ANN REALTIME UPDATE 07.27.06 1445
EDT: We have more information on this afternoon's awarding of a
provisional type certificate by the FAA to the Eclipse
500.
FAA certification was officially granted to the Eclipse 500 at a
ceremony at AirVenture 2006 Thursday. The provisional type
certificate was presented to Vern Raburn, president and CEO of
Eclipse Aviation, by FAA Administrator Marion Blakey.
The company expects to receive the full type certification for
the Eclipse 500 by August 30, that will full allow day/night,
Visual Flight Rules (VFR)/Instrument Flight Rules (IFR),
single-pilot and Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums (RVSM)
operations throughout the complete operating envelope, and enable
the company to start delivering Eclipse 500s to customers.
"We have looked forward to this monumental accomplishment since
Eclipse was founded nearly eight years ago," said Vern Raburn,
president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation. "I am incredibly grateful
for the tireless efforts of the combined Eclipse-FAA team that
guided us to this critical moment in our company’s history.
As we celebrate today, we also know that certification is not our
destination; the most important measure of our success will be our
ability to continue to deliver unprecedented performance,
reliability, technology, training and service innovations to our
customers for years to come."
One area the certification does NOT cover, at this time, is
operation into known-incing conditions... and Raburn stated that
avionics integration issues, in part, are one reason behind the
"provisional" stipulation to the Type-Certificate.
ANN is on the scene with Eclipse... and will have A LOT more
information on this breaking story shortly. Stay tuned!
PREVIOUS REPORT
ANN REALTIME REPORTING 07.27.06 1315 EDT: It's official! The
very first VLJ to receive FAA certification is the Eclipse 500...
as was announced moments ago at AirVenture 2006.
ANN is on the scene, and will be bringing you more details
shortly on this BIG news for both Eclipse Aviation, as well as the
emerging very-light-jet segment. Stay tuned!
ORIGINAL REPORT
The anticipation grows
as evidence suggests that Eclipse Aviation will, indeed, earn a
Type Certificate that may be presented during a news event, today,
at the Eclipse display at AirVenture 2006.
Giving credence to such speculation is the recent revelation
that Acting U.S. Transportation Secretary Cino will show up to
"make an announcement" regarding the Eclipse 500 Aircraft at
AirVenture at 12:55 p.m. CDT.
According to the DOT, "On Thursday, July 27 at 12:55 p.m. CDT,
Maria Cino, Acting U.S. Secretary of Transportation, will travel to
Oshkosh, WI to make an announcement regarding Eclipse
Aviation’s Eclipse 500 aircraft. Cino will be joined by
Federal Aviation Administrator Marion Blakey, Experimental Aircraft
Association (EAA) President Tom Poberezny, and Eclipse Aviation CEO
Vern Raburn. The announcement will occur at the end of Eclipse
Aviation’s noon news conference and will be followed by a
brief tour of the Eclipse 500 aircraft. Following the tour
Cino, Blakey, Poberezny and Raburn will hold a public announcement
with over 200 Eclipse Aviation employees."
If that doesn't sound like good news and a probable TC for
Eclipse, we don't know what does... but no matter the reason, you
can count on ANN to be there to give you the news as it happens.
More info to follow....
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