Eclipse Aviation
A Microsoft veteran with Bill Gates’ backing promised a jet for the price of a piston twin, invented the very light jet, delivered 259 of them and burned through some 700 million dollars of debt.
Eclipse Aviation: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Software money takes flight
Vern Raburn, an early Microsoft employee and former chief executive of Symantec, founded Eclipse Aviation in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1998, with Bill Gates as a major stakeholder. His pitch was a twin-engined jet small and cheap enough to open a new market — the very light jet. Lured by New Mexico state investment and Albuquerque incentives, Eclipse moved there in 2000. The Eclipse 500 first flew on 26 August 2002, but its Williams EJ22 engines proved unsuitable and the switch to Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610Fs cost two years.
A Collier Trophy for a prototype
In 2006 Eclipse won the Collier Trophy for 2005, controversially, as only a prototype was flying. FAA certification came on 27 July 2006 and customer deliveries in January 2007; that year it built 104 aircraft, claiming the fastest first hundred of any business-jet maker. Its biggest customer was the air-taxi start-up DayJet, with some 1,400 orders. In July 2007 it also revealed a secret single-engined four-seater, later offered as the Eclipse 400.
The air taxi that never came
The economics never worked: Eclipse lost money on every jet. Raburn resigned in July 2008 as a condition of new funding, DayJet stopped flying in September, and the tail supplier closed. Production stopped in October 2008 after 259 deliveries, and Eclipse filed for Chapter 11 in November owing 702.6 million dollars. Liquidated under Chapter 7, its assets went in August 2009 to Eclipse Aerospace.
Eclipse Aviation in numbers
החברה
- בקיצור
- Founded 1998
- Founded by ex-Microsoft executive Vern Raburn
- Bill Gates a major stakeholder
- Moved to Albuquerque in 2000; workforce peaked near 1,800
הֲפָקָה
- ידוע בעיקר בזכות
- Eclipse 500
- 259 Eclipse 500s delivered by November 2008
- Eclipse 400 single-engine prototype
הַיוֹם
- עַכשָׁיו
- Liquidated 2009
- Assets bought by Eclipse Aerospace, later One Aviation
המספרים
- Eclipse 500s delivered
- 2592008
- Aircraft built in 2007
- 104
- Debts at bankruptcy
- 702.6 million US dollars2008
- Workforce before August 2008 layoffs
- 1,800
- DayJet orders
- about 1,400
Every notable Eclipse Aviation aircraft
| כְּלִי טַיִס | תַפְקִיד | טיסה ראשונה | בנוי | סטָטוּס | פֶּתֶק |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eclipse 500 | Very light jet | 26 August 2002 | 260 | בְּדִימוּס | FAA certified 27 July 2006; later upgraded as Eclipse 550 by successor |
| Eclipse 400 | Single-engine very light jet | 2 ביולי 2007 | 1 | בְּדִימוּס | Built in secret at NASA Wallops; development halted 2008 |
Where Eclipse Aviation built, who led it, what it achieved
מפעלים
- Albuquerque plant · Albuquerque International Sunport, New Mexico
אֲנָשִׁים
- Vern Raburn · founder and CEO — Resigned July 2008
- Roel Pieper · CEO from 2008
שיאים וראשונות
- Collier Trophy for 2005, awarded February 2006
- Claimed fastest first 100 aircraft of any GA jet maker, 2007
Eclipse Aviation, year by year
Eclipse Aviation founded in Scottsdale
Headquarters moved to Albuquerque
Eclipse 500 first flight
Wins the Collier Trophy
FAA type certificate
First customer delivery
Eclipse Concept Jet revealed at Oshkosh
Vern Raburn resigns
DayJet ceases operations
Chapter 11 filing
Case pushed into Chapter 7 liquidation
Assets sold to Eclipse Aerospace
Everything people ask about Eclipse Aviation
Who founded Eclipse Aviation?
How many Eclipse 500s were built?
Why did Eclipse Aviation fail?
Are Eclipse jets still supported?
Around Eclipse Aviation
כל עובדה, נבדקה
אומת בתאריך 2026-10-03.