2,000 flight hours on test fleet

June 1, 2006— The Eclipse 500 test fleet exceeded 2,000 flight hours on May 31, 2006. The majority of required FAA certification testing is completed, keeping the Eclipse 500 on track to achieve FAA certification by the end of this quartert.

The test fleet of five Eclipse 500s continues to burn test points and build hours at a rapid rate. We accumulated more than 300 flight hours in the last four weeks.

The Eclipse 500 continues to lead the VLJ market with significant accomplishments in aircraft testing. Recent milestones include successful completion of:

• All installed-engine operational certification tests, including engine operating characteristics, restarts, cooling and ventilation, engine exhaust influence on airframe temperature, vibration, negative-g and powerplant drainage
• Unusable fuel and hot fuel certification tests
• Cabin air smoke clearing certification tests
• Flight test points and data collection in support of Part 36 noise certification
• Climate control system certification ground testing
• All fuel system certification ground tests

The Eclipse 500 test fleet is comprised of seven aircraft, including five flying aircraft, one static test airframe and one fatigue airframe.  The static airframe successfully completed certification static testing in September 2005.  The highest utilization jet, N506EA, has proven the reliability of the Eclipse 500 design by completing more than 650 hours in just eight months with a demonstrated dispatch rate of over 99.50 percent.