#1 Eclipse: $800k-$900k Range:
Avidyne, no AVIO NG, no 1.5/1.7 or FIKI.What are
the limitations and with auto pilot? ANSWER: Autopilot is only heading
hold, roll hold, altitude capture and hold. Can have a Part 135
but must have Dual Pilots flying, must have Standby
Attitude Indicator (estimated $25k),
must have Co Pilot Package (estimated $25k), Must have 40cu
Oxygen Tank, and is limited because it can NOT be certified to
fly into known icing (FIKI) or
forecasted icing conditions.
#2 Eclipse: $1.3m-$1.4m Range: Has Avio NG 1.7/Fiki.What are the limitations with autopilot? ANSWER: A0utopilot is all
the above plus coupled to course, flight plan, approaches and
provides speed hold. Also will stay engaged in moderate/heavy
turbulence.
Can fly into known icing conditions (FIKI) as long as you have
AVIO 1.5 or higher (1.7) and FIKI. Can be single pilot
certified for Part 135 operations.
#3 Eclipse: $1.85m + Range: Has Avio NG 1.7/Fiki. ANSWER: Autopilot is all the above plus coupled to course,
flight plan, approaches and provides speed hold. Also will stay
engaged in moderate/heavy turbulence.
Can fly into known icing
conditions (FIKI) as long as you have AVIO 1.5 or higher (1.7)
and FIKI. Can be single pilot certified for Part 135
operations.
Offers a completed Integrated Flight Management System (FMS).
The AvioNG Integrated FMS provides coupled LPV approach,
Airway/Victor route navigation,
RNP (Auto/Manual), holding
patterns and procedure turns, parallel offsets, storage for
ninety-nine flight plans, user defined waypoints, nearest
airports and
navigation aids, OBS mode, present and on-route
information. The system includes enhanced graphics such as
integrated on-route e-charts, e-charts overlaid
on the moving
map, freezing levels, winds aloft, stormscope display,
progressive zooming, and Canadian NexRad/Metars and TAFs.
Eclipse Jet Returns to 41,000 Foot
Service Ceiling
EAA AIRVENTURE, OSHKOSH, WI, JULY 25, 2011 —
Eclipse
Aerospace, Inc. (EAI) today announced the approval by the FAA
for all Eclipse Jets to return to a maximum
certified service
ceiling of 41,000 feet. This will be effective for owners and
pilots immediately upon the installation of the recently
recertified combustion liners. EAI and Pratt
and Whitney Canada,
Corp (P&WC) have both been strongly committed to resolving this
issue which previously resulted in carbon buildup on the static
vane on a limited number
of P&WC PW610F engines.
"What an exciting time for Eclipse and our customers. The
return to 41,000 feet has been among the most difficult
challenges to overcome in our restart program. By completing
the
combustion liner replacement project," said Mason Holland,
Chairman and CEO of Eclipse Aerospace. "We are officially
announcing that the commitments to our existing
customers have
all been successfully met. We look forward to continuing to
provide service for our customers while advancing innovations
for the Eclipse Twin- Engine Jet."
Eclipse Jet
Orders Reopened For New Aircraft
NBAA, Las Vegas, NV, October 10, 2011 —
Eclipse Aerospace, Inc. announced
today it is now taking orders for the Eclipse 550, the new
twin-engine jet model in the Eclipse Jet
family. "We're thrilled to be taking this positive
step forward in Eclipse history," said Mason Holland, CEO
and Chairman of Eclipse Aerospace. "We expect a robust
customer
response based on the support we've received from
current Eclipse owners, our suppliers and the aviation
community in general. Ultimate production and production
levels will be
driven by overall market demand, and we
couldn't be more excited or optimistic."
The Eclipse 550 will be a technologically
advanced, twin-engine jet aircraft with a design that
utilizes the same airframe and power plant as the popular
EA-500 model, along with
significant innovations in most
aircraft systems designed to improve overall operations,
direct operating costs, technology, comfort, and
performance.
