Yesterday FAA's Ft. Worth Aircraft Certification Office transferred the Eclipse 500 type certificate to Eclipse Aerospace LLC, the firm that bought the assets and intellectual property of insolvent Eclipse Aviation in August 2009, a source close to the company said. The event comes three years to the day when FAA originally issued the TC to Eclipse Aviation. The same source expects the European Aviation Safety Agency to reissue the European EA 500 TC to Eclipse Aerospace LLC today. Both approvals are key to the firm's resuming new aircraft production deliveries.

But, new production won't begin for at least one to two years because of the need to support the existing fleet while building its financial reserves. In the interim, Eclipse Aerospace expects to start offering Avio NG 1.5 and Flight Into Known Icing upgrades in the next few weeks for 154 aircraft equipped with Avio NG. Eclipse Aerospace also gained title to all 28 Eclipse jets formerly operated by DayJet, providing it with used aircraft it can upgrade and sell off to generate operating cash. Eclipse Aerospace also intends to sell off its Albuquerque-Double Eagle II training center to raise money.

However, Eclipse Aerospace has yet to find a full-time general manager to run its main Albuquerque plant, so it is depending upon a loosely run team of specialists to handle various parts of the business. Until a full-time GM takes command in Albuquerque, it will be difficult for the new firm to coordinate all of its activities efficiently, a former Eclipse Aviation employee tells AWIN.

Photo Credit: Eclipse Aviation