Vern Louis Raburn

Photo: James Stolzenbach / Living Legends of Aviation

Remembering Eclipse Aviation founder Vern Raburn

Very Light Jet visionary and pioneer Vern Raburn passed at 75 years old on Saturday evening April 25th, 2026 in Albuquerque, NM. Family, friends and former colleagues remember him as an innovator who embraced entrepreneurial risk in his business ventures, rather than running from it.

 Raburn founded Eclipse Aviation in 1998 with the goal of building the Eclipse 500, a six-seat, twin-turbofan featherweight jet that would cruise as fast as 370 knots, climb as high as 41,000 ft, fly up to 1,200 nautical miles and achieve considerably better fuel economy than any business jet in production. Most notably, Raburn structured the company to mass produce the aircraft in the thousands, allowing it to be priced on par with competitively sized piston twins. The business model proved to be overly ambitious. Only about 260 aircraft were delivered after the aircraft was certified in 2007.

 Raburn's high-risk / high-reward business philosophy served him well when he worked closely with Bill Gates in the early days of Microsoft, eventually becoming an executive vice-president. Previously, he was executive vice-president of Lotus Development, helping to launch Lotus 1-2-3. He later became CEO of Semantec, then oversaw technology investments for Paul Allen Group.

 Former Eclipse Aviation employees reminisce about Raburn's creating a new family as much as a new company. They were challenged to be innovative, tasked with working long hours and compelled to prove their ideas in the face of tough peer criticism. But, every Friday afternoon Raburn would pause operations to host an all-hands hangar party for the Eclipse family with refreshments and hors d'oeuvres, praising members for their dedication and contributions.

 Raburn was an accomplished aviator, having logged more than 6,000 flight hours, earning 17 aircraft type ratings and operating a historic Lockheed L-749 Constellation that he flew to several airshows.

 He is survived by his wife Susan Brooks Raburn. A Celebration of Life will be held later this year.