few Guinness with you !

thanks for all , and a heartfelt thanks for Monsieur Stan for defending the poor gullible victim i could have been ...!

Dave said...

Thanks Shane!

Shadow said...

Shane, thanks for being the keeper of the baton for the past year and a half. Hope you'll continue to chime in at the new blog.

Shane Price said...

JustinTime,

All this was done intentionally to build your own GA empire. Com'on Shane admit it!

If only it were true...

Sadly, I got involved with Stan's original blog while researching a business idea. Even I could smell the 'rat' lurking in ABQ, and I was 4,000 nm away.

The good news, as far as I'm concerned, is that the blog worked. We, working together, exposed the scam that EAC had become.

If that was all that we accomplished, I'd be a happy man. But I think we learned lots of lessons together and, looking back as I have, I'm humbled that so many put so much, time, effort and intelligence into this little blog.

While I appreciate all your kind thoughts, the new blog awaits. A hint of 'trouble' at Cirrus is already being discussed. I'm sure it won't be the first company to fall into the spotlight....

Shane

julius said...

Shane,

thanks a lot - you did a great job!


Julius

x said...

Shane,
I appreciate your awesome contribution. You kept the blog alive through personal tragedy and storms or inanity.

I didn't have much to contribute after the disappearance of DayJet, but found myself looking in periodically all the same.

I may run the FlightAware scrape one more time before all goes dark.

paul said...

Now that I can't see Baron95's posts I'll have to watch FOX news for the same opinions....

PawnShop said...

Shane,

A tip of my paper hat to you, for the contribution of time and attention that you've made to the blog. I suppose this means you'll now have to go out and sell some printing equipment.

Pull around to the second window,
DI

bill e. goat said...

Hi Shane,

All I can say is:

WOW !!!

What a ride it's been !!

Who woulda thunk it- all the CRAZY things that have happened during the past 18 months.

As if Eclipse (and Wedge) weren't just plain crazy enough without trying- they FAR EXCEEDED our expectations during the past 18 months!!

(And so did Shane's coverage of events!!)

1) Fresh cash- fresh money- fresh meat for the Critics: RiP arrives on the scene.

2) Wedges tries to sue those responsible for the ruination at Eclipse.

(Unfortunately, like most things, he gets it wrong, and puts his name on the Plantiff line instead of Defendant, and the blog gets sued instead).

3) Wedge fires the most incompetent employee at Eclipse: himself. (Or, something like that).

4) The Congressional inquiry- and the FAA "re-examines" it's bargain with EAC. (The IOU's they got, were about as bankable as the IOU's many depositors got...)

5) DelayJet folds, and Eclipse's order book turns out to be about as empty as Wedge's head. (If you hold it up to your ear- you can hear the ocean. Of red ink).

6) The global financial markets tighten up, RiP's lips tighten up, customers and suppliers hind sides tighten up, employee's paychecks tighten up- and then vanish- as does RiP, EAC, and Etc.

CRAZY !!

It's been an amazing 18 months !!

Thanks to Shane for being our "tour guide" on our "Hitchhike Through the Galaxy" !!
.)

bill e. goat said...

While we were mostly shocked, horrified, stunned, ?"amused"? by events related to EAC during the past 18 months, there were also some astonishing delightful moments as well !!

Wedge was well known for being the purveyor of Koolaid.

(And for being loud, obnoxious, and stupid).

But- when he launched his Vendetta Against the Blog, (e.g., the Blogger Suit), he hadn't-quite- counted on how many people he had already "impressed".

Rich Lucibella, (a.k.a. "Gunner" here), had a few ideas which differed from Wedge- (like, honesty and ethics, amongst many others). What had appeared to be set to be a steam rollin' of this fine blog, turned out a bit differently.

Rich didn't "drink the Koolaid", but rather, poured Wedge a good stiff drink of Gunner Go Juice.

Thanks for the "refreshment" Rich- YOU did exactly what the can says:

"WhoopAss Energy Drink- Revitalizes Attitude & Restores Faith In Mankind"

Thanks from everyone who reads the blog !!

Baron95 said...

Thanks Shane. All the best.

Look forward to hear from you and all at the new blog.

Ex_AEE_Eclipser said...

Shane,

Thank you for keeping me informed on what was going on at my former employer. If it had not been for your diligent efforts to report the facts that the VPs at EAC did their best hide from employees like me.. I wouldn't have left EAC when I did (3 months prior to CH11) and I am 100% certain I would have had a much harder time finding another job (especially since the economy was tanking at the steepest rate right as the 800+ remaining folks were let go).

You didn't convince all of us, but you sure as heck made me put the kool-aid down. I am eternally grateful.

Best wishes

mountainhigh said...

Shane,

Thank you for forging ahead with the blog! Great job. May you now enjoy some peace and quiet. Well deserved.

The Real Frank Castle said...

My thanks to all, especially Gunner. My aviation experiences were complete with this blog and it's insight, info, and general haggling and hammering.

My glass is raised to you all.

The Real Frank Castle said...

Wait.

Except Ken.

Ha! No, to you ALL !

Even you, Doctor.

anonymous avionics engineer said...

Shane:

Thanks from all of us

gadfly said...

