One Of A Series Of Sequential Prototypes Will Help Develop The Forthcoming EA700

The ONE Aviation 'Canada' program, which ANN exclusively detailed last year for the first time, is about to kick into high gear. A re-winged Eclipse airframe, which will be used to document various aerodynamic aspects of the design upgrade has been shown off publicly prior to a test program that will eventually involved at least three escalating airframe programs before a complete EA700 flies.

A ONE Aviation Spokesman noted that, "ONE Aviation is proud to announce the roll out of N990NE. This is one of our experimental prototypes that has been fitted with a new wing as part of the "Project Canada/EA-700" development. The new wing is one of the exciting features of the new airplane and this roll out represents an important step forward in the development and ultimate certification and production of the new EA-700."

'Project Canada' is an upgrade to the Eclipse 500/550 program and will not require an all new type certificate. The upgraded configuration carries more fuel in a longer wing, with two-foot extensions on each side. The fuselage is being stretched 14 inches for more cabin volume, while the airframe will be powered  Williams International FJ33 engines, and a Garmin cockpit has been selected for the front end. Passenger comfort was augmented via a fuselage stretch that added cargo capacity, as well as more head room. A 4th cabin window brings in more natural light, and seven inches of additional leg room is added to the bird while baggage volume increases by 31%.

N990NE is a 'simple' wing retrofit to test the extended span wing that will be part of the EA700 design... "The plan is to fly the new wing with PW610 engines so we can begin to collect data right away. Another of our Experimental prototypes will be used to gather data on the engines and a third will be used to gather data for the G3000 installation... We are going to test the new engines and new avionics on separate test articles so if there is a delay in any of the programs we can keep moving with the others. The goal is to get a jump start before flying the conforming EA-700 prototype."

The Eclipse EA-700 will offer 373 knots cruise at 43,000 ft to destinations up to 1500 miles away. Details on the upcoming flight test program and the timeline are forthcoming... we'll keep you updated. 

FMI: www.oneaviation.aero