Eclipse Aerospace Begins Mods on E-500s

By: Matt Thurber

October 8, 2009
Maintenance and Modifications, Aircraft

Eclipse Aerospace, the new owner of the assets of Eclipse Aviation, has wasted no time consolidating facilities, organizing inventory and modifying Eclipse E-500 very light jets with flight-into-known-icing (FIKI) systems and avionics upgrades. On September 30, the FAA and EASA formally reinstated the E-500’s U.S. and European type certificates to Eclipse Aerospace.

Suppliers of E-500 components have been invited to a supplier summit at Eclipse Aerospace’s Albuquerque, N.M. headquarters on October 27. Not all suppliers plan to keep making E-500 parts, according to Eclipse Aerospace, “and our team is in the process of qualifying new sources for these parts.

Eclipse Aerospace’s Chicago service center will begin FIKI and AvioNG 1.5 upgrades on four E-500s this month. Price of the combined mod package is $149,000 for E-500s equipped with the correct de-icing boots and AvioNG avionics.

The FIKI package will not be offered as a separate mod but must be done with AvioNG 1.5, which includes flight plan display on the MFD, Waas on the PFD, coupled autopilot with roll steering, improved autopilot engagement in turbulence and Stormscope functionality. Eclipse Aerospace is studying additional AvioNG 1.5 capabilities that it hopes to offer, including autothrottle, FMS, moving map and XM weather. 

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