Shane and Phil

Reading some of the comments here, and at the next "meeting place", me thinks I detect some confusion "How to get there from here?!"

http://aviationcriticenthusiast.blogspot.com/

And then find the place where it says:

"Posted by Phil Bell at 9:07 PM 29 comments" . . . click on the "29 (or?) comments", and you're at your new home. (Don't click on the "envelope" just yet.)

You'll find all the "same old, same old" characters . . . and before long, you'll think you never left home.

gadfly

Shane Price said...

Gadfly,

That reminds me...

I'll post a link in the appropriate place on the home page here.

Thanks!

Shane

x said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
x said...

Flight activity:
A quick scrape of Flight Aware shows:
In the past 0 - 7 days at least 59 Tail numbers have flown.
8-21 days: 30 additional tails
22-49 days anonther 24
50-100 days 13 tails had their last flight.
More than 100--39 numbers (will include some NAJ, LIN tails converted to "scheduled flight number" and difficult to scrape.

No data is available for 96 tails. The no data craft include:
28 DJS tails, 21 European tails, 28 blocked tails (up several since last scrape), and 6 experimental craft, and 4 invalid numbers.

Counting as the the <49 day craft as airworthy-- the fleet is 113 + a fraction of the blocked craft. + some number of the European craft.

Guestimating that the blocked craft are 75% airworthy and 50% of the European, we have 113+21+10=144 airworthy tails.

The high usage LBQ501 has *not* flown (on record) since landing at BWI at midnight on May 8th.

Crafts last known destination include at least 124 fields. Only a few field have last destination tally above 2:
KPWK 4
KHDC 4
KBCT 4
KMYF 3
KCOS 3

Floating Cloud said...

I have read this blog every day since last Feb after my now X boyfriend who happened to be a major player in the Eclipse saga got laid off from yet another avionics company and then completely lost it and ended our relationship. I did not understand what happened, but all you good folks out there on this blog have helped me. Dear ColdWet, Goat, Shane, Baron, even Fred and really Airsafetyman, Gadfly ... you've all made things much more clear. Thank you.

Like many other companies in the US. BIG EGOS ran this company and there was no substance only deception. No real souls on board, except all those hard workers including some of the people in management who really believed in this thing and the people who loved them.

I will miss all of you and my daily Eclipse soap opera fix.

Floating Cloud

eclipso said...

Shane,
No where to start, really. You have been a master at keeping this going and I DO look forward to buying you a pint..(perhaps in the Fall). The folks here were such GREAT help during the IG preparation.

Black Tulip, thanks for all the input and guidance on that.

Rich, we would have been dead in the water without you.

Gad, well....thanks

Although several of the people I knew in ABQ got shafted, I'm happy to report that seven people there (including my former supervisor) were hired here and are currently on the f16, F22, and F35 programs, which all look bright for an extended future. (kinda like a mini EAC with REAL processes). This has been one heck of a ride and I look forward to seeing everyone at the new house.

eclipso said...

ooops...I forgot

Our lovely Karen...Oh Karen, where have you been...will talk to you soon

Deep Blue said...

Shane: good work on the blog and thanks and appreciation. It was a pleasure to converse with so many smart and creative participants.

As for the E500, I suspect that even if the aircraft were fully 'on-spec' and their management team was as calm and disciplined as the Wright brothers, I still don't think you would have been necessarily pleased with the aircraft.

Even in it's 'perfected' form I doubt the market uptake would have been meaningful, UNLESS the original fly-away price of sub $1MM were sustained; then in that case, its trade-offs might have made sense and indeed many buyers might have emerged.

It is the price (originally $875K), not the aircraft per se, that really caught people's attention back in 2001.

Let's hope that original goal is still pursued; it is a worthy one.

Regards.

FreedomsJamtarts said...

So did the CH 07 Auction actually happen yet?

Or are the owners still waiting for the white horse to come riding over the hills with a huge wad of cash...

Thanks Shane.

Deep Blue said...

May I leave one final thought from:

Stan and Shane, as far as I know, never moved on as consumers to another airplane type.

They never ordered a Cessna, Piper, Cirrus, Embraer, Honda.

Why not?

If all of us were honest, we all loved Eclipse. We all loved the idea of a twin jet that seats 6, for less than million bucks.

Absent that, the Eclipse Critic Blog would have had no traction. A gang of dissapointed jet owners.

Let the dream continue.

Floating Cloud said...

Deep Blue,

You are right. There is nothing (no excitement) without love.

Floating Cloud

Black Tulip said...

"There is nothing (no excitement) without love."

How very true.

Shane Price said...

After 17 months, 87 headline posts, 21,696 comments (excluding this one..) and the opening of our new 'home' at:-

http://aviationcriticenthusiast.blogspot.com/

I've decided to 'preserve' this blog exactly as it stands.

As a result, no further comments will be allowed, on any of the threads.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed, by comments, post or email for the very real impact this blog had. I propose to let it stand as a record of events at Eclipse Aviation Corporation as viewed by us critics.

From a personal perspective, handling the blog for the period which covered the final breakup at EAC was at times a demanding experience.

However, I think it was worthwhile, and I hope that at least some of our detractors would admit it was too.

Slán, agus bennacht De libh go leir.

Shane
'Goodbye, and the blessing of God to you all'