== Chromed stowpipe == 

 Is it necessary to have a tailpipe to be a VLJ? Seeing that most such planes fly 6xx to 7xx km/h speeds maximum, a prop-jet could have nearly the same speed and better fuel economy. I mean something like the six-seater executive version of the Pilatus PC-12 with an 1600shp engine instead of the current 1200hp powerplant and 5-blade airscrew could fly maybe ~600km/h and with just a few dozen kilos of weight reduction, it could fit the 10k lbs limit. It would have huge range advatage over pure jet VLJs.