Eclipse on Track to Deliver First Eclipse 550 VLJ The first Eclipse 550 VLJ is on stream for delivery this year. The engines have been started successfully on the aircraft and well they expect to paint and fit out the interior of the aircraft sometime in the next two months or so with an eye of delivery in the third quarter of the year. Following then if everything goes to plan, you culd see 10 to 12 of these 550 VLJs being delivered by the end of 2013. ***
Eclipse Aerospace, Inc. (EAI) announced today at the Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In and Expo that the company has opened the doors of its Albuquerque, New Mexico production facility to the public for tours. The Eclipse facility tour offers a unique opportunity to see the Eclipse 550 jets during the assembly process, from the first Friction Stir Weld to final paint striping.
Aeris Aviation, Eclipse Aerospace's sole European distributor, is planning to launch a shared ownership scheme in the third quarter to further stimulate the market for the EA500 series of very light jets across the region.
The Eclipse 550 production line has been completely re-engineered after a three-year “clean sheet” review of all production processes. EAI is confident that it has fully incorporated best practices, placing EAI’s production line among the most modern and efficient in the aviation industry. “Eclipse Aerospace is extremely proud of our modern, state of the art production facility and invites interested parties to Albuquerque to view our progress,” said Mason Holland, Eclipse Aerospace CEO. “Visitors will observe EA550 jets being built for our worldwide base of customers and will be guided along the production process from the initiation of production through final aircraft airworthiness certification.”
Four years after reviving the brand and production system, Eclipse Aerospace celebrated the formal delivery of the first EA550 VLJ to a customer at the on-going NBAA in Las Vegas.
Eclipse Aviation has received a double STC from FAA for the autothrottle and anti-skid brake (ASB) systems for the Eclipse 550.
Language in the recently approved Senate Armed Services Committee markup of the fiscal 2015 defense spending bill is giving new hope to nascent business jet manufacturer Eclipse Aerospace in its bid to replace the Air Force’s Raytheon T-1A Jayhawk trainer with new or leased Eclipse 550s very light jets.
Eclipse Aerospace, Inc. (EAI) has expanded its international service center network for Eclipse 500™ and Eclipse 550™ twin-engine jets, adding General Enterprises as its second European Gold Service Center. General Enterprises will provide maintenance, inspections, parts and warranty support, as well as AOG services for Eclipse aircraft.
Some interesting new out of Eclipse Aviation Eclipse Aerospace and Kestrel Aircraft announced that they have merged and thus formed a company called One Aviation Corp. It is expected that the new company will be headed up by Cirrus Aircraft co-founder Alan Klapmeier. One Aviation’s core products include the Eclipse 550 very light jet and Kestrel K350 turboprop single engine.
One AVIATION, the parent company of Eclipse Aviation of Kestrel Aircraft is pushing for European certification for the Eclipse EA550. It is imperative for this to happen in order to step up sales of the top-of-the-line light jet for Eclipse. Interestingly the aircraft's predecessor, the EA500 already EASA certification. This is definitely a hard push by the new head of One AVIATION, Alan Klapmeier
As many of you know One AVIATION is pretty much no more and has been out of business for a while trying to reorganize after filing for bankruptcy. That hasn't happened and now the court has turned it over to liquidation. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher S. Sontchi on Thursday issued the liquidation. "I've lost confidence in management," Sontchi said in converting One Aviation's reorganization effort, which began in October 2018, to Chapter 7 liquidation. "We need an independent fiduciary to come into this case and have a look at it…we need to stop the music here."