Eclipse Aviation
Defunct American aerospace manufacturer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Eclipse Aviation Corporation was the Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States-based manufacturer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ), and also at one time proposed developing the Eclipse 400 single-engined jet.
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Aerospace |
Founded | 1998; in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States |
Founder | Vern Raburn |
Defunct | 2009 |
Fate | Chapter 7 bankruptcy |
Successor | Eclipse Aerospace |
Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Roel Pieper (CEO from 2008)[1] Vern Raburn (CEO from 1998–2008) |
Products | Very light jets |
Number of employees | 850 (February 2009)[2] |
Website | Archives |
The company was founded in 1998 by early Microsoft employee and former Symantec CEO Vern Raburn. Due to Raburn's relationship with Microsoft, Bill Gates was a major stakeholder in the Eclipse project.[3][4][5] The company was known for helping usher in a new category of VLJs when the Eclipse 500 was first delivered in late 2006.[6]
In October 2008, production of the Eclipse 500 was halted 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.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
Eclipse operated service centers at Albuquerque International Sunport, Gainesville Regional Airport in Florida, and Albany International Airport in New York.[14]