Eclipse Aviation leaked this week that they have plans to build another aircraft beyond Eclipse 500 very light jet.

The new product will have to be “as much of a marketplace revolution as the -500, or it would not fit the Eclipse model”, explains the company’s vice-president marketing and sales Michael McConnell.

He says candidly: “All I can tell you is that the new airplane will either be bigger or smaller than the Eclipse 500. We want to build other airplanes. We have done a lot of talking; we have a lot of plans, a lot of people and have spent some time on it, but not a lot of time.”

“We have to prove we can deliver the Eclipse 500 in the way we told the world five years ago we would deliver it. The markets today are exciting. In some ways Eclipse will take the credit for creating this VLJ market when, in 2000, people said there is no market for it. Now other companies have decided this is a good idea. We think we have a competitive advantage over them in many regards. So the market is crowded.”

McConnell concludes: “Slogging your way through a bunch of other manufacturers trying to sell a $2 million-3 million jet, that’s not the Eclipse model. The Eclipse model is go find an area where you have a massive, massive competitive advantage, both in product, and in price, which means value; you get more for less. If we can find markets where we believe we can deliver an unbelievable value proposition, then we’ll go into those markets.”

AirTaxiFlights.com will continue to monitor this development and bring you the latest right here on AirTaxiFlights.com Blog.

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Piper Aircraft has announced this week they now have 180 orders for its $2.2 million very light Williams FJ44-powered PiperJet.

The company has noted that in addition to private owners, they are not ruling out selling to the air taxi market. Piper has built its first prototype of the all-aluminum aircraft, which they displayed for employees a week earlier.

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According to people who work closely with Adams Aircraft, insiders have said Adams expects to receive FAA certification for the A700 very light jet in the or second quarter of 2008.  Adams Aircraft is now one year behind schedule on their VLJ program. 

Adams is obviously having some growing pains.  And they have not issued a press release updating customers on A700 progress in months.  Exactly what is holding up production is anyone’s guess at this point.

Lets hope they can improve communications with their customers over the next year. 

This delay is affecting companies such as FlyPogo which has publically announced they are placing orders for the Eclipse Jet instead of the Adams A700.

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The Environmental Protection Agency awarded Eclipse Aviation this week with the 2007 Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award for the development of the PhostrEx Fire Suppression System.

PhostrEx is a new fire supression system designed to eliminate fires and halon.  The new fire suppression technology works better, faster, cheaper, and is greener than Halon.  It is already approved by the EPA and has passed all FAA certification fire tests to date in the Eclipse jet.  This revolutionary fire suppression system is called the PhostrEx agent, and it will debut aboard the Eclipse jet.

“PhostrEx will transform how our industry protects against engine fires while simultaneously guarding against the depletion of the ozone. We appreciate the EPA’s recognition of this significant advancement,” said Eclipse Aviation CEO Vern Raburn. “Protecting our environment is a major focus at Eclipse, as evidenced by our development of PhostrEx, and our commitment to design and manufacture an aircraft that delivers breakthrough fuel economy with unmatched low noise and emissions.”

Click here to learn more about PhostrEx.

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