Eclipse Aviation
"(Creating) affordable jet aircraft that will revolutionize the transportation market."
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|
| Private | |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Fate | Chapter 7 bankruptcy |
| Successor | Eclipse Aerospace |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Albuquerque, New Mexico, US |
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Key people
|
Vern Raburn, Founder & CEO Roel Pieper, CEO from 2008 |
| Products |
Eclipse 500 - production halted November 2008 Eclipse 400 - development ceased October 2008 |
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Number of employees
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850 (February 2009) |
| Website | www.eclipseaviation.com (archives) |
Eclipse Aviation Corporation was the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based manufacturer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ) and also at one time proposed developing the Eclipse 400 single-engined jet.
The company was founded in 1998 by former Microsoft employee and Symantec CEO, Vern Raburn. Due to Raburn's relationship with Microsoft, Bill Gates was a major stake-holder in the Eclipse project.
Production of the Eclipse 500 was halted in mid-2008 due to lack of funding. The company entered an unsuccessful Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2008, which was converted into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation procedure in February 2009. In the final Chapter 7 procedure, completed on August 20, 2009, there was only one bidder, a new company formed to acquire the assets, Eclipse Aerospace.
Eclipse operated service centers at Albuquerque, Gainesville Regional Airport, Florida and at Albany International Airport, New York.
Eclipse Aviation was founded by Vern Raburn in 1998 in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the company started to design the twin-engined Eclipse 500 very light jet. Due to investments by the State of New Mexico and incentives and concessions from the City of Albuquerque, the company decided to set up its production facilities there and moved its headquarters in 2000. Construction of the first prototype started in 2001 and it first flew on August 26, 2002. Originally powered by two Williams International EJ22 turbofans these were found to be unsuitable and the aircraft was redesigned to accommodate a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F-A turbofans. The engine change caused a delay in the programme and the PW610F-equipped prototype first flew in 2004. The aircraft was FAA certified on July 27, 2006 and the first customer aircraft was delivered in January 2007. European Aviation Safety Agency certification for private use was achieved on November 21, 2008.
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Wikipedia