The Eclipse 500
A new generation of tiny, cheap jets could bring commuter air travel to the masses—if the planes can ever get off the ground. Vern Raburn, the controversial owner of Eclipse Aviation, wants to lead the way.
Lego-like Production
Raburn says that Eclipse could get a jet from the factory to the runway in four and a half days. The Eclipse production line is like a giant Lego factory, where workers basically snap together the plane's many parts. Conventional aircraft construction takes three months. But so far, Eclipse has needed 30 days because of manufacturing inefficiencies, supplier delays, and ongoing design changes.
The New Hughes
Since forming Eclipse Aviation in 1998, Raburn has raised close to $1 billion in private financing from investors, including Bill Gates, biotech billionaire Alfred Mann, and UBS, the Swiss investment bank. Raburn's acolytes see him as an aviation pioneer equal to Howard Hughes.
Quiet Construction
Though the Eclipse assembly floor hums with activity, the normal hum of industry—hammering and welding—is eerily absent. Taking a cue from PC-maker Dell, Eclipse doesn't manufacture anything: Parts are flown in from 85 suppliers around the world.
Behind Schedule, But a Bargain
The Eclipse 500 is a scant 33.7 feet long and costs $1.5 million, a bargain for a private jet. (The cheapest jet on the market now goes for $2.25 million.) The Eclipse can reach an altitude of 41,000 feet and can fly at 400 m.p.h. for three hours or so. But the jet is three years behind schedule, and it will be several years before the assembly line churns out the three planes a day that Raburn has predicted.
Eclipse Controversy
Raburn's critics—and he has many—say he is a dilettante, a pariah, a Silicon Valley refugee who naively believe airplanes can be snapped together like computers. The year Raburn unveiled his Eclipse, the market for private planes was just climbing out of a depression. No one could understand how Raburn's business model would work.
Unveiling in Albuquerque
On a cloudless morning in August 2002, the first Eclipse 500 taxied onto a runway at Albuquerque's international airport. As the plane bounced down the centerline at 90 m.p.h., its wings gripped the air and, in seconds, Raburn's dream smoothly took flight.
Plans to Go Public
This fall, Florida-based DayJet will introduce the first Eclipse air-taxi service. This July, Eclipse Aviation unveiled its latest design, a four-seat, single-engine model called the Concept Jet. If all goes according to plan, Raburn will go public sometime in the next two years.
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