1:52 pm: Eclipse Aviation sells its first airplane
By TIM KORTE | Associated Press
January 4, 2007
freenewmexican.com
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Eclipse Aviation delivered its first customer aircraft Thursday, the biggest milestone after a bumpy year in which the 9-year-old manufacturer endured a lengthy federal certification process.
Eclipse president Vern Raburn handed keys _ yes, this airplane starts like a car _ to the first customer-ordered Eclipse 500 to Jet-Alliance chairman Randall Sanada and David Crowe, an owner-pilot who purchased a share of the aircraft.
"This aircraft represents the end of the development era for Eclipse," Raburn said during a ceremony inside an Eclipse hangar. "We are now a company. We have a transaction. We give Dave an invoice and Dave gives us money."
Eclipse employees applauded during the handover, staged in front of the showroom-shiny white aircraft, trimmed in burgundy and blue with a tan leather interior. Crowe kissed the keys after taking them from Raburn.
"Ain't she a beaut?" Sanada said.
Eclipse is among several manufacturers who are producing the new planes, known as microjets or very light jets. With two jets engines and a seating capacity for five or six people, they'll cost half as much as the most inexpensive business jets.
Raburn said the price for Jet-Alliance's aircraft was $995,000, which included $82,000 in options. The shared-jet ownership cooperative, based in Westlake Village, Calif., was one of Eclipse's original customers _ hence, the sales price.
The Eclipse 500, dubbed the SUV of the skies, currently lists at $1.5 million.
Eclipse last year received Federal Aviation Administration certification for its test fleet, and the airplane delivered to Jet-Alliance was certified by the FAA on Sunday. Eclipse said that because of the certification, it met its goal of delivering its first plane by the end of 2006.
There currently are 39 planes on the production line at the Albuquerque manufacturing facility, with five ready for customer delivery after the FAA certifies each individual aircraft, Eclipse officials said.
Sanada predicted the Eclipse 500 will change the way people travel, making it more affordable for small businesses or private owners to have aircraft and for air-taxi services to ferry passengers.
The airplanes can land on shorter runways, making travel between smaller airports feasible and improving convenience.
"Before today, only the wealthiest of families and the largest of companies could seriously consider the idea of private jet ownership," Sanada said. "With the delivery of this first Eclipse 500 and the affordable shared ownership model of Jet-Alliance, owners can participate for less than $100,000."
Crowe already has flown the airplane and called it the easiest one he ever piloted. He praised its stability during flight and higher flight ceiling compared with piston-driven or turboprop private airplanes.
He also loves the side-stick control, similar to a joystick on a military fighter jet or a television game console. Crowe said it gives the pilot a better sight line to avionics gauges, which are partially obscured on yoke-controlled airplanes.
"There's no interference for the panel," Crowe said. "It's more logical for the pilot. You get what you need right in front of you."
Crowe, who lives in Carlsbad, Calif., said that because he plans to fly 150 to 200 hours each year, the Jet-Alliance buy-in a better option for him than purchasing an aircraft outright. Of course, he's excited to play with his new toy.
"The fleet age of private aviation is ancient and the industry was due for an update," Crowe said. "Now you can get an iPod instead of carrying your boom box around."
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