Private Aircraft Price

"30 years ago there were more interested in the fun of flying," says Scott Fank, VP of Operations at the JA Air Center in Illinois, which in addition to offering aircraft servicing and repair, also offers private aircraft. They' re looking at private air transport. "Purchasing an airplane is in fact purchasing a timemachine that allows you to speed up your travels at home or abroad by a few extra miles or turn a four-hour stop-and-go trip into a 20-minute stop.

That' s why, even when corporations like NetJets and Wheels Up try to persuade flyers to buy fractions of aircraft, the one hundred percent private aircraft is still a usable one. But for many flyers, the Cessna Skycatcher is not the aircraft you buy, but the one that will teach you how to soar. Monopiston Motor is a favorite coach with Garmin entry level electronics - most instruments are shown on two screens - and just enough room for a pupil and a cautious teacher.

The Skycatcher is the least expensive (or nearby) lightweight sports aircraft (LSA) on the open skies, part of a relatively new category of small aircraft that make General aviation more accessible than ever. It' all right if a glider that looks and works like a G.I. Joe car comes to live.

The Icon A5 is not a plaything, but its indisputably refined styling with collapsible wing, sea land ability and singular styling - the individual motor is fitted behind the two-seater, car-free canopy. Cessna TTx is the air-assisted counterpart of a powerful luxurious saloon with the highest cruising speeds of any mono-engined twin cylinder - 235 kn or about 270 km/h - and four seats.

Beechcraft has also continued to develop it, so while it's still a highly reliable six-seat worhorse, the latest version includes a more visible windshield and the kind of touch-screen-centric gaming electronics that JA Air's Scott Fank says is the greatest attraction (of the small aircraft features) for newcomers, who've probably never piloted with older, pure analogue instruments before.

Cirrus will be able to complete a flying certificate scheme next year and remain on course for the first shipments in 2015. Anyone, even those of us without nearly $2 million here, can cheer for this aircraft with its individual top-mounted powerplant and V-wing styling.

There would also be a separate class, the so-called personnel jet, with enough momentum (300 knots) to please achievement fans and enough seats for the whole familiy (up to five adult and two children). The Eclipse 550 is your first option for personnel jets until the vision comes to life.

We are more interested in the 375 kn (430 mph) and 41,000 ft travel speeds that will take you from Memphis to Miami in less than three hour while you travel over most of the city' s main airline routes. The Pilatus PC-12 NG is an all-rounder with a pressurised cab, multiple interiors that can accommodate up to nine seats, and a unique 280 knot engine (compared to the 186 knot caravan).

Again, auto previews can be deceptive, but this is the quickest, hardest and most mean mini van you'll ever use. Two-turbo fans who can reach 390 knots in speed, a fully closed toilet, a large (class-leading) BMW cab with a built-in closet for barrier-free access and seats for up to eight people - two front crews and four front passenger sedans are common.

Embraer Phantom 100 is a sample of the latest Very Light Jet (VLJ) class, which connects the worlds of turbo-props and larger, more traditionally sized aircraft. There is no more fuel-efficient way to get 10 passengers to their destinations than with the Beechcraft King Air 350i twinturboprop aircraft.

350i has other advantages, such as a ridiculously powerful cell and undercarriage, making it one of the few aircraft that can take off with both full occupant and full propellant loads (for extreme ranges) at practically any temperatures and on airstrips that are too brief for similar turbo-props or aircraft.

Companies are choosing King Airs in the name of economy, but private purchasers are more interested in bringing whole families to faraway countries. The Learjet was formerly the Xerox of private flying, its name is tantamount to the whole concept of airworthiness. In addition to being lighter than the one it replaces (around 200 pounds), the new eight-seater will be one of the first aircraft to incorporate Garmin's latest dashboard design - the top-of-the-line G5000 with its 14 and 5 positions.

Dassault Falcon 7X is not the largest, quickest or most expensive plane a multibillionaire can buy. It' s by far the coolest: its threefold engine makes it one of only two trijets in the sky (Dassault does the other as well), and it's enormous, with a standing cab and bath and seats for up to 16 people.

However, the runway velocity of the 74X is low at 104 kn, so it settles on take-off and runway areas that are normally much too small for wide-body aircraft. For example, no other aircraft in its category can touch down at London City Airport. Gulfstream Motorsport latest model is a bang - it is the largest, quickest and most distant private aircraft there is.

Aircrew also receive the largest windshield, the best outside space ship electronics and sheepskin-covered seating.