Aircraft
Klapmeier: Value Proposition Makes EA700 an Attractive Choice in Light Jet Market
More than a decade after the first Eclipse 500 jets were delivered, One Aviation looks to a larger variant to continue the heritage of the original VLJ.
The first of three planned EA700 testbeds flies with an aerodynamically-conforming version of the new aircraft’s larger wing. Photo by One Aviation.
The first of three planned EA700 testbeds flies with an aerodynamically-conforming version of the new aircraft’s larger wing. Photo by One Aviation.

No other certified aircraft in recent memory experienced a gestation as difficult as that of the original very light jet. More than 10 years have passed since now-defunct Eclipse Aviation delivered the first Eclipse 500s without flight into known icing (FIKI) certification or even basic GPS navigation functionality, and few expected the type would ever outlast that company’s 2008 bankruptcy.