Eclipse Aviation has begun construction work on the first building at its dedicated Double Eagle II airport site to the north-west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, while struggling to catch up with its massive delivery backlog of Eclipse 500 very light jets.
The new area is set to grow into Eclipse's campus, eventually incorporating everything from training and administration to full production facilities. Work on building the assembly line is not expected to begin, however, before 2010.
The first unit on the site, adjacent to Albuquerque's Aerospace Technology Park, will be responsible for flight training for new customers, flight support and administration. "It is not a very busy airport, so it will make training easier," says the company, which is now situated at Albuquerque International airport, which shares runways with co-located Kirtland AFB.
Eclipse, meanwhile, remains non-committal over projections for when further VLJ deliveries will resume. The company, which officially handed over the first customer Eclipse 500 to its new owners on 4 January, following an informal event on 31 December, simply says the next aircraft will be handed over "soon".
The company originally targeted 10 deliveries in 2006, but delays in obtaining a Federal Aviation Administration production certificate in early December have required each aircraft to be individually certificated, lengthening the process. Eclipse still expects to receive the certificate from the FAA after an agreed, but undisclosed, number of aircraft. Further flight test work has been hampered by several weeks of heavy snowfall around Albuquerque.
Eclipse now has 54 aircraft in various stages of assembly compared with 37 at the start of the year. More than 10 are now thought to be through final assembly and are being prepared for delivery. Eclipse originally said it would deliver more than 500 aircraft in 2007, although it is not known if this remains achievable.
The new area is set to grow into Eclipse's campus, eventually incorporating everything from training and administration to full production facilities. Work on building the assembly line is not expected to begin, however, before 2010.
The first unit on the site, adjacent to Albuquerque's Aerospace Technology Park, will be responsible for flight training for new customers, flight support and administration. "It is not a very busy airport, so it will make training easier," says the company, which is now situated at Albuquerque International airport, which shares runways with co-located Kirtland AFB.
Eclipse, meanwhile, remains non-committal over projections for when further VLJ deliveries will resume. The company, which officially handed over the first customer Eclipse 500 to its new owners on 4 January, following an informal event on 31 December, simply says the next aircraft will be handed over "soon".
The company originally targeted 10 deliveries in 2006, but delays in obtaining a Federal Aviation Administration production certificate in early December have required each aircraft to be individually certificated, lengthening the process. Eclipse still expects to receive the certificate from the FAA after an agreed, but undisclosed, number of aircraft. Further flight test work has been hampered by several weeks of heavy snowfall around Albuquerque.
Eclipse now has 54 aircraft in various stages of assembly compared with 37 at the start of the year. More than 10 are now thought to be through final assembly and are being prepared for delivery. Eclipse originally said it would deliver more than 500 aircraft in 2007, although it is not known if this remains achievable.
Source: Flight International
