2 Business & Commercial Aviation ■ July 2005

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Text by Fred GeorgePhotography by Phil Forbert

Eight years ago, Vern Raburn, presidentand CEO of Albuquerque-basedEclipse Aviation, made the biggest

gamble in light jet aviation since Bill Lear in-troduced the Learjet 23 in 1963. Raburn betthat folks would buy hundreds, if not thou-sands, of twin turbofan aircraft if they couldbe sold for less than $1 million. Best knownoutside aviation circles as a high-tech indus-try entrepreneur, Raburn is a strong believerin price elasticity, a concept he claims is oftenignored in general aviation. The main lessonfrom the personal computer world is clear:Offer more value and drive down price, andyou’ll wear out a lot of ballpoint pens sign-ing sales contracts.

Raburn’s vision was shared by Dr. SamWilliams, chairman of Williams Intern-ational, who dreamed of reinvigorating gen-eral aviation by developing a new generationof affordable turbofan engines. Both men feltthat there was nothing wrong with the gen-eral aviation market that breakthrough air-planes at lower prices couldn’t cure. Lear hadpriced his light jet at $495,000 in 1963 dol-lars, a fraction of what contemporary jets costat the time. Raburn and Williams bothdreamed of selling a new generation of jetaircraft for not much more in mid-1990s dol-lars — millions less than the least expensiveentry level jet at the time.

As always in aviation, the pacing itemwould be propulsion. Williams believed hecould build and sell light turbofan engines foras little as $50,000 in volume production.Raburn immediately was hooked on the con-cept, so he joined forces with Williams to de-velop a radical new very light jet (VLJ)powered by Williams’ revolutionary turbofanengines. Raburn would raise most of the cap-ital for the program. Williams would supply

most of the engineering and development.Both would share the revenues from sales.

“In aviation, it’s always the engines thathave changed things. Sam’s company alreadyhad won NASA’s GAP [General AviationPropulsion] contract. I liked this engine tech-nology because it was a game changer. I sawthis as a really, really, really cool opportu-nity,” Raburn explained. Dr. Williams’ FJXGAP engine evolved into the 770-pound-thrust EJ22 fanjet, intended to power whatwould become the Ecl ipse 500. TheWilliams V-Jet II proof-of-concept aircraftwas the inspiration for the Eclipse 500. Theprice was pegged at $837,500.

The Eclipse 500, powered by WilliamsEJ22 engines, first flew on Aug. 26, 2002. Itwas its last flight with those fanjets, as well.Ongoing problems with the EJ22, accordingto Raburn, forced Eclipse to drop theWilliams engine by year’s end.

Some folks thought that was the end of theEclipse 500 program, but they soon came torealize that the airplane was powered moreby Raburn’s passion than by Williams’ en-

gines. Raburn and his determined team eval-uated alternative engine designs, such as theAgilis TF1000, Honda HF118, HoneywellLTF101 and Pratt & Whitney CanadaPW600 in late 2002, and the followingFebruary tapped P&WC to provide thePW610F — a 900-pound-thrust derivativeof the PW615F chosen to power Cessna’sCitation Mustang. Fuel capacity would be in-creased by adding small tiptanks. Eclipse alsoraised the price to nearly $1 million for ex-isting customers. New orders were taken at$1.2 million. Type certification and initialcustomer deliveries were rescheduled for firstquarter 2006.

But the PW610F wouldn’t even be readyfor flight test until late 2004. So, in May 2003,Eclipse resumed flight tests with a pair of“interim” Teledyne Continental model 382-10E cruise missile engines mounted on itsaircraft. This enabled Eclipse to continueaerodynamic development of the airframe,even including leading edge ice shapes, pend-ing the arrival of its new Pratts.

Always pressing the limits of technology,Raburn planned to fit the PW610Fs withbrushless AC starter/generators that wouldhave several times the TBO of conventionalDC starter/generators with brushes.Potentially, this would lower operating costsand increase dispatch reliability.

Nice try, but no go. The vendor couldn’tdevelop the electronics needed to support thestart function of the brushless units on time,so Eclipse had to fashion its own monstrouskluge kit, mounted in the cabin, in time toget the engines started for the first flight infourth quarter 2004. Not unexpectedly, therewere several fits and starts as Eclipse’s engi-neers struggled with the starter electronics.Predictably, Eclipse reverted to conventionalDC starter/generators for its subsequentflight test and production aircraft.

Compounding the start problems, Eclipsealso had numerous problems with theHispano-Suiza FADEC and some growing

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Eclipse 500Program Update

We fly the first VLJ in production configuration duringa break in the race to March 2006 certification.

