Eclipse Says Federal Certification Coming in Next Few Weeks
Associated Press
Eclipse Aviation expects to win Federal Aviation Administration certification on its very light jet airplane within the next few weeks.
The company had expected certification on the Eclipse 500 in late June, but continued delays by suppliers have pushed the schedule back, company officials said in a news release Sunday.
"Although this is frustrating to the customers that are so eager to receive this aircraft and the Eclipse team members who have been working night and day to avoid this delay, we are very proud that the Eclipse 500 will be the first VLJ to be certified by the FAA,'' said Vern Raburn, president and chief executive of Eclipse.
The twin-engine, six-seat jet aircraft will cost about $1.5 million.
The FAA has estimated that 100 very small jets — also called VSJs, ultra light jets or microjets — will be produced by the end of the year and that in a decade nearly 5,000 such airplanes will be flying, an estimate the FAA says is "relatively conservative.''
Eclipse also released final performance numbers for the plane Saturday — a maximum cruise speed of 370 knots, a stall speed of 69 knots, a useful load of 2,400 pounds, a two-engine climb rate of 3,314 feet per minute and a range of 1,125 nautical miles.
Raburn said the useful load and climb rate figures exceeded the company's original estimates, while speed and range numbers are slightly off the numbers the company predicted in early 2003.
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