Pieper’s Name Resurfaces Among Those Hoping to Revitalize Eclipse

After "reluctantly" taking over from founder Vern Raburn as head of Eclipse Aviation last summer, Roel Pieper was unable to resurrect the company as it existed back then. Now, Pieper has thrown the weight of his experience and expertise behind Eclipse Jet LLC-also known as "New Eclipse," one of the companies vying to acquire the assets of Eclipse Aviation as part of its Chapter 7 liquidation. Pieper joins partners Mike Press (an Eclipse 500 owner), Mason Holland (a deposit holder), Raul Segredo (head of aerospace firm Avionica) and John Cracken (managing director of a Dallas private equity firm). Pieper will serve as director of Eclipse Jet, where Holland says his input thus far has "proved very useful." The goal of the company is to revitalize the Eclipse 500 brand and reinvigorate the value of what most consider to be the pioneer "very light jet" (VLJ).