Eclipse Aviation Corporation’s very light jet, the Eclipse 500, has successfully completed airframe static tests, enabling the aircraft’s advancement towards certification in March 2006. The FAA has also cleared the Eclipse 500 to an initial 10,000 hour lifetime.

Next spring, another test airframe will undergo fatigue testing to validate structural continued airworthiness.

The company’s fourth FAA-conforming flight test aircraft, N505EA, had to make a belly landing on 4 September during a test flight at Albuquerque International Sunport however, the company announced.

The two pilots on board sustained no injuries following the gear-up landing on the airport’s third runway. The aircraft was towed back to the Eclipse hangar shortly after the event.

A subsequent investigation found that pilot error was to blame for the gear-up landing; no mechanical or electrical problems contributed to the event.

The company, which currently has four other aircraft in flight testing, is hoping that the damage will

be repairable.

CEO Vern Raburn stated: “We are evaluating the damage to the aircraft, but are confident that we will demonstrate how easily a friction stir welded structure can be fixed.”