@ San Carlos, CA
October 2022
An Eclipse taxis after landing at San Carlos Airport. First flown in 2002, the Eclipse 500 became the first of a new class of Very Light Jets when deliveries began in late 2006. By June 2008, Eclipse claimed to have a backlog of over 2,600 total orders for its Eclipse 500. These efforts helped the company win the 2005 Collier Trophy, which became controversial given that certification and initial deliveries of the aircraft had not yet been achieved. Air Taxi company DayJet placed an order for 1,400 E-500s but shortly went bankrupt. Citing a lack of funds, Eclipse halted production of the E-500 in October 2008 at serial number 267. At the time of bankruptcy filing in November 2008 Eclipse had delivered 259 E-500s.
