Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

Aerocor and the Eclipse Jet Owners and Pilots Association (EJOPA) have released a flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) program for Eclipse 500/550 very light jets. The FOQA data analysis program is free for Eclipse owners and available from Aerocor’s FlightData service, which was developed in-house. Data is automatically captured by the Eclipse jet’s Innovative Solutions &amp; Support avionics suite, so no extra equipment is needed to participate in the FOQA program.
About 15 Eclipse owners participated in beta testing the FOQA program, according to Aerocor co-founder and president Gavin Woodman. He expects to see a significant number of Eclipse owners signing up for the FOQA program, not only for the safety benefits but also to help with insurance coverage. Eventually, Woodman plans to offer Eclipse owners a program similar to the Citation Jet Pilots Association Gold Standard by combining extra training events with the FOQA program to encourage insurance underwriters to provide coverage and reasonable rates for participants.
The first release of the Aerocor FOQA program helps pilots view how their flying matches stabilized approach criteria, especially at the 500-foot mark, where landing reference speed should be at most five knots high with a descent rate of 500 fpm. Additional FOQA capabilities will be added to help pilots monitor their performance, and aggregated and deidentified FOQA analysis will also be used for training development and will eventually be shared for benchmarking purposes.
Aerocor is integrating the stabilized approach monitoring analysis in its Eclipse pilot training syllabus. This will allow instructors to use real-world data and trends from the pilot’s flights to personalize the pilot training program. The stabilized approach criteria were developed in partnership with EJOPA.
“We’re incredibly excited about the role this data can play in improving operational safety across the Eclipse fleet,” Woodman said. “By giving pilots and instructors access to meaningful insights, we can move beyond one-size-fits-all training and support a culture of continuous improvement.”

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