Investors in Raburn's 'Technological Transformation' Find Much
To Celebrate
As the morning worked
its way towards lunchtime, Eclipse selected several of their senior
staffers to provide presentations on certain critical aspects of
the Eclipse airframe and the future Eclipse support network. Most
important, though, was an overall update on the progress of the
aircraft's physical development. Matt Brown, the Avio project
manager for Eclipse, brought everybody up to date on all things
avionics, while Mike McConnell, the Vice President Of Sales And
Customer Support talked about future maintenance and customer
support issues for the Eclipse program.
But… it was the overall Eclipse 500 update, done up by
Oliver Masefield, that was easily one of the most worthwhile
presentations of the day. Masefield is a Senior VP/Senior Fellow
for Eclipse and one of the brightest minds in the Eclipse universe.
This is a very sharp guy who knows how to get to what everyone
wanted to hear.
His system by system update on every aspect of the airframe was
met with absolute silence as over 300 future Eclipse operators hung
on his every word. One of Masefield's areas of concentration was
his description of the electronic aspects of the Eclipse 500 (also
detailed by Brown). Virtually every system in the Eclipse
airframe is managed by a product called Avio. Avio is designed to
be more than an avionics suite, and represents one of the most
sophisticated efforts in light aircraft systems integration we've
seen in an aircraft of this category.
The Avio system boasts something that Eclipse calls "total
aircraft integration," which manages electrical power distribution,
systems management and control, cabin condition, as well as more
conventional avionics and automated flight programs. Virtually
every aspect of the aircraft is controlled through Avio, while the
overall health of the aircraft and its individual components can be
monitored by the pilot via the big cockpit displays and ample
annunciators. If anything is found to be heading down the tubes, it
is brought to the pilot's attention as soon as possible --
and often before a situation goes from difficult to critical
(and hopefully long before it evolves to "oh crap…").
Despite what some of the Eclipse rumors may say (and let's face it,
there are a ton of them), we can confirm that the Eclipse 500
boasts multiple power sources and a fair amount of electrical and
electronic system redundancy.
Great attention to individual componentry, and certain aspects
of troublesome aircraft hardware that have been problem-prone in
other designs have convinced the Eclipse design team to utilize
hardware such as brushless motors and capacitance gauges to improve
reliability. They've also elected to keep things as simple as
possible, with a very conventional flight control system that
utilizes pushrods, cables, and pullies, as well as simple
electronically actuated trim systems that are controlled by
brushless motors. The Eclipse 500 will be controlled by two side
sticks on either side of the cockpit, which makes for a roomy
environment for each pilot and contributes to a very airy feel when
strapped in. Eclipse staffers were bragging about the fact that
they designed a cockpit that can accommodate virtually any pilot,
and that every system upfront has been optimized ergonomically - a
pretty heavy boast for such a small airframe. Other creature
comforts include the fact that both pilot and copilot seats are
adjustable in both vertical as well as horizontal modes, both sets
of rudder pedals are adjustable, and all upfront lighting is LED,
even the flashlight.
When it comes to dealing with the Mother Earth, the Eclipse 500
landing gear will use a trailing link design, known for being
brutally strong in most applications, as well as offering smoother
landings to those who get a little bit abrupt in coming to terms
with terra firma. The gear retraction system is also overtly
simple. There are no complicated uplocks and only a single door to
enclose the mains. Electromechanical actuators control the process,
and in the event of a gear failure, the gear is designed to release
and free-fall in an emergency (the thud of the gear
free-falling into position is the ONLY thud you want to hear
when you have a problem with your airplane…).
The Eclipse cabin is designed to be a pretty comfy place and
expects to offer an 8000 foot cabin at altitudes of 41,000 feet,
using an automatic pressurization system. The Eclipse 500 is the
smallest jet, by far; to use a dual zone heating and cooling
system... a system that can be maintained, even when handicapped by
single engine operations. Eclipse just started talking about the
interior a few months ago (about Oshkosh Time), and more details
were provided at the conference. While the interior designs
certainly look slick and do hint of the luxury that jet travel
would seem to demand, Eclipse claims that the interior sound
level of their bird will be very low, comparable to a Cessna CJ.
They've elected to use all LED lighting, again, in the cabin, and a
number of different seating configurations are available for the
interior, some of which are convertible between flights (a strong
consideration for future air taxi operators).
Despite the tight dimensions inherent in the Eclipse design
(face it, this is no 747), Rayburn's design team has given quite a
bit of thought to crash worthiness and safety. The aft part of
the airframe has been designed in line with the FAA's latest
thinking on rotor burst containment, while seats and structures are
designed to be crashworthy and to offer as much protection to the
occupants as possible.
One way to keep the cabin safe is to allow no fuel in the
passenger cabin, while the combination of low aircraft weight and
low wing loading tends to add to the safety margin. Finally, the
Eclipse's fowler flap design does allow for fairly slow approach
speeds and the elimination of some hazards inherent in higher-speed
operation. By the way; Eclipse has elected to use a stick pusher to
protect the unwary from inadvertent stalls.
Possibly one of the most enduring rumors and
criticisms of the Eclipse program come from those pundits that
claim that the Raburn cannot possibly produce the Eclipse for their
announced purchase price. Well, the pundits may, ultimately, be
right on this one... this weighty final hurdle may be Vern's
undoing. Still, there is no question that everything that
should have been accomplished, up until now, has been -- and in a
fairly ingenious fashion. To those that opine that Vern blew it
when he elected to build a metal airplane instead of a glass one,
he claims that they selected aluminum over a composite design
because it offered a higher level of automation as well as lower
weight... even though it may have cost a little bit more to bring
it to tool up for production.
Their feelings on Friction Stir Welding have not changed
(despite some intense industry negativity from those who have come
to nickname the process "Stir-Fry Welding")... and the many
criticisms of this program appear to be for naught, including the
accusation that this process leads to higher potential for
corrosion -- something that Rayburn indicates that his team has
foreseen and overcome. Their use of friction stir welding has
replaced 7378 rivets with 5354 inches of seamless weld... resulting
in faster build times, stronger joins, and a (truly) better
finish. Ultimately though, a simpler airframe, a lower parts
count, a large number of (easily and cost effectively) machined
parts, and the minimization of actual labor involved in the
fabrication process may be what saves Eclipse's bacon.
To Be Continued (Monday morning)