FAA Approves Eclipse Jet Extended Service Life | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-10.28.24

Airborne-NextGen-10.29.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.30.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.24.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.25.24

Fri, Jun 07, 2013

FAA Approves Eclipse Jet Extended Service Life

Company Says The Jet Should Fly For Over 50 Years

The FAA has approved the extension of the service life of the Eclipse 500 & 550 aircraft to 20,000 hours / 20,000 cycles with unlimited calendar life. This provides the typical Eclipse Jet owner with over 50 years of safe operation.

The announcement was made Thursday at an Eclipse Aerospace Customer Event, held at the Albuquerque production facility. "Once again, Eclipse has delivered on our commitment to our customers. To reach this goal, Eclipse invested hundreds of hours and several million dollars into this project. An actual Eclipse Jet was subject to the movements, loads, and fatigue that would normally be experienced over more than 60,000 flight operations. This testing also validated the strength and superiority of our patented Friction Stir Welding process," said Cary Winter, SVP of Engineering, Manufacturing, and Technical Operations.

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is the cornerstone of Eclipse's success in improving airframe strength. The FSW process, which is unique in aviation to Eclipse Aerospace, replaces the requirement to manually drill holes and install over 7,000 rivets in the airframe. Because rivet holes create opportunities for stress cracks to form, the elimination of rivet holes and the strength provided by the FSW welded joint provides an airframe that is three times stronger than a traditional riveted airframe. This added structural strength in the Eclipse Jet airframe results in a longer life and safer aircraft for EAI customers.

An aircraft's service life is based on a combination of pressurization cycles, the aerodynamic loads experienced in flight, and landing loads. Each time an aircraft is flown, its fuselage and wings are subject to various stresses. Aircraft manufacturers anticipate these loads and design the aircraft to safely operate well beyond its established service life. This approach assures that the aircraft will provide safe, carefree service throughout its life.

While every Eclipse 550 will be delivered with a 20,000 hour / 20,000 cycle airframe, this life extension will also apply to the previously manufactured Eclipse 500 aircraft. "When we started Eclipse Aerospace, we made a commitment to support our customers. This airframe life extension is yet another fulfillment of that commitment," said Mason Holland, CEO of Eclipse Aerospace. "We have great customers who have been very loyal and supportive of EAI and we want to thank them for sharing this journey back to production by offering them the opportunity to have their Eclipse aircraft participate in this life extension program at no additional cost."

FMI: www.eclipse.aero

Advertisement

More News

Senator Pushes FAA to Accelerate Rocket Launch Licensing

States That Current Process is Damaging National Aerospace Development US Senator Jerry Morgan is pushing the FAA to speed up the process for rocket launch licensing. He argues tha>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: RJ Gritter - Part of Aviation’s Bright New Future

From 2015 (YouTube Edition): Model Aviator Aims For Full-Scale Career While at the 2015 Indoor Electric RC Festival, referred to as eFest, ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell>[...]

Aero-FAQ: Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories -- ITBOA BNITBOB

Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories ITBOA BNITBOB ... what does that mean? It's not gibberish, it's a lengthy acronym for "In The Business Of Aviation ... But Not In The Busine>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (10.27.24)

Aero Linx: Cardinal Flyers Online The Cardinal Flyers Online Web site was created and is maintained by me, Keith Peterson. My wife Debbie and I have owned a 1976 RG since 1985. Wit>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.27.24): Clearance Void If Not Off By (Time)

Clearance Void If Not Off By (Time) Used by ATC to advise an aircraft that the departure release is automatically canceled if takeoff is not made prior to a specified time. The exp>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC