Aviation Milestone: First Flight of Eclipse 500!!!!! Get ready...

[Wizard]

from speednews today......

GIANT ORDER: GIANT CANCELLATION

The Nimbus Group this week announced that due to financing issues, it was forced to cancel its order for 1,000 Eclipse 500 business jets, which were to be the cornerstone of a project to begin an air taxi service in North/South America.

The 6-pax Eclipse 500 business jet with two Williams Intl. EJ-22s was launched in 2000 and is expected to enter service in 2003. Eclipse Aviation is using friction stir welding system (to replace over 60% of rivets on major assemblies) for fabricating primary wing and fuselage structures of the aircraft.

Rollout of the first aircraft is planned on July 13 in Albuquerque.

http://www.eclipseaviation.com

[Wizard]

ECLIPSE E500 ROLLS OUT...

The rollout of the highly anticipated Eclipse E500, a six-place, 355-knot, 56-cent-per-mile, roughly $850,000 jet, took place on Saturday at the company's Albuquerque headquarters. "Today we're celebrating a significant milestone in our quest to change the way the people travel ..." said Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal last Friday, Eclipse states they have more than 500 orders which, Raburn says, equate to $38 million in nonrefundable deposits.

The company expects a total need of $300 million to see the innovative project through FAA certification and first delivery in 2004 and raised $220 million with a business plan and a mock-up. Now they have a jet. Expect news of first flight within 30 days. If demand follows, Eclipse believes it can one day produce 1,000 jets per year.

[jerseymilkman]

Just had a look at the specs. Apart from the loading it looks amazing - especially at that price. Question is - what will be the final price when they complete first delivery in 2006...???

[Lavdumperer]

Just saw the announcement about the first flight of the Eclipse 500 jet (a sub-$1million private jet). Have you seen the stats on this aircraft? It will carry six people (total) at over 320 knots over 1,300 NM - and it will cost less than $1 million.

Add to that a very sophisticated glass cockpit (three large, integrated EFIS screens) and side-sticks ala Airbus A320s... Today is a milestone for general aviation. Can you imagine what this could mean in terms of providing low-cost aviation services to the masses? A real "air-taxi" service could very well result that opens up destinations thoughout the world...

I am not sure about the website address - but you should definitely find it and check this aircraft out (especially the cockpit pictures - WOW!!!!).

If I were a Piper Meridian or TBM 700 dealer I would be CRAPPING in my pants right now - they have 16 months to go before the full Eclipse testing is completed (assuming no delays) and then customers will start receiving orders soon thereafter. Eclipse expects to produce as many as 700-1,000 Eclipses PER YEAR using a special manufacturing process. Who would want to buy a $1.5 million Piper Meridian when you could own a $900K six-passenger, side-stick, full-EFIS jet instead? Not me!!!!!

Just sharing my excitement! Happy flying!

Cheers

[TheDrop]

Yes, it is amazing if it really holds true. It has sidestick, but it is not fly by wire, but regular fly by steel wire.

http://www.eclipseaviation.com it is

Note it has full autopilot including autothrottles (!)

[jerseymilkman]

Not only does it look wonderful - they also seem to be operating to schedule!!! It's not just the Meridian agents who should be panicking - how about the CJ1 and Premier agents.....at less than US$1 million they almost become a commodity purchase for private individuals and companies!!!

[mattpilot]

http://www.eclipseaviation.com/500jet/multimedia.htm

Recently published videos of the first flight from this new 'wonder' jet.


One question though: Is it just me, or does that jet seem grossly underpowered? I think they claimed 2500ft/min climb. To me it doesn't look like that thing could handle it.

Or is it just SOP to take it very (very) slow on the first flight?

[Old cynic]

Without wishing to dampen the enthusiam for what is obviously an innovative manufacturing process and an impressive aeroplane, doesn't 700 -1000 sales per year seem a little exceptional?

[jerseymilkman]

mp

From the video clip it does seem a bit slow - but I havent a clue what operating parameters are set for a first flight. The climb out isn't even seen as the clip ends before the pilot has even cleaned the aircraft up.

700 - 1000 sales sounds incredible. Guess it depends on the 'new' system to see if they can manufacture that amount. On the sales side the price is so low, and the performance good enough that they are competing with such a diverse range of products that anything is possible.

Nice to see some investment in the industry though whatever happens.

Good luck to them.

jm

[mattpilot]

i just found out at another forum that the Density altitude at ABQ is usually very high at that time of year.

One guy who lives near ABQ said that the field elev. is 5000ft and if ya got a hot day (100F) the DA can go up to 8000'. He said he saw 737s use up to 9000' of the runway. ABQ has a 12000' runway.

[Luke SkyToddler]

It will carry six people (total) at over 320 knots over 1,300 NM

Actually it will only do four people over that distance, not six :( . Still one hell of a sexy little aircraft though!

[TheDrop]

6 in total, including one pilot minimum (FAR23).

That is 6 people, but 5 pax.

[densityaltitude]

Heard that there are real big problems with the Engines, aircraft has not flown since first flight.:(

[mattpilot]

hmm that sucks. I hope it aint true.

But haven't these engines been tested before on different jets? Would they really put defective engines on a new jet, that haven't been extensively tested in advance?

[jerseymilkman]

firstly - the engine problems were before the flight test - i thikn they had a problem getting a good start 100% of the time - needed adjusting for the high altitude start environment i guess.

secondly - the engines ared a new design only ground run so far - until first flight.....but now going on williams sabreliner for further evaluation

finally - first flight parameters were no flaps (hence long ground run on take off), and gear locked down (hence climb performance etc)

Eclipse think they are on schedule and its all going fine - good luck to them!

