Many promises have been made for business aircraft, but not all have succeeded. Here is our list of the most memorable flops - although for some, their time may yet come...

 

Visionaire-vantage Airliners
 VisionAire Vantage

The Vantage could have ignited the very light jet revolution five years before the Eclispe 500. It was not successful and VisionAire was delcared bankrupt in 2003 after spending $110 million.

JETCRUZER 
 AASI Jetcruzer 500

Advanced Aerodynamics & Structures (AASI) launched the Jetcruzer 500 in 1995, but noise, weight and cost problems were never overcome and the programme was abandoned after 2002.

Adam-A500 
 Adam Aircraft A500 and A700

Adam Aircraft's vision may not be dead, but its struggles are legendary. A Russian attempt to rescue the A500 turboprop and A700 twinjet failed, but the torch is now with Triton Aerospace.

ATGCPJavelin 
 ATG Javelin

ATG Suspended work on the Javelin two-seat private jet after failing to raise $200 million with help from Citigroup for the certification effort.

 LearFan100
 Learavia/Lear Fan 2100

The Lear Fan was almost the first all compostite business aircraft. It never cleared certification and failed after years of effort and $57 miillion spent by the UK Government to build it in Belfast.

SwearingenSj30 prototype 
 Swearingen SJ30-2

The six-seat SJ30 could have been the fastest and most long-range light jet, but never overcame a record of flight test and production glitches that have accumulated over the past decade.

SPn D-CSPN vr 
 Grob SPN

The bankruptcy of parent company Grob Aeropsace and the fatal crash of a prototype have all but doomed the G180 SPn. Only four of the seven-seat, all-composite twin jets have been built.

AerionSSJ 
Aerion SSJ 
The dream is still alive, but like every supersonic trasport concept not named Concorde, the goal of securing, financing or finalising design, seems a long way off.

Source: Flight International