Eclipse Aviation News

Orville Wright, aviation pioneer.

Howard Hughes, eccentric entrepreneur, billionaire and pilot.

Chuck Yeager, the first test pilot to break the sound barrier.

Boeing, Cessna and Pratt & Whitney.

A list of Collier Trophy recipients reads like a timeline of flight's most important moments and those who created them.

This week, Albuquerque's Eclipse Aviation joined that list.

The company, which is building the $1.3 million Eclipse 500 jet, learned Thursday it won the 2005 Robert J. Collier Trophy, given by the National Aeronautic Association "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America."

The trophy, which has been awarded annually since 1911, will be presented to the company in May "for leadership, innovation, and the advancement of general aviation" in the production of very light jets, according to a news release from the Virginia-based organization.

The 2004 Collier Trophy went to Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne, which earlier that year won the Ansari X Prize for the first privately funded, manned trips into space.
On Wednesday, company founder and president Vern Raburn made a presentation about Eclipse to 30 judges considering the nominations in Washington, D.C.

In an interview Thursday, he said he was humbled by the decision.
"I'm just blown away," he said. "In terms of magnitude, this could be compared to the Nobel Prize. This is the best of the best."

Announcing the 2005 winner, NAA President and CEO David Ivey said the selection committee's criteria included "the spirit of entrepreneurship, technical innovation, and the impact on American aviation" exemplified by the Eclipse 500.

In an endorsement to the Eclipse nomination, Microsoft founder and Eclipse investor Bill Gates wrote: "True to the spirit of excellence and advancement that the Robert J. Collier award stands for, I believe the Eclipse 500 represents the best of aviation's rich past and its bright future."

Eclipse aims to revolutionize aviation by making private jet travel affordable to a new class of pilots and kickstarting an envisioned, nationwide network of "air taxis" between underserved airports at costs comparable to that of airlines. The Eclipse 500 will cost a fraction of existing business jets.

The NAA cited several innovations developed by Eclipse, including its friction stir welding manufacturing technique, an engine fire suppression system, electromechanical actuators and digital electronics with integrated software.

The award presentation will be May 15, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. Collier was the publisher of Collier's Weekly magazine and was a well-known pilot. By some accounts, he was one of Wilbur and Orville Wright's first paying customers. He commissioned the 525-pound trophy in 1910 to encourage the rapid development of aeronautic technology.

The NAA is charged as the aerospace industry's official record-keeper and seeks to encourage advances in aviation and space flight technology and safety.