Aero-TV Jets Into The 2008 Eclipse E-rrival

Fast Company, Fast Jets, Fast Friends The 2008 E-rrival just finished a couple of days ago... but its influence will be felt throughout 'jet-dom' for quite the while. This annual gathering of pilots and owners of the Eclipse 500 pocket-rocket VLJ occurs once a year or so for the community to talk shop, learn the latest news and enjoy the comradery of like minded flyers... but this year was different. Unlike previous years, Eclipse was finally in serious production, as aircraft number 200 saw daylight during this year's festivities. The little dream jet that so many had hoped for, for so long, and through so many travails, was finally a reality... though nonetheless, still, a work in progress. The Eclipse Aviation Customer E-rrival was an exciting weekend -- featuring an address from Eclipse President and CEO Vern Raburn, information sessions about owning, operating, and maintaining the Eclipse 500, a hysterical luncheon speech from Rod Machado, tours of the Eclipse facilities, simulator flights; a golf event, reception and banquet; and family outings to New Mexico attractions. This E-rrival also marked the company's its 10-year anniversary as some 300 customers and guests touched down in Albuquerque for the three-day event, some of them actually arriving in their own Eclipse 500 jets. The event served as the opportunity to headline some major news from Eclipse. Raburn told ANN that he was "thrilled" to have the opportunity to introduce a new aircraft to the Eclipse Aviation family – the Eclipse 400 single-engine jet. This is a production version of the Eclipse Concept Jet (ECJ), which was first revealed at EAA AirVenture 2007 and profiled exclusively by Aero-TV. Previous Eclipse customers were the first allowed to place deposits on the 1.35 million dollar Eclipse 400. Public deposits will be accepted starting at EAA AirVenture 2008. With good news came some not so good news... Eclipse raised the price of the Eclipse 500 to $2,150,000. Raburn noted that the increase became necessary ...