Vern Raburn, Eclipse president and CEO

4 Business & Commercial Aviation ■ July 2005

pains with the PW610F. Hispano-Suiza re-mains one of Eclipse’s problem vendors, ac-cording to Raburn, but he cannot say enoughgood things about product support fromPratt & Whitney Canada.

In mid-2004, Raburn invited B&CA towitness the first flight in late November,rescheduling several times until Dec. 31,when at 10:16 a.m., the first flight of s.n. 1087,the first Eclipse 500 in full production con-figuration and powered by the PW610F, tookplace. We watched the entire first flight frominside Raburn’s Turbo Commander as heflew chase on the test aircraft. Both aircrafttaxied into the Eclipse Aviation compoundafterward, where Raburn led a celebration at-tended by nearly 1,000 people. “We prom-ised we’d fly the aircraft with its new enginesbefore the end of 2004 and we did. Eclipse isback. Eclipse is here to stay. And Eclipse isgoing forward,” Raburn beamed.

Eclipse flight test pilots had completed asecond test flight by late afternoon. At theend of the day, as the bubbly started flowing,Raburn promised B&CA we’d be flying theaircraft by May 2005. He kept his promise,as we’ve described in the First FlyingImpressions section of this report.

Breakthrough Technologies — Sharp, Doubled-Edged Swords

Revolutionary new engines and starters arebut two of the potential breakthrough tech-

nologies embodied in the 500. Raburn oftenhas said that the aviation industry is so riskaverse that technological progress is painfullyslow, manufacturing costs are among thehighest of any industry, quality is marginaland reliability is low. This is why airplaneprices are so high and they cost so much tooperate, according to Raburn.

When Raburn embarked upon the Eclipseproject, he “saw a technological convergencethat could change everything except aerody-namics.” It was time to abandon World WarII aircraft manufacturing methods, he said,along with “Rosie the Riveter in her polkadot hat whistling ‘Boogie Woogie BugleBoy.’” He saw, for example, the potential forhigh-speed CNC milling that could make in-tegrated one-piece parts. Watching au-tomakers and computer manufacturersstreamline their fabrication processes, he wasinspired to try new methods to produce air-craft that “could reinvigorate existing mar-kets and create all-new ones.”

So, Eclipse embraced new technologiesand new general aviation suppliers since itsinception, even if they didn’t have a proventrack record in civil aviation. But Raburnwasn’t ready to buy off on composites. Incontrast to the V-Jet II, the Eclipse 500’s pri-mary structure would be all-aluminum be-cause the aviation industry has upwards of 85years’ design, fabrication, repair and fatigueexperience with the material. By comparison

Raburn believes that composites are toomuch of an unknown commodity in the avi-ation community regarding such issues andthat composite construction isn’t well suitedto high-volume production. Still, he has highhopes for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner as a com-posite pioneer.

Old aluminum construction methods,however, are expensive since it can take from4,000 to 5,000 labor hours to build a light jetairframe. Raburn knew he would have toslash those hours to keep his price low.Accordingly, Eclipse employs high-speedCNC milling and friction stir welding

Similar to CNC milling processes used byBombardier, Dassault and Raytheon to fab-ricate their latest aircraft, Eclipse is the firstaircraft manufacturer to use such techniquesto build a VLJ. Wing spars, chord-wiseframes and bulkheads, among many othermajor airframe components, begin life aslarge billets of aluminum fed to CNC millsthat remove 90 to 95 percent of the mass totransform them into complex shaped parts.CNC milling makes possible construction ofone-piece components that replace built-upassemblies of dozens of parts joined by hun-dreds, if not thousands, of fasteners.

Unlike Bombardier and Dassault thathave extensive in-house manufacturing cen-ters, Eclipse won’t do any heavy construc-tion or machining at its assembly plant atAlbuquerque International Sunport.Instead, the company farms out processeslike CNC milling to other firms, such asFuji Heavy Industries (FHI), DucommonAeroStructures, Compass Aerospace andEmpresa Nacional de Aeronáutica in Chile.These firms have high-speed CNC millsand manufacturing methods that can sup-port high volume production of major subassemblies.

Friction stir welding (FSW), now used ex-tensively in missile and marine construction,was invented by The Welding Institute atUniversity of Cambridge. It uses a spinningmandrel that bears down on a lap joint hardenough to create friction heating that weldsthe two pieces of material together withoutimparting enough heat to liquefy the metal.The rotating tool bit translates along the lapjoint to create a continuous weld that’sstronger than a string of mechanical fasten-ers. FSW is at least as strong as structural ad-hesive bonding, but the resulting jointweighs much less, is considerably faster tofabricate and should cost less in high-vol-ume production.

