The prognosticators may
claim that the very light jet era is over, but the investors who paid $40 million (half in cash up front) for the assets of bankrupt Eclipse Aviation think otherwise. The new
Eclipse Aerospace, headquartered at Eclipse’s original Albuquerque (N.M.) International Airport facility, is busy refurbishing, upgrading and selling used Eclipse EA-500s and providing parts and support for the fleet, which numbers about 260 of the diminutive twin-engine jets.
Mason Holland, a deposit-holder who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars when Eclipse went bankrupt early last year , partnered with Michael Press, an EA-500 owner and reseller of Eclipse positions and jets, to form Eclipse Aerospace and bid on the assets. Although Holland and Press won’t identify the investors who funded Eclipse Aerospace, Alfred Mann, an early backer of Eclipse Aviation founder Vern Raburn, is believed to be part of the investor team.
