TIME FOR AN ECLIPSE?

Can a former copy machine repairman who happens to be friends with Bill Gates reinvigorate the general aviation industry by adopting the low-cost, mass production model used for personal computers? The world is about to find out.

Not long ago, it appeared the answer was a resounding "no." Eclipse Aviation founder Vern Raburn gathered his team on a dismal Saturday morning in November 2002 to figure out whether the company had a future. Raburn, a pioneer in the personal computer revolution, was aiming to develop a six-seat jet that would sell for less than $1 million, bringing jet ownership within reach of thousands of new customers. But his penchant for risk had put Eclipse in big trouble.

The Albuquerque company, with funding support from NASA, had bet big on the development of an advanced, radically cheaper turbine engine. The technology wasn't panning out in time, however, and there was no Plan B. Investors, lured by Raburn's earlier successes at Microsoft, Lotus and Symantec, were running out of patience. Eclipse had two options: stick with the balky engine and pray for a miracle, or delay launch of the aircraft by several years and try to hang on while it found a new engine.

"I said, 'We're in an airplane that's on fire, it's going down; we know we're going to crash and die,'" recalls Raburn. "Or, we can jump out and hope we find a parachute on the way down. And that's what we did."

On May 15, Raburn will gather his team in Washington for a decidedly more upbeat meeting. Eclipse will be honored for pioneering the new very-light jet (VLJ) industry with the Collier Trophy, the prestigious aerospace award that has been bestowed on the likes of Orville Wright, Howard Hughes, Chuck Yeager and John Glenn.

And, barring any last-minute technical problems, the Eclipse 500 aircraft, now equipped with two 900-lb.-thrust Pratt & Whitney Canada 610F engines, will receive FAA certification in June, a timetable the agency does not dispute. That will clear the way for the first deliveries of more than 2,400 aircraft orders Eclipse has received.

It's a compelling story of survival against the odds, but one piece still must fall into place. Eclipse has to prove it can make money.

The 600-employee company has raised $475 million, much of it through tech industry titans such as entrepreneur physicist Alfred E. Mann and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the venture's two largest backers. By Raburn's calculations, it needs to sell 500 of the jets each year just to break even. Raburn expects the company's assembly facilities on the grounds of Albuquerque International Airport to be producing two jets a day by the end of the year and four a day by the end of 2007. That's 1,000 a year, based on a five-day workweek.

It's a pretty ambitious plan, considering that all of the world's business aircraft producers combined made about 750 deliveries in 2005 (AW&ST Nov. 7, 2005, p. 43).