Prior to the Eclipse 500 development pro-gram, FSW never had been approved as aprocess for civil aircraft construction. Seeingthe promise of greatly reduced constructioncosts, Eclipse developed FSW for aircraftfabrication and earned FAA approval for us-

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Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610FThe Eclipse’s PW610F engines are FADEC-equipped for easy operation and rugged forlow operating cost. At entry-into-service in 2006, they’ll have a 1,750 HSI midlife in-spection interval and a 3,500-hour TBO. Projected overall cost is about $150,000 perengine, according to Eclipse officials.

Having a thermodynamic rating of 1,112 pounds of thrust, they’re flat-rated to 900pounds of thrust for takeoff aboard the Eclipse 500 and capable of 990 pounds of thrustin APR. The engines feature a 14-inch, one-piece, integrally bladed fan and deep-fluted ex-haust mixer nozzle for improved high-altitude performance and lower FAR Part 36 noiselevels. P&WC isn’t using any exotic materials inside and the engine will have modest apressure ratio by today’s standards. The result is lower overall operating costs.

P&WC is having plenty of success with the 1,000- to3,000-pound-thrust PW600 series, all of whichwill be FADEC-equipped. Cessna has se-lected the PW615F for itsCitation Mustang andEmbraer tapped thePW617F for its newlyannounced VLJ. P&WCis bank ing on thePW600 to be a largeproduction volume en-gine, rivaling the successof the PT6A turboprop in thelast century.

ing FSW in the primary airframe structure,including fuselage and wings. Eclipse in-vested $20 million in FSW, spending aboutone-third for tooling and two-thirds for de-velopment. The payoff is the elimination ofalmost 7,400 fasteners and 1,000 assemblyhours, according to Oliver Masefield, Ph.D.,the firm’s senior vice president and senior fel-low. There are almost 442 linear feet of fric-tion stir welds in the aircraft’s pressure vessel,wings and aft fuselage sections.

The result is no more than 600 hours toassemble the aircraft in Albuquerque, outsideof paint work, according to Raburn, plus afive-fold improvement in tolerance control.The goal is to produce each aircraft inAlbuquerque in 10 days, including one andone-half days in production flight test andtwo in the painting process.

“We’re fanatical about driving out cycletime and increasing quality,” Raburn said.“The single biggest cost in building a con-ventional aircraft is overhead, including partsinventory, manufacturing plant and the costof capital. We’ve modeled Eclipse on the bestJapanese lean practices. There, the synonymfor ‘lean’ is ‘continuous improvement.’”

Raburn admits that Eclipse has had to firemore than a few partners whom he feltcouldn’t perform up to snuff. BAe Systems,for example, was slated to supply the autopi-lo t . Now i t ’s Meggi t t . Meta lc ra f tTechnologies was going to build most of thefuselage. Now, Ducommon and Compasswill supply major subassemblies that will becompleted in-house by Eclipse. Cal-Draulicswas tapped to build the landing gear, but nowit’s Mecaer’s job. Exterior lighting was to befurnished by Devore Aviation. LSI now willsupply the LED position, beacon and strobelights, plus HID landing lights.

“We always assume a partner can live upto its promises, until it proves otherwise,”Raburn explained. Old school pundits mightsay this approach is overly optimistic andleads to program delays. Raburn, though, isdetermined to achieve new standards forfunctionality, dependability and low operat-ing cost. More changes are likely. Severalsuppliers have earned below average marksfor inadequate ramp rate readiness for high-volume production that is slated to begin in2007. They must grow production capacityby at least 50 percent to meet Eclipse’s pro-duction targets. Eight of the 51 suppliers arebeing watched closely, because of ramp ratedeficiencies, process control problems or de-velopment shortcomings.

While supplier performance remains aconcern, Raburn’s 425-person team inAlbuquerque is confident they can hold uptheir end of the development schedule.Weight control has become an obsession.The aircraft was 110 pounds overweight, butEclipse had worked off 35 of those poundsby early June. While suppliers and staff re-main under the gun to reduce weight further,Raburn said, “We’re pretty comfortable we’llbe able to make our [projected] performanceand range numbers.”

Interior design, maintenance access andweight control also are top priorities duringthe development process. The entire interioris designed to be removed and replaced in twoto three hours. All scheduled maintenanceoperations, including engine changes, are be-ing designed to be accomplished in a singleeight-hour shift. Fly all day and fix at night ishow Eclipse is running its flight test program.The object is to perfect routine maintenanceprocesses for customers, as much as maximizeaircraft availability for flight test.

Technicalities aside, we wanted to knowhow it flew.

First Flying ImpressionsJust after returning from EBACE 2005, westrapped into the left seat of s.n. 109, the thirdflight test aircraft and the one Eclipse will useprimarily for avionics and electric system cer-tification. Terry Tomeny, director of flight testengineering, occupied the right seat as pilotin command.

