Eclipse Aerospace a step away from Eclipse Aviation’s assets

Eclipse Aerospace, founded by two Eclipse aircraft owners, is likely to finalise a $40 million deal to buy the assets of the now-defunct Eclipse Aviation. This is becoming clear with a trustee in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings for Eclipse Aviation asking the bankruptcy court to approve the sale of the former very light jet manufacturer's assets essentially ''free and clear of liens, claims, encumbrances and other interests pursuant to the Agreement [with Eclipse Aerospace].''

The trustee made his recommendation late last week.

Eclipse Aerospace is headed by president Mason Holland, an Eclipse 500 deposit-holder, and Mike Press, owner of Eclipse 500 S/N 004 and president and CEO of Single Pilot Jet Management. Mason signed the asset purchase agreement on 31 July.

Eclipse Aerospace's goals include resuming parts supplies, offering modifications at Eclipse headquarters in Albuquerque and at a new service centre in Chicago, launching a refurbishment and resale programme for used Eclipse 500s and continuing ''our study on the viability of restoring production of the EA-500.''

Another group, the Eclipse Owners Group, had also planned to bid on the Eclipse assets but refrained realising that a bidding contest would be counterproductive. It will now return funds to members and dissolve once Eclipse Aerospace has successfully concluded the purchase.

Meanwhile, any re-start of the company is increasingly looking distant with Eclipse Aviation's key engineers, technicians and software experts continuing to leave the firm. Their exodus, experts point out, is making it increasingly unlikely that there will be sufficient technical support needed to maintain and upgrade the current fleet of 259 aircraft, let alone commence new aircraft production.