Company Appears To Have Home Plate In Sight 

When we last reported on the status of Eclipse Aviation's test fleet in September 2005, ANN commented the company -- with 500 flight hours accumulated among the fleet at that time -- had hit a major milestone, but hadn't quite rounded third base in its quest for home plate. Well, we can now report the company is well past third... and looks to have its eye squarely on the catcher.

Wednesday, Eclipse's fleet surpassed 1,000 flight hours test hours in just over 750 flights. Not bad for the company that started with one flying test airplane just over a year ago... and has managed to accumulate 500 more flight hours in a shade over three months.

"We designed the Eclipse 500 to provide our customers with an unprecedented dispatch rate," said Eclipse President and CEO Vern Raburn, "and we're experiencing the benefits of this commitment firsthand as our test fleet achieves critical test points and builds hours at an astonishing rate."

The Eclipse 500 test fleet is comprised of seven aircraft -- including five flying aircraft, one static test airframe and one fatigue airframe. The static airframe successfully completed certification static testing in September, 2005. Each of the company's flight test jets has achieved a series of milestones in a focused area of testing:

• N502EA is the aerodynamic and structures certification test aircraft. This aircraft has completed tests for flutter, stall characteristics, longitudinal and lateral handling qualities, and performance development.

• N503EA is the mechanical systems and powerplant certification test aircraft. This aircraft has completed testing the powerplant installation, initial powerplant operating characteristics, fuel system, pressurization system, environmental control system, landing gear, flaps, foreign object damage (FOD) and water ingestion.

• N504EA is the avionics and electronics certification test aircraft. This aircraft has completed testing for avionics development, powerplant drainage, smoke clearing, and the interior and exterior lighting system. N504EA will also be used to certify the communications/navigation system, the Flight Management System (FMS) and the autopilot.

• N505EA is a beta test aircraft that has completed lightning testing, attitude heading reference system (AHRS) developmental testing and night flying evaluation. The aircraft is currently undergoing high intensity radio field (HIRF) testing in Patuxent River, MD, and will soon undergo function and reliability testing. (The aircraft also, inadvertently, demonstrated the airframe's resilience in a gear-up landing.)

• N506EA is a beta aircraft that has been touring the southern US since last November, as part of Eclipse's national tour to allow potential customers to see the airplane up close. Six-Echo-Alpha has visited cities in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and California, and over the next month is scheduled to go back to Florida and California, and then on to Arizona and Nevada.

Eclipse currently expects to receive FAA certification for the 500 by May of this year, with customer deliveries to begin soon thereafter.

FMI: www.eclipseaviation.com