Aircraft 109 first flew on April 21, 2005, andhad logged less than 15 hours when we tookthe controls on the 18th and 20th missions.As a result, many functions and systems wereyet to be made fully operational. Flight oper-ations were limited to daylight VFR, the ceil-ing was limited to 25,000 feet and there was a230 KIAS speed restriction. We also could flyit no slower than 82 KIAS pending flight en-velope expansion.

The aircraft had most of the production in-terior panels installed, because fit, finish anddurability of those parts are being evaluatedduring the flight test program, along with thegreen airplane. Serial number 109 also hadthe usual array of orange test equipment inthe main cabin, bolted down through the car-peting to the seat rails. Telemetry equipmentaboard the aircraft transmitted hundreds ofchannels of data to the Eclipse flight test de-partment, enabling engineers on the groundto monitor the aircraft’s engines, systems andflight controls during our flights. We wereoutside line-of-sight telemetry range duringportions of our test flights, so we don’t haveprecise data for all phases of the two evalua-tion missions.

The aircraft’s empty operating weight was3,693 pounds, which was at least 300 poundsheavier than a production aircraft fitted with

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The one-piece main spar carry-through structure (left) and the “banjo” (right), the integrated aft tailcone bulkhead/vertical tail main spar, are milled out ofmassive blocks of aluminum by high-speed CNC milling machines. This is emblematic of how Eclipse is wringing out thousands of assembly hours from theEA 500 production line.

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the LX upgraded interior, thicker insulationand optional sixth seat. Our two-crewarrangement raised the zero fuel weight to4,058 pounds. With a full 1,507-pound fuelload, the ramp weight was 5,565 pounds, ac-cording to Eclipse’s engineering flight testdepartment.

Serial number 109’s instrument panel wasvery clean, perhaps too clean. Eclipse still iswaiting for Luminescent Systems, Inc., a unitof Astronics, to deliver the glareshield DFCSand center console control panels and forAvidyne to deliver the audio control panels.At this stage in program development, mostof the technical risk is associated with ven-dor delays rather than airframe development,according to Eclipse officials.

Outside visibility from the cockpit is some-what restricted compared to some other lightjets. The windshield is steeply raked and thetop of the instrument panel is relatively high.Lateral visibility through the side windows isnot as good as in some other light jets. This isnot a problem when looking through the sidewindow closest to the pilot, but it’s noticeablewhen looking through the cross-side window.However, a pilot can see out through thecross-side cabin windows, augmenting theview available through the cockpit windows.

The position of the aircraft’s side stick con-trol is an almost perfect fit for the pilot’s nat-ural hand position. It’s angled forward andinward to match one’s hand position whenthe forearm is on an armrest. The grip has atrigger switch for press-to-talk, plus buttonsfor autopilot disconnect, gear warning hornmute, control wheel steering and all-inter-rupt for trim, autothrottle, autopilot and yawdamper functions. The side stick and shortcenter console also make it easier to get inand out of the cockpit, compared with air-

craft that have conventional control wheelcontrols and long center consoles. Plan onflying with a knee board, if there’s someoneoccupying the right front seat. Chart and navpublications storage volume is limited with-out the availability of the right front seatcushion as an ersatz chart table.

Long-legged pilots may find it necessaryto move the rudder pedals aft and positionthe crew seat well aft to avoid interferencebetween the side stick and outboard knee.Still, the forward section of the fuselagecurves inward toward the nose, so room inthe cockpit isn’t nearly as generous as in the

main cabin. Cabin interior shape, thoughsmal ler, f ee l s a l i t t le l ike a P iagg io P180 Avanti — relatively tight up front androomy in the midsection.

The throttle position in the short centerconsole requires an unsupported reach.Production aircraft will have crew seat arm-rests, in addition to passenger chair armrests,providing a place to rest one’s forearm behindthe throttles.

The Eclipse 500 promises to be the easiestto fly twin-engine aircraft yet built, piston orturbine, because of its docile flying character-istics and systems automation. This starts withits AVIO Total Aircraft Integration system, adesign that goes far beyond conventionalavionics integration. AVIO connects with vir-tually every system on the aircraft, includingthe engines, avionics, dual zone climate con-trol, pressurization and electrical components.When fully developed, it will have interactivenormal checklists and abnormal/emergencychecklists that are automatically called up inresponse to system malfunctions.

AVIO can be compared to Dassault’s EASycockpit, although perhaps it’s even more in-tegrated with aircraft systems. Both AVIOand EASy take some time to master becausethey’re essentially required crewmembers, al-beit digital entities, on the flight deck. Bothsystems feature interactive system synopticsthat are used to control functions, as well asmonitor them. Once a pilot masters AVIO,the rest of the aircraft will be as easy as a lightpiston twin, but without the hassles of cater-ing to and caring for finicky recip engines,and with virtually no asymmetric thrust.Notably, the aircraft will have better one-en-gine-inoperative takeoff performance thanmost FAR Part 23 twin turboprops, butVMCA will be considerably lower than stallspeed in any configuration.

