Full-Power Run Achieved In Only Five Hours!
The possible roadblocks
to the successful completion of the Eclipse 500 program are falling
one by one... and it's starting to look as if "Raburn's Folly" may
turn into "Raburn's Goldmine."
Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. tells ANN that have
successfully completed the first run of its new PW610F turbine
engine selected by Eclipse Aviation Corporation to power the
twin-engine Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet (VLJ).
The PW610F engine, the smallest member of P&WC's newest
engine family, the PW600, achieved its rated takeoff thrust of 900
pounds after only five hours during the test run, which took place
May 4, 2004. The development engine also completed key performance
and characteristic testing.
"This first run of a PW610F development engine at full takeoff
thrust represents an important milestone in this exciting
development program," said Alain M. Bellemare, President, P&WC.
"The PW610F is on track to undergo flight trials on P&WC's
flying test bed in August, 2004 and deliveries of the first
prototype engines to Eclipse are expected to begin in early
December."
Vern Raburn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eclipse
Aviation, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said first flight of
the production conforming Eclipse 500 with the P&WC engines is
on schedule to take place in Q4 2004. "We have a great partner in
Pratt & Whitney Canada and are extremely pleased by the results
of the PW610F development program to date - the ability to achieve
takeoff thrust during the first run is an example of how well the
program is progressing," he said. "Our customers will benefit from
the outstanding performance and durability of this next generation
engine."
Certification of the PW610F, which is controlled through a
dual-channel FADEC, is expected in the first quarter of 2006 and
customer deliveries of the Eclipse 500 are expected to begin
shortly thereafter.
In case you've been hiding, incommunicado, in a cave
somewhere, the Eclipse 500 is a high performance and highly
affordable aircraft targeting the general aviation market from
pilot-owners to air taxi operators. Equipped with state-of-the-art
digital avionics, featuring total aircraft integration, and
utilizing breakthrough manufacturing techniques, it will be capable
of flying almost 430 mph at altitudes up to 41,000 feet. The order
book for the Eclipse 500 exceeds 2,000 aircraft.
P&WC's PW600 family of general aviation turbofan engines in
the 900 to 3,000 pound thrust range is designed to provide
operators with optimum value and performance while significantly
reducing ownership costs. The 1,350-pound-thrust PW615F engine,
another member of the family, achieved its first run in December
2003 and its first flight April 27, 2004.