Quizzing Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson on the Eclipse 550

Left to right: David Hayman, CEO of Aeris Aviation, shares a joke with the new company's new non-executive chairman Bruce Dickinson.

Bruce Dickinson, singer in Iron Maiden and the new non-executive chairman for Eclipse Aerospace’s European dealership, gets tested on the Eclipse 550 business jet at NBAA 2013.

Left to right: David Hayman, CEO of Aeris Aviation, shares a joke with the company’s new non-executive chairman Bruce Dickinson.

With over 1,000 companies exhibiting at NBAA 2013 last week, standing out from the crowd was a challenge that every exhibitor faced. Not only did Eclipse Aerospace rise to the task by displaying an Eclipse 550 business jet inside the Las Vegas Convention Centre, the aircraft manufacturer recruited a man more accustomed to entertaining thousands of rock fans every night to help sell it.

Bruce Dickinson, lead singer in Iron Maiden, a British rock institution with over 85 million worldwide album sales, was named in the days leading-up to NBAA 2013 as the new non-executive chairman of Aeris Aviation, the exclusive European dealer for Eclipse led by David Hayman in the UK.

Dickinson’s aviation pedigree is in no doubt; he’s piloted Boeing 757s on a number of high-profile flights and continues to operate as the joint-CEO of Cardiff Aviation, an MRO business in South Wales.

Rather than insulting your intelligence with heavy metal puns, Corporate Jet Investor decided to quiz Dickinson on how much he knew about the Eclipse 550 twin-engine business jet. You can find out how he did in the video below.

After testing Dickison’s mettle (sorry), we turned the tables and asked Hayman three questions on Iron Maiden before he had chance to run to the hills (not sorry). Watch the video below to see how much he knew about the band.

The Eclipse 550’s apperance at NBAA 2013 was significant as it marked the aircraft’s public debut. The formerly-named Eclipse Aviation filed for bankruptcy in 2008, but was re-launched in 2009 with a new board, new business plan and subtlely new name.

Following the Eclipse 550’s certification, the company expects to make the first deliveries of the aircraft in the next few weeks.

Corporate Jet Investor also asked Dickinson and Hayman to describe the current business jet market in one word, which yielded some interesting answers…