Switch and knob position conventions arelogical. When the switch blades are in thedown position, the function is off, open ordisabled. Up is for activation or normal in-flight mode. Knobs are positioned left for off,12 o’clock for normal and right for special orabnormal functions. The LED nav lightscome on as soon as electrical power from anysource is switched on. The red LED beaconsand white LED strobes are controlled by asingle three-position switch with off, beaconand beacon/strobe stops.

Starting the aircraft consists of flicking upfive electrical panel switches, checking bat-tery or external power voltage and thenpressing down and turning each engine con-trol knob from the nine o’clock to 12 o’clockposition. The on-side fuel boost pump auto-matically operates, the starter spins up theengine and the FADEC handles all the otherchores. After start, the generator automati-cally comes on line in production aircraft and

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The one-piece main spars are unusually stout fora 5,650-pound MTOW aircraft. The Eclipse 500should sail through static and fatigue tests atSouth West Research Institute in San Antonio.

Production aircraft wings will be built by Fuji Heavy Industries. The interior structure has very few partsoutside of the one-piece main- and aft-wing spars and a dozen or so one-piece chord-wise ribs all pro-duced by high-speed CNC mills.

the boost pump shuts off. Each engine’sFADEC automatically terminates the start incase of a malfunction.

Interior sound levels, even with the testaircraft’s acoustical insulation package, werelow. The engine inlets are well behind the aftpressure bulkhead and partially masked bythe fuselage midsection contours. Total fuelflow at idle was 197 pph.

Each of the PW610F turbofans, in currentconfiguration, produces about 40 pounds ofidle thrust. Once the aircraft is rolling, fre-quent use of wheel brakes is needed to checktaxi speed. An upcoming FADEC soft-ware revision should reduce ground idlethrust to 25 pounds of thrust. That shouldalleviate most of the need to use the brakesduring taxi and also reduce ground idle fuelflow.

Nosewheel steering authority during taxithrough the rudder pedals is mushy at best,in B&CA’s opinion. We’d like to see pedalsteering made crisper. Tight turns requireliberal use of differential braking. The aft-mounted engines are spaced so closely to-gether that using differential thrust to tightenthe turn is virtually ineffective.

Takeoff V speeds for our flights werepadded by five to 10 knots, pending full ex-pansion of the flight envelope. Rotation, forinstance, was pegged at 94 KIAS and liftoffwas set for 100 KIAS. We set the fowler flapsto 10 degrees for takeoff, a position thatcauses them to move aft on their tracks byseveral inches, thereby increasing wing chordfor substantially more lift.

The OAT was 34°C, local altimeter was30.10 and Albuquerque’s field elevation is5,355 feet, so density altitude was close to8,375 feet. The hot-and-high field conditionssapped engine performance, but the PW610Fhas an APR feature that boosts thrust by10 percent if needed in the event of a one-engine-inoperative takeoff.

Once cleared for takeoff on Runway 08, wepushed up the throttle levers to the stops.Fuel flow stabilized at 955 pph. Accelerationwas modest, as expected, in light of the hot-and-high conditions. We rotated at 94 KIAS,noting a little more aft stick force requiredthan one might expect in an airplane weigh-ing less than three tons. That’s undoubtedlythe result of the main landing gear being po-sitioned well aft of the center of gravity. Oncewe lifted off at 100 KIAS, considerably lessstick force was needed to control pitch. Rollcontrol authority was good, but a little heavyin force. Eclipse engineers plan modificationsthat will reduce roll control effort. Passingthrough 400 feet agl, we retracted the flapsat 110 KIAS and reduced thrust for climb,noting 830 pph total fuel flow.

As speed increased, we observed that therewas only modest pitch force change with air-

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AVIO – The Next Step in Total Aircraft IntegrationFew aircraft in the world have more avionics and systems integration than the Eclipse.Most aircraft that boast this level of integration actually have federated systems,collections of independent systems and avionics boxes that function like a union ofindependent member states.

Not so with AVIO. This truly is a full integration of avionics using hub-and-spoke ar-chitecture between the core computers and virtually everything electrically poweredon the aircraft. AVIO’s dual computers replace dozens of stand-alone computers in-stalled on other light jets. The core hub hosts FADECs, FMS, secondary flight controls,autothrottle, digital flight control system and control of landing gear, pressurizationand air-conditioning.

