Investors in Raburn's 'Technological Transformation' Find Much To Celebrate

The last time that the Eclipse folks gathered together en masse, builders and buyers, the future did not look all that promising. The Williams powerplant mess was in full swing, there were dozens of technological and regulatory hurdles ahead of them, and the overall industry outlook--especially in bizjet terms... kinda, well, sucked.

That was then... this is now. At the recently concluded Eclipse Owner's conference, the atmosphere could not have been more different. Just weeks away from a first flight for the re-engined (and pretty much production modeled) Eclipse 500, over 300 future jet flyers got together for what can only be called a pep rally... with no lack of pep. Mind you, this was a serious conference... chock full of stats, info, reports and announcements... but the buoyant atmosphere and sense of cheerful expectation was impossible to quash (or even deny). And Eclipse's Vern Raburn was plainly loving every minute of it.

It was a full day, starting at 0630 and quitting well after dinner time. It was an honest meeting... sometimes brutally so... not only in Vern's initial recitation of many of the negative pronouncements made about the Eclipse program (and how they were NOT coming to pass), but in the unlimited access attendees had, not only to him, but to critical staff members throughout the day. Nothing was off the record, no questions were off-limits and virtually every nook and cranny of the Eclipse plant was on display... as well as the development aircraft, equipment, fixtures, facilities and staffers. It was a pretty neat day if you were interested in the Eclipse program... but it was a delight to the hundreds, in attendance, who had bet serious money that "Vern's Pipedream" was anything BUT a future nightmare.

After an hour of registration and breakfast, the Eclipse gathering got down to business quickly. It wasn't quite 0800, but there wasn't a dreary eye in the house. It was payoff time and Vern was about to deliver more of the goods. There have been two big (remaining) questions to the program, as it gets ready to get back to flight test and enter the home stretch to certification (a program that is well underway despite the respite in flight testing necessitated b the engine change from Williams to P&W nearly two years ago). Those questions have revolved around training and insurance... and Raburn's crew had some solid answers.

The rumor mill has not been kind to Eclipse on these subjects (mind you, this is after other rumors on other topics came, went and were ultimately found to be full of hot-air), and the expectation was heavy. A number of industry pundits predicted excessive restrictions (in both training, licensing and insurance realms) for future Eclipse flyers and insurance rates that would take much economy out of the bird. Vern's announcements, overseen by AIG Aviation's William Lovett and Jim Anderson, as well as Willis Global Aviation's Joe Braunstein, seem to have quelled much of those concerns. In partnership with AIG Aviation, Raburn noted that ANY pilot that completes the Eclipse 500 factory training program will be insured... no matter their experience level. Even more intriguing, insurance broker Willis Global Aviation provided preliminary rate projections for the Eclipse 500 owner pilot market. Premium and coverage estimates were published and disclosed publicly for a number of owner scenarios, with excellent liability protection and no sub-limits (as previously noted in ANN, earlier in the month).

The insurance briefing emphasized a number of pretty lofty criteria... that TRAINING and HOURS were to serve as the determinant in the insurance process, there would be no "new aircraft" penalty or premium (oft seen when a new bird hits the market), and that higher liability limits were to be made available for those in need.

Rate Estimates (according to Willis Global Aviation)

Note: Please note that future market conditions in 2006 as well as an individual's actual pilot experience and qualifications will affect future hull and liability quotations.

Below are three scenarios, representing pilots with varying experience levels. 

• MINIMAL EXPERIENCE PILOT SCENARIO
  (APPROXIMATELY 500 HOURS TOTAL TIME AT POLICY INCEPTION)
• • Pilot enters Eclipse training program with private pilot certificate, instrument rating (limited actual instrument time), and multi-engine rating (limited multi time).
  • Pilot must successfully complete Eclipse pilot skills evaluation (oral and written exam, including evaluation flight) supplemental training as indicated by pilot skills evaluation; Eclipse 5-part home study program; altitude chamber and Eclipse upset recovery training; and Eclipse type rating program.
  • Customer must enroll in Eclipse mentor training and agree to complete recurrent training in 6 months.

Full hull ($1.175 million value) and $1 million in liability with no per seat sub-limit
--Estimated Premium: $42,000

• MEDIUM EXPERIENCE PILOT SCENARIO
  (APPROXIMATELY 1,000 HOURS TOTAL TIME AT POLICY INCEPTION)
• • Pilot enters Eclipse training program with private pilot certificate, instrument rating (approximately 100 hours of actual instrument time), and multi-engine rating (approximately 200 hours of multi-engine time).
  • Pilot must successfully complete Eclipse pilot skills evaluation (oral and written exam, including evaluation flight); supplemental training as indicated by pilot skills evaluation if needed; Eclipse 5-part home study program; altitude chamber and Eclipse upset recovery training and Eclipse type rating program.
  • Customer must enroll in Eclipse mentor training and agree to complete recurrent training in 12 months.

Full hull ($1.175 million value) and $5 million in liability with no per seat sub-limit
--Estimated Premium: $44,000
Full hull with $1 million in liability with no per seat sub-limit
--Estimated Premium: $37,000

• EXPERIENCED PILOT SCENARIO
  (APPROXIMATELY 2,500 HOUR TOTAL TIME AT POLICY INCEPTION)
• • Pilot enters Eclipse training program with commercial pilot certificate, instrument rating (approximately 100 hours of actual instrument time), and multi-engine rating (approximately 500 hours of multi-engine time with 100 hours of turbofan time and a previous turbofan type rating).
  • Pilot must successfully complete Eclipse pilot skills evaluation (oral and written exam, including evaluation flight); supplemental training as indicated by pilot skills evaluation if needed; Eclipse 5-part home study program; altitude chamber and Eclipse upset recovery training and Eclipse type rating program.
  • Eclipse mentor training will be waived in most cases.   Pilot must agree to complete recurrent training in 12 months.

Full hull ($1.175 million value) and $10 million in liability with no per seat sub-limit
--Estimated Premium: $36,000
Full hull with $1 million in liability with no per seat sub-limit
--Estimated Premium: $27,000

Audience reaction was positive... especially since a number of attendees were paying in excess of the above quoted rates for lesser aircraft -- including at least two high-performance single engine piston aircraft.

But, there was more to come... especially in terms of training, where Eclipse exceeded the status quo inherent in twin engine entry-level business jet training  by choosing to do business with a company whose rep and assets were developed from a far more arduous and tasking aspect to aviation... scheduled 121 commercial airline service. Eclipse had made a deal with industry giant United Airlines to train the first generation of VLJ pilots.

To Be Continued

FMI: www.eclipseaviation.com