Eclipse 500

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Eclipse 500 VLJ

The Eclipse 500 is a small 6 seat business jet aircraft powered by two lightweight Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F turbofan engines. It is slated to be the first of a new class of business jet known by the acronym VLJ or Very Light Jet.

Manufactured by Eclipse Aviation based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Eclipse 500 is undergoing testing to receive FAA certification Summer 2006. The company hopes to reach customers by late 2006, at an initial cost of around 1.5 million USD [link], far lower than existing business jets. For comparison, the in-development Cessna 510 Mustang will be that company's cheapest model and is projected to cost around 2.3 million USD at launch in 2006 [link].

Low operating costs are also a focus of the Eclipse 500. Eclipse will offer the Jet Complete program, guaranteeing private owners a maintainence cost of $209 per flight hour for three years (if the aircraft is operated between 300 and 3,000 hours during that period).[link] A similar Jet Complete Business program will cover charter operators.

The Eclipse 500 has received close to 2,500 orders worldwide, and by 2008 plans on making four aircraft a day. DayJet will be the largest cutomer, with around 250 aircraft operating in an 'air taxi' role. Aviation analysts remain somewhat doubtful whether the company's aggressive sales and production targets will be feasible [link].

CEO Vern Raburn has set out to create a new class of small business jet utilising new technologies. Examples of this are friction stir welding for airframe construction and the utilisation of glass cockpit technology (AVIO Avionics system, which integrates virtually all of the aircraft electronics) not usually found in such lightweight and relatively low-cost aircraft. Another advantage being heralded by Eclipse Aviation is the very low service costs and comprehensive maintenance and support program for customers. Being able to land at over 10,000 airports nationwide, Eclipse and other VLJ manufacturers hope that this would proliferate an air taxi role for their aircraft.

The Eclipse 500 was originally designed to use ultra-lightweight FJ22 jet engines from Williams International Ltd, and a prototype with that engine flew in 2002.[link] However, the development powerplants failed to meet performance and envelope expansion targets and were dropped in favour of the Pratt & Whitney product. This caused a considerable delay in development.

Vern Raburn was one of the first business executives at Microsoft. Subsequently, Bill Gates became a major stake-holder in the Eclipse project.

Specifications

Unlike most full-size business jets, the Eclipse 500 has a straight wing configuration. This helps to reduce the approach speed on landing. The cruise Mach number is about 0.6, rather than the 0.8 (or higher) normally associated with bizjets. However, the ceiling of 41000 ft is nearly that of the larger jets.

Notes