AVIO will set new standards for light jet avionics performance. It will have a fully func-tional FMS that supports all ARINC 424 procedures and airways navigation, full au-thority autothrottles, weight-and-balance and airport performance computers withautomatic V speed bugging on the PFD. Comm and nav radio frequencies will bestored in the FMS and popped into the standby windows of those radios at the touchof a button. The FMS will host a simplified advisory VNAV function and it will supportall types of WAAS approaches, including precision approach procedures.

The large central MFD will feature full EICAS, interactive normal, abnormal andemergency checklists, graphic system synoptics and system control functions. Thefinal version will have single-level access to all menus, controlled by individual line se-lect keys or knob controls.

Dual aviation grade byte-flight data busses, as well as some conventional ARINC-spec links, are used as the communications spokes between components and AVIO’stwin central computers. The system has extensive maintenance history and ex-ceedance event logging capabilities. As an added benefit, AVIO’s total integrationwill result in lower manufacturing costs.

With the exceptions of the manually operated primary flight controls and hydraulicwheel brakes, every other system on the aircraft is electrically actuated. Left- andright-side engine-driven generators, plus forward and aft batteries, power all the elec-trical systems. Virtually all motors are long-wear DC brushless designs, except for thestarter/generators. Stepper motors, slaved to the FADECs, schedule fuel flow to theengines.

What if both generators fail? Statistically, that’s mighty improbable based uponover 40 years of business jet operating history. But if that were to occur, there’s stillat least 30 minutes of battery power. After half an hour, the pilot can shut down oneengine, if needed for descent and landing, to control thrust and then use gear andflaps to modulate speed. On short final, the other engine can be shut down and theaircraft can be stopped on the runway using wheel brakes.

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speed change, a possible result of airfoil de-sign and the T-tail configuration. It was easyto keep up with pitch trim changes as air-speed increased, using the four-position ele-vator/aileron trim switch atop the side stick.It has a comfortable rate of travel that ac-commodates rapid trim changes up withpitch force changes at low speed and avoidsover trimming at high speed.

The aircraft has excellent short periodpitch and roll stability, plus strong spiral sta-bility. Although yaw stability isn’t its strongsuit, prompt rudder pedal inputs quicklydampen oscillations. In addition, the rudderon the test aircraft has yet to be modifiedwith production-configuration trailing edgewedges that should promote clean flow sep-aration and help dampen yaw perturbations.

Without rudder inputs, the aircraft has anatural 2.5-second yaw period and prominentyaw-roll coupling (Dutch roll), especiallywith its short coupling about all three axes.The aircraft has very little rotational or trans-lational inertia. Production aircraft will be fit-ted with yaw dampers.

The stability checks also revealed notice-able latency in the PFD and standby attitudeindicator. Yaw, pitch and roll indicationslagged actual aircraft attitude changes by sev-eral degrees. This display latency also is no-ticeable when making system configurationchanges through AVIO. An upcoming soft-ware update from Avidyne, supplier of the dis-plays and radios, should solve latencyproblems. The Eclipse 500 has very little in-ertia because it’s so lightweight. Slam thethrottle forward and you’ll notice immediateacceleration, initially accompanied by a slightnose-down pitching moment. Pull the thrustlevers to idle and the aircraft slows down rightaway, however, at first, with a slight nose-uppitching moment caused by thrust reduction.

At 15,000 feet, we checked low altitudemax cruise speed performance. At a weightof 5,270 pounds, the aircraft achieved an in-dicated airspeed of 223 KIAS and a cruisespeed of 288 KTAS while burning 760 pph inISA+26°C conditions. At 200 KIAS, fuel flowdropped to 650 pph and the aircraft cruisedat 260 KTAS. Fuel flow was 560 pph at 180KIAS, 425 pph at 150 and 380 pph at 120KIAS. Down at 15,000 feet, the Eclipse 500achieved specific ranges of 0.37 nm/lb to 0.41nm/lb, depending upon cruise speed. It’s es-sential to put these numbers into context.Serial number 109 has substantially more air-frame drag than a production aircraft becauseof the relatively abrupt transition betweenthe wing deice boots and the wing top sur-face, plus it has numerous exposed washersthat secure various composite pieces onto thealuminum airframe.

Cruise performance was better at FL 250,as expected. That’s as high as we could fly

pending the outcome of high-speed fluttertests that were slated for June. At a weight of5,100 pounds, we accelerated to 170 KIAS.The aircraft cruised at 255 KTAS while burn-ing 480 pph. Slowing to 154 KIAS, fuel flowdropped to 400 pph and the aircraft cruised at231 KTAS — a speed not unlike that of anentry-level twin turboprop. We concludedthat while the Eclipse 500 indeed is efficient,it’s still a jet. Maximum speed and range per-formance will require flying in the mid- tohigh thirties.