The Eclipse 550's enhancements will
include expanded aircraft computer systems and integrated
avionics package, which will now support features such as
Auto Throttles,
Synthetic Vision, Enhanced Vision, dual-mode
FMS, TAWS, TCAS-1, ADS-B, on-board color radar, Radar
Altimeter, and iPad data entry integration.
The base price of the Eclipse 550
twin-engine jet is USD $2,695,000 (2011 value). Eclipse
Aerospace expects to produce 50 to 100 aircraft per year
with deliveries beginning in
2013.
Eclipse Aerospace last
week called new altitude
limits on the EA500 very
light jet too restrictive
and unsupported by the data,
but says it is in the final
stages of working on a fix
with engine-maker Pratt &
Whitney to end the limits.
On March 10, FAA issued
an airworthiness directive
(AD) that limits the EA500’s
operating altitude to 30,000
ft. The AD, which
was
released without prior
comment and which takes
effect March 21, supersedes
an existing emergency
directive (AD 2008-24-07)
limiting the aircraft to
37,000 ft.
The original AD was
issued after reports that
hard carbon buildup on the
static vane could cause the
aircraft’s Pratt & Whitney
Canada (P&WC) PW610F-A
engines to surge.
FAA says
since it
released the AD,
engine surges have
continued, a handful of
which occurred below 37,000
ft., the agency says.
“Operating effects may
include a reduction of
available thrust or
an inflight shutdown of the
affected engine,” the agency
says. FAA says the risk of
surge “requires the
immediate adoption of this
AD,” but the agency is
taking comments on
it
through April 25.
Eclipse believes the
issue will be short term,
since it has been working
with P&WC on the completion
of a new combustion liner
for the engines. The liner,
which the companies
expect
to solve the engine surge
problem, is in the final
certification stages,
Eclipse says, adding that it
should be on the market in
about 60 days. But Eclipse also believes
FAA should alter its
approach to the
restrictions. Eclipse, P&WC
and Transport Canada support
continued flight above
30,000 ft. but with a time
limit, the company
says.
“The data supports that
carbon builds up in no
appreciable amounts on any
flight above 30,000 ft.
until the plane has been in
that environment for over 85
minutes,”
Eclipse says. Both
Eclipse
and
P&WC are hoping
to obtain a “correction”
before the AD goes into
effect.
Photo credit: Eclipse
Eclipse Jet Limited
To 30,000 Ft. By FAA !!
Mar 16, 2011 By Kerry Lynch
Did FAA Jump The Gun On Eclipse AD?
Eclipse's Mason Holland Comments And Asserts That Fix Is Already
Underway
The establishment of an AD on the Eclipse for a known problem
with high-altitude operations appears to have been undertaken
even though the problem is both known as well as
in the process
of being fixed.
Eclipse's Mason Holland
and ANN's Jim Campbell
ANN checked with Eclipse Boss Mason Holland and got his input
after the rumor of the pending AD leaked out -- an AD, that
we're told was also opposed by Pratt & Whitney and
Transport
Canada.
"P&WC and EAI are in the final stages of completing a new
combustion liner for the engine to solve the problem and return
the EA-500 back to 41,000 feet. We expect that fix to
be on the
market approximately 60 days. Due to the data we gathered for
P&WC on the isolated engine surge events, P&WC, EAI and
Transport Canada collectively agreed that
the current 37,000
foot AD restriction be revised to include a time limit when
flying above 30,000 feet.
The data supports that carbon builds up in no appreciable
amounts on any flight above 30,000 feet until the plane has been
in that environment for over 85 minutes. However,
based on the
data we provided to the SW ACO, both manufacturers, P&WC and EAI,
believe the AD ultimately issued today is to restrictive, is not
supported by data, and we
are seeking a correction before it
goes into effect in ten days."