Delays in avionics modifications led the Eclipse 500 to miss the opening day of the Dubai Air Show. “We expect the airplane to arrive this evening,” director of product marketing Matt Brown said on Sunday morning. “We knew it was a pretty significant risk that we would not have an airplane here.”
Until the Avio NG integrated cockpit is certified and installed or retrofit, the Eclipse fleet’s Avio avionics do not permit transatlantic flights. “We had to add Basic Area Navigation functions to get across the Atlantic,” Brown says. Modifying the Eclipse type certificate for the trip required FAA approval, granted three days ago. “Once that approval was granted we were able to blast out of Albuquerque,” he explains, and the very light jet flew through Northern Canada to Italy.
It left Italy on Sunday morning with no specific arrival time for Dubai. “That's hard to tell because it’s hard getting a landing slot in Dubai and getting fuel service at our stopover,” he says.
Despite the vacancy at the static display, Brown says the Eclipse team continued with sales meetings. “We feel we can gleam a lot of feedback from potential customers and develop our market position,” he says.
Until the Avio NG integrated cockpit is certified and installed or retrofit, the Eclipse fleet’s Avio avionics do not permit transatlantic flights. “We had to add Basic Area Navigation functions to get across the Atlantic,” Brown says. Modifying the Eclipse type certificate for the trip required FAA approval, granted three days ago. “Once that approval was granted we were able to blast out of Albuquerque,” he explains, and the very light jet flew through Northern Canada to Italy.
It left Italy on Sunday morning with no specific arrival time for Dubai. “That's hard to tell because it’s hard getting a landing slot in Dubai and getting fuel service at our stopover,” he says.
Despite the vacancy at the static display, Brown says the Eclipse team continued with sales meetings. “We feel we can gleam a lot of feedback from potential customers and develop our market position,” he says.
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Source: Flight Daily News