Slow speed handling is one of the aircraft’sstrong suits. Extending the gear produces anoticeable, but easily controllable, nose-uppitching moment while the gear is in transi-tion. Extending the flaps to the first notch,the takeoff position, also produces a mildnose-up pitching moment. Further extensionto the approach position causes a slight nose-down pitching moment. The transition tofull flaps causes very little trim change. Theelectric trim has plenty of rate authority tokeep up with such configuration-inducedtrim changes and there’s ample thrust tocheck deceleration, even at 15,000 feet.

The landing pattern is where the Eclipse500 excels relative to other turbine aircraft,as well as most piston twins still in produc-tion. We entered downwind, slowing to 110KIAS in the clean configuration. The aircraftwas quite comfortable at that speed with am-ple stall margin, but the nose was cocked upat five-plus degrees. We extended the flaps to

the 10-degree takeoff position, enabling us tolower the nose to an almost flat attitude.There was some aerodynamic noise from theflaps, and a slight increase in thrust wasneeded to stabilize at 110 KIAS.

We flew the pattern fairly tightly, extend-ing the gear when abeam the downwindnumbers along with approach flaps. Weturned to base almost immediately andslowed to 100 KIAS. Turning final, we ex-tended the flaps to the landing position andslowed to 85 KIAS, the slowest we could flyuntil stall testing is complete. Even so, thatspeed was the slowest we’ve yet flown an ap-proach to landing in a civil jet. It was consid-erably slower than we could fly in virtuallyany twin turboprop business aircraft. We’dnot feel comfortable flying that slowly on fi-nal in most piston twins.

About 30 feet above the runway we pulledthe throttles to idle. The aircraft deceleratedquickly in the flare. There was plenty ofground effect to cushion the landing and thegenerous travel, trailing link landing gearmade for a soft touchdown. After severaltouch-and-goes, we concluded that it’s vir-tually impossible to make a bad landing inthe Eclipse 500.

On one touch-and-go, we retarded theright throttle to idle at rotation to simulate aone-engine-inoperative takeoff. Mild rudderpressure checked the yaw rate and the aircraftclimbed straight ahead with very little aileroninput. After gear retraction, we recorded a500 fpm climb in spite of Albuquerque’s hot-and-high density altitude conditions.

Our final approach was Tomeny’s trade-mark Simulated Flameout approach, startingout at high key above the runway downwindnumbers, not unlike a single-engine fighterthat’s run out of fuel. But in the Eclipse 500,we only had to be 2,000 feet agl above therunway at high key at 120 KIAS, descendingat idle to and 1,000 feet agl at low key abeamthe numbers. We extended the gear and flapsto approach and flew a right racetrack pat-tern to final, slowing to 100 KIAS with 90 de-grees turn to go and 500 feet agl remainingaltitude. On final, we slowed to 90 KIAS andcoasted in for a smooth touchdown. Runwaydeceleration was sluggish, though. There isexcessive ground idle thrust pending aFADEC software revision; furthermore, welanded with a slight tailwind and the wheelbrakes were a little spongy.

All of this seemed fairly routine until wereturned home and jumped into an F33ABonanza the following weekend. It was thenwe put the two Eclipse 500 flights into per-spective. This is an aircraft that promisesbetter-than-Citation II cruise speed, twin-piston fuel efficiency in cruise and almostBonanza-like docility in the landing pattern.In less than three hours in the Eclipse 500,

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Generous ground effect and long-travel, trailing-link main landing gear all but eliminate any possibility of making a bad landing. The landinggear are electrically actuated. The only hydraulicsystem on the aircraft is the wheel brakes.

we felt far more comfortable than afterdozens of hours in any single- or multi-engine turboprop. In our opinion, any pilotwho has mastered a high-performance pis-ton twin will find the Eclipse 500 far easierto fly, especially in the event of an enginefailure on takeoff.

Nine Months Until TC, If . . .Raburn and his team believe that they canearn FAA type certification by March 31,2006. They allow that the program is 45 daysbehind schedule in late May and that the“largest area of concern is now the flight testprogram.” Last winter’s El Niño put an IFRdamper on test flying for several days.N503EA, the first fully conforming test air-craft, flew only 18 hours in the first 90 days,but it then flew three times that amount inthe following 60 days.

But flight test progress is accelerating.N503EA was a work in progress on its firsttwo flights on Dec. 31, 2004. One wing hada slight warp, the nosewheel was prone toshimmy, the cabin wouldn’t pressurize andthe engines were difficult to start because ofthe experimental brushless AC starter/gen-erators. That’s all been cleaned up now. Anew wing has been fitted to the airplane, pro-duction starters have been installed, a newnosegear has been fitted and all systems arego. The aircraft will be dedicated to FAA cer-tification testing for mechanical systems.

