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.

FMI: www.pwc.ca