In mid-September, Nimbus Group announced that it had ordered 1,000 Eclipse 500 very light jets. Nimbus also made an investment in Eclipse; financial details of that deal have not been disclosed. Under the terms of the agreement, Eclipse will deliver the jets to Nimbus over a five-year period beginning in 2004.
Nimbus plans to use the six-place jets exactly where some in the industry, including Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn, have suggested that they might find an attractive niche, as relatively low-cost air taxi aircraft. Nimbus plans to operate the jets throughout North and South America.
In other news, Eclipse announced that it had cut first metal on the jet. The conforming parts, a lower cabin frame assembly, were constructed by a Utah-based contractor, Metalcraft Technologies, for Eclipse. Metalcraft will build many of the fuselage components for Eclipse.