N502EA (s.n. 103), the second flight testaircraft, first flew on April 14, 2005 andshortly it will start high-altitude flutter tests,with full FAA certification testing for aero-dynamics and structures to follow. N504EA(s.n. 109), first flown on April 21 and thatwhich we flew for this report, will be used forAVIO, avionics and systems development,among other tasks. N505EA, the first of twobeta-test aircraft, was to enter flight test bymid-June, pending engine deliveries. Thefuselage of N506EA, the second beta-test air-craft, is nearly complete and it’s almost readyfor wing mate. The static test article has beenshipped to Southwest Research Institute inSan Antonio, and the fatigue test article air-frame soon will have its tailcone mounted tothe airframe. Soon thereafter, wing mate will occur.

The flight test team has a new U.S. AirForce fighter pilot can-do approach due tothe influence of Tomeny, who is expected toattract like-minded test pilots to the Eclipse500 development program. The pace offlight test operations is accelerating and thetrend is fast absorbing the 45-day lag in pro-gram development. Type inspection author-ization now is slated for August, a lean sevenmonths prior to Eclipse’s March 31, 2006,goal for type certification.

Every aspect of the program under the di-

rect control of Eclipse employees appears tobe proceeding apace. Reminiscent of theLarry Bossidy era at AlliedSignal, most folksat Eclipse now view weekends as workdayswith less road traffic and fewer phone calls.Having already raised nearly $400 million inequity, Raburn has launched a final round ofprivate equity fund-raising, with the goal ofpreparing for full-scale production, trainingand support, as well as aircraft type certifica-tion. “We’re going to keep fortifying thiscompany” to assure its success and growth,Raburn asserts.

But Raburn and others seem a little edgy

when probed about the fitness of certain out-side vendors. Chief Financial Officer PeterReed, senior vice president of finance and ad-ministration, is wearing out the carpet be-tween his office and Raburn’s as the two meetseveral times per day to discuss supplierproblems, such as technical developmentprogress, production process controls, over-due certification documents and ramp up ca-pacity deficiencies.

Eclipse officials are stepping up their on-site visits to vendor facilities. Several vendorswill be able to meet Eclipse’s goal of build-ing 150 aircraft in 2006, but some will strug-gle to ramp up to a production rate of 600aircraft per year in 2007. Eclipse now has 40people working full time on supplier rampup issues in 2007 and 2008.

Raburn remains confident Eclipse canmake its March 31, 2006, type certificationgoal, “but there are a number of events on thepart of the vendors that drive the game.”While he avows the deadline is achievable, healso admits “we’re out of pad.” He’s hopeful,but he admits “there are days when it getsvery frustrating, when I get very tired. If I hadknown how hard it would be, I probablywouldn’t have done it.”

In the midst of all of this, Raburn has beenhighly complimentary of the support Eclipsehas received from the FAA. “The regulatoryprocess has not been a surprise and I believethat it’s the most maligned process in avia-tion.” The FAA has furnished many more so-lutions than problems, according to Raburn.It’s basically a matter of explaining your caseto the right FAA people, he maintained.

Paraphrasing Charles Dickens, Raburn saysit’s been the best of times and the worst oftimes. One of his biggest challenges has beenan aviation supply chain that’s geared up for1950s technology, production methods andquality control. His biggest surprise has beenthe quality of people Eclipse has attracted tothe program, folks from Boeing, the U.S.Navy and U.S. Air Force flight test center andgeneral aviation veterans, plus fresh all-staraviation graduates from the University ofNorth Dakota and Embry-Riddle.

While the odds that Eclipse will win its raceto March 31, 2006, type certification may notbe in Raburn’s favor, it would be imprudentto underestimate him, based upon his abilityto overcome formidable challenges from thestart of the program.

Besides, that date may be irrelevant to thefirst customers. From what we’ve seen on theground and in flight, a few extra days, someweeks or even a couple of months will be wellworth the wait. When initial Eclipse 500 de-liveries begin in 2006, the face of general avi-ation could change as much as it did over 40 years ago when first deliveries of the Learjet 23 began. B&CA

N505EA and N506EA, the two beta-test Eclipse500 aircraft, are nearing final assembly. Theseaircraft also will be used, if needed, to supple-ment the flight test aircraft to finish the programon schedule so that type certification can beearned by March 31, 2006.

LED position and strobe lights at the wingtipshave 10,000-plus-hour service lives. This is partof Eclipse’s drive to improve dispatch reliabilityby several orders of magnitude over current pro-duction light jets.

Posted from Aviation Week, July 2005, copyright by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. with all rights reserved. This reprint implies no endorsement, either tacit or expressed, of any company, product, service or investment opportunity.

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