Aircraft
Very Light Jet Visionary Vern Raburn Dies at 75
Raburn created the very light jet market with the Eclipse 500
Eclipse Aviation founder Vern Raburn
Vern Raburn © Living Legends of Aviation

Vern Raburn, who established Eclipse Aviation with the idea of carving out a new business aviation market niche powered by a low-cost very light jet, died on Saturday, April 25, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was 75.

Raburn brought a strong technology background to the aviation market when he founded Eclipse in 1998, having served as one of Bill Gates’ first executives and ultimately executive v-p of Microsoft and president of its Consumer Products Division. His resume had also included executive v-p and general manager of Lotus Development Corp., CEO and chair of Symantec, and president of high-technology investment firm Paul Allen Group.

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