[densityaltitude]

I too wish Eclipse ever success with there project, it will be great to see additional jobs created here in Albuquerque. Also great for the industry to have a $2.0m aircraft built for $0.9M.

Something must be up though as they have a very agressive flight test schedule to maintain that should have them flying everyday & not just once in six week...........?

Is there a problem with the engine or the FADEC interface...?

[EricCartman]

yeah, i know a few people indirectly via Detroit that are involved on the finance side of the house and everything still seems in order
a) friction stir welding is what will really crush others (i.e. Cessna)
b) Toyota is about to jump into the mix
c) there will be a *big* pilot shortage once 135 folks start incorporating the aircraft into their operations

[densityaltitude]

Sunday, October 20, 2002

Engine Troubles Stall Eclipse Jet Test Flights

By Aaron Baca
Copyright © 2002 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer

Eclipse Aviation had planned as many as 15 test flights of its new business jet by now.
Instead, the jet has been grounded because of problems discovered after its first flight in late August.
Flights are expected to resume after the arrival of additional engines and components this week, according to Oliver Masefield, Eclipse's vice president of engineering.
Eclipse engineers decided to ground the jet after the engine starters and some fuel control components showed excessive wear, Masefield said in an interview with the Journal.
"In early testing, you're bound to have problems," he said, adding that the recent snags shouldn't hinder Eclipse's overall timeframe.
The maiden flight of the Eclipse 500 was completed in late August. The company's test pilot flew the jet on an hourlong circuit south of Albuquerque that took the plane to an altitude of about 10,000 feet and a speed of about 145 mph.

[iankain]

Does anyone know who the investors are who are financing this baby?

[densityaltitude]

http://www.eclipseaviation.com/inthenews/pressreleases_detail.htm?content_id=407

[mattpilot]

thx for the update.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but this most likely means the EJ500 will be more expensive - right?

[OFBSLF]

After the first flight, someone here posted that they thought the Eclipse looked underpowered. Well, apparently, they were right. Eclipse is dumping the Williams EJ22. They are now negotiating with other suppliers for larger, more powerful engines. Full text is here:
http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_busav.jsp?view=story&id=news/bdro1202.xml

[densityaltitude]

Guess they might miss the start of Oshkosh

Friday, July 25, 2003

Eclipse Slightly Damaged

By Aaron Baca
Journal Staff Writer

The right wing on Eclipse Aviation's Eclipse 500 test airplane was slightly damaged Thursday when part of the plane's landing gear failed after a morning test flight, a company spokesman said.
The plane had just landed at the Albuquerque International Sunport when the landing gear on the plane's right side collapsed, Eclipse spokesman Andrew Broom said.
The Eclipse plane fell on its right side, causing the damage to the tip of the right wing, part of a wing flap and the track in which that flap is fitted, he said.
Broom said that the damage was "very minimal" and that Eclipse's test pilot was not injured.
"We will be assessing the damage, of course, but at this point, the airplane doesn't seem to be affected that much," Broom said. "Really, what damage you can see is some scratches and scuffs on the wing tip and part of the flap."
Broom said Eclipse had conducted Thursday's flight to expand the plane's "operating envelope." During such flights, a pilot will typically fly a test airplane slightly higher or faster than it has previously been flown before.
Broom said the twin-engine Eclipse 500 jet had completed its landing at 7:52 a.m. on runway 3 before the gear folded.
The test plane had rolled about 1,000 feet down the runway and was moving slowly when the gear folded, Broom said.
Thursday's incident occurred because the casting, or case, that holds an actuator for the landing gear broke apart, Broom said. When the casting broke, the actuator failed and was no longer able to hold the landing gear in its locked position.
That caused the landing gear to fold back into its wheel well under the right wing.
"Obviously, we won't be flying with these actuators anymore," Broom said.
Eclipse, in fact, had already picked a new company, Electromech Technologies of Wichita, Kan., to supply actuators for the Eclipse 500 landing gear, Broom said.
Broom said that, if the damage proves to be as minor as it appears, the company will probably begin test flights again "pretty quickly."
Thursday's incident is the second landing-gear issue Eclipse has faced this month.
In the first week of July, the landing gear on the Eclipse did not fully deploy into its locked position during a landing.
During that incident, the gear did not collapse because the actuator held the gear in place, Broom said.
Broom said the two landing-gear problems were not related. The first, he said, was caused by an electrical problem and the second was mechanical failure.
Eclipse employees were able to lift the Eclipse 500 off its wing and manually extend its gear after the plane was stopped. The plane was towed back to a company hangar by a pickup truck.
Such incidents are common during the development of a new airplane, said Don Godwin, president of Atlantic Aero in Greensboro, N.C., an aircraft engineering consulting firm. Atlantic Aero is working with Honda Motor Co. in the development of an experimental twin-engine jet.
"I don't think it's anything out of the ordinary, based on my experience in 40 years in this business," Godwin said. "These little things happen. That's what a flight development and test program is all about."
The Eclipse was using a runway that accommodates traffic in a northeastern and southwestern pattern and is south of the airport's main east-west runway.
Air traffic at the Sunport was not affected by Eclipse's problem, said Jonnie Banks, a Sunport spokeswoman.
Eclipse Aviation hopes to begin production of the Eclipse 500 in 2006 at a proposed factory at Double Eagle II airport. So far, the company has booked more than 2,000 orders for the Eclipse 500.