Company Expands Operating Envelope; Confirms Jet's Superior Low-Speed Handling

Eclipse has given ANN a look at key findings from the past three months of Eclipse 500 flight testing. Aircraft 100 has now completed more than 30 flights, allowing Eclipse to examine the jet's low-speed characteristics up to 200 knots at altitudes below 18,000 feet.

"Our advanced telemetry system enables engineers to view more than 600 channels of data real-time in a ground station," said Vern Raburn, president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation. "This has allowed our flight test program to advance at a faster rate than other programs, providing a wealth of systems and aerodynamic performance data that has fulfilled our requirements for Aircraft 100. These results give us great confidence."

Aircraft 100 was built on production tooling and provides an excellent testbed to confirm the aerodynamic characteristics of the Eclipse 500. The test aircraft has been equipped with interim engines to enable Eclipse to conduct the majority of the aerodynamic development work prior to receiving the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F engines that will be used on the production aircraft.

Chief Test Pilot Cites Excellent Handling

The Eclipse 500 flight test program has analyzed low-speed handling characteristics and systems operations including landing gear operations and flap operations. Most recently, Eclipse examined aircraft handling during stalls at various center of gravity (CG) positions. In addition to determining stall speeds at the forward and mid-CG, flight test engineers have collected data on control surface effectiveness, control stick forces, aircraft attitude and flow visualization of both wings' upper surfaces during the stall and post-stall recovery. These tests demonstrated the Eclipse 500's excellent low-speed handling and benign stall characteristics exhibiting little wing drop, no force lightening and no tendency for deep stall.

"I've led flight testing for a number of well known airplanes, but I must admit that this airplane has been the best yet - I'm extremely impressed with its docile handling and stall characteristics," said Bill Bubb, chief test pilot at Eclipse Aviation.

The remainder of Aircraft 100 flight testing will be completed before year-end and will further investigate aircraft stability and stall characteristics while moving the CG to the far aft position, leading to an aerodynamic design validation prior to building the next aircraft. Altogether, there will be eight test aircraft in the Eclipse 500 test program, five further flight test aircraft and two airframes that will be used for structural testing.

Maneuvers Put Eclipse 500 to the Test

Aircraft 100 has validated aerodynamics and systems in a variety of conditions and scenarios including:

• Examination at speeds ranging from 200 knots to 67 knots, including initial flutter testing up to 200 knots
• Testing in highly turbulent conditions and at altitudes of up to 17,500 feet
• Pitot-static system calibration to establish the accuracy of the air-data system
• Handling characteristics investigations throughout the speed range, including acceleration to 2.5 g's
• Single-engine operations including engine in-flight restarts
• Analysis of the landing gear operation throughout the speed range, including emergency extensions
• Testing of flaps to their final maximum operating speed
• Operation of the fuel system and testing of both fuel transfer and emergency fuel pump operation
• Engagement of the basic features of the Avio avionics system, including system synoptic pages

FMI: www.eclipseaviation.com