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Eclipse 500
The Eclipse 500 (model EA500) is a very light jet (VLJ) originally produced by Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The company was founded in 1998 to develop the 1997 Williams V-Jet II demonstrator. The prototype first flew with Williams EJ22 turbofans on August 26, 2002. The engines were replaced by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610Fs in 2004 and Eclipse Aviation won the Collier Trophy in February 2006 for the design. A provisional FAA type certification was received on 27 July 2006 and the first delivery occurred on 31 December 2006.
The six-seat aircraft has an all-metal airframe with a T-tail and straight wings. It is powered by two turbofan engines in aft fuselage-mounted nacelles.
Production of the Eclipse 500 was halted in October 2008 due to lack of funding, after 260 aircraft had been delivered. On November 25, 2008, Eclipse Aviation entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, then Chapter 7 liquidation on 24 February 2009. In August 2009, Eclipse Aerospace bought the Eclipse Aviation assets, and announced the Eclipse 550 update in October 2011. Eclipse Aerospace was merged into One Aviation in April 2015, which entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in February 2021.
AML Global Eclipse maintains support for all Eclipse aircraft.
The Eclipse 500 is based on the Williams V-Jet II, which was designed and built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites in 1997 for Williams International as a testbed and demonstrator for their new FJX-2 turbofan engine. The aircraft and engine debuted at the 1997 Oshkosh Airshow.
The V-Jet II had an all-composite structure with a forward-swept wing, a V-tail, each fin of which was mounted on the nacelle of one of the two engines. Williams had not intended to produce the aircraft, but it attracted a lot of attention, and Eclipse Aviation was founded in 1998 to further develop and produce the aircraft. The prototype and sole V-Jet II aircraft in existence was obtained by Eclipse Aviation, along with the program. The prototype was donated to the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 2001.
Originally Eclipse selected a pair of Williams International EJ-22 engines (a production variant of the FJ22/FJX-2) for the Eclipse 500, but as the aircraft's weight increased, performance was not satisfactory. The prototype Eclipse 500 first flew with the Williams FJ22 engines on August 26, 2002.
Pratt & Whitney Canada agreed to participate in the project, and modified the design of their PW615 engine, designating it the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F. The redesign to incorporate the new engines resulted in a significant delay to the development program. The first flight of the Eclipse 500 with the PW610 engines occurred on December 31, 2004. Eclipse claims that its aircraft is "the quietest jet aircraft" and that it is "quieter than virtually all multi engine turboprop and piston aircraft".
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Eclipse 500
The Eclipse 500 (model EA500) is a very light jet (VLJ) originally produced by Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The company was founded in 1998 to develop the 1997 Williams V-Jet II demonstrator. The prototype first flew with Williams EJ22 turbofans on August 26, 2002. The engines were replaced by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610Fs in 2004 and Eclipse Aviation won the Collier Trophy in February 2006 for the design. A provisional FAA type certification was received on 27 July 2006 and the first delivery occurred on 31 December 2006.
The six-seat aircraft has an all-metal airframe with a T-tail and straight wings. It is powered by two turbofan engines in aft fuselage-mounted nacelles.
Production of the Eclipse 500 was halted in October 2008 due to lack of funding, after 260 aircraft had been delivered. On November 25, 2008, Eclipse Aviation entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, then Chapter 7 liquidation on 24 February 2009. In August 2009, Eclipse Aerospace bought the Eclipse Aviation assets, and announced the Eclipse 550 update in October 2011. Eclipse Aerospace was merged into One Aviation in April 2015, which entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in February 2021.
AML Global Eclipse maintains support for all Eclipse aircraft.
The Eclipse 500 is based on the Williams V-Jet II, which was designed and built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites in 1997 for Williams International as a testbed and demonstrator for their new FJX-2 turbofan engine. The aircraft and engine debuted at the 1997 Oshkosh Airshow.
The V-Jet II had an all-composite structure with a forward-swept wing, a V-tail, each fin of which was mounted on the nacelle of one of the two engines. Williams had not intended to produce the aircraft, but it attracted a lot of attention, and Eclipse Aviation was founded in 1998 to further develop and produce the aircraft. The prototype and sole V-Jet II aircraft in existence was obtained by Eclipse Aviation, along with the program. The prototype was donated to the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 2001.
Originally Eclipse selected a pair of Williams International EJ-22 engines (a production variant of the FJ22/FJX-2) for the Eclipse 500, but as the aircraft's weight increased, performance was not satisfactory. The prototype Eclipse 500 first flew with the Williams FJ22 engines on August 26, 2002.
Pratt & Whitney Canada agreed to participate in the project, and modified the design of their PW615 engine, designating it the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F. The redesign to incorporate the new engines resulted in a significant delay to the development program. The first flight of the Eclipse 500 with the PW610 engines occurred on December 31, 2004. Eclipse claims that its aircraft is "the quietest jet aircraft" and that it is "quieter than virtually all multi engine turboprop and piston aircraft".
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