And FAA Signs Off On Avio NG 1.5

It's truly a defining moment for Eclipse Aviation, and one for which the company is rightfully proud... but is it also too little, too late?

On Friday, the Albuquerque, NM-based planemaker announced that, after over a year of promises of imminent certification for the Eclipse 500 jet by the European Aviation Safety Agency... EASA certification has been achieved.

EASA certification is the European equivalent of achieving Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification in the United States, and permits registration of the Eclipse 500 in any of the 27 member countries of the European Union, as well as 10 additional countries that abide by either FAA or EASA guidelines.

"Obtaining EASA certification is one of Eclipse Aviation's greatest accomplishments," said Roel Pieper, Eclipse Aviation CEO. "With the additional FAA approval for Avio NG 1.5, EASA certification enhances Eclipse's capacity to spread the global reach and impact of the Eclipse 500, and we expect many new orders from all over Europe, Russia and Turkey to follow."

There are stipulations to the certification. EASA approval requires all Eclipse 500s operating in EU member nations to be equipped with the Avio NG 1.5 avionics suite, which includes dual Garmin GPS 400W units, as well as such add-ons as a third mechanical attitude indicator, and dual Mode S diversity transponders.

The certification also does not yet allow European operators to use their EU-registered Eclipse 500s in commercial operations... a cornerstone of Eclipse's belief the inaugural VLJ will prove itself in service with European air taxi operators. That will require EU-OPS 1 approval. Eclipse gave no specific timeframe for that approval, saying only it expects to receive that certification "in time to allow many air-taxi services using the Eclipse 500 to be operational in Europe in 2009."

Eclipse also announced Friday full FAA certification for the Avio NG 1.5 avionics suite... which, in addition to being a requirement under EASA, also gives the Eclipse 500 point-to-point RNAV capabilities, and coupled GPS/RNAV lateral navigation (LNAV) capability for the plane's autopilot.

"The inclusion of Garmin units into Avio NG offers state-of-the-art GPS navigation and situational awareness features to Eclipse 500 operators," said Pieper, CEO of Eclipse Aviation. "When coupled with FIKI (Flight Into Known Icing) certification, receiving certification for the upgraded Avio NG suite paved the way to certifying the aircraft for European operations."

Few of the roughly 250 Eclipse 500s now in operation are equipped with Avio NG 1.5 suite. Eclipse has promised owners free upgrades for existing Avio NG planes to the 1.5 standard, as well as for the modifications needed for FIKI compliance. The schedule for those upgrades is now in limbo, however, as the company fights for its very survival.

As ANN reported last week, Eclipse caused a frenzy among its employees when it announced those workers would not be paid for their past two weeks of work.

The company later made good on those paychecks... but only thanks to a last-minute bridge loan, that fell far short of the $200-$300 million in outside funding the company says it needs to remain in business. Eclipse has made no announcement indicating such funding is on the horizon.

FMI: www.eclipseaviation.com