The Eclipse 550 is a

very light jet A very light jet (VLJ), entry-level jet or personal jet, previously known as a microjet, is a category of small business jets seating four to eight people. VLJs are considered the lightest business jets and are approved for single-pilot operati ...

initially built by

Eclipse Aerospace Eclipse Aerospace was an American aircraft manufacturer, maintenance and upgrade company. The company provided maintenance and upgrades to the Eclipse 500 fleet and was the manufacturer of the Eclipse 550. The company was formed specifically t ...

and later

One Aviation The One Aviation Corporation, stylized as ONE Aviation, was a company formed in 2015 to merge the aircraft manufacturers Eclipse Aerospace and Kestrel Aircraft. The company had its headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. On ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The aircraft is a development version of the

Eclipse 500 The Eclipse 500 (model EA500) is a very light jet (VLJ) originally produced by Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The company was founded in 1998 to develop the 1997 Williams V-Jet II demonstrator. The prototype firs ...

, which was produced by predecessor Eclipse Aviation. Like the 500, the 550 is a

low-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, six seat, twin engine jet-powered aircraft. The Eclipse 550 is certified for single-pilot operation. The aircraft was announced at the National Business Aviation Association convention in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

in October 2011. The first example was rolled out in March 2013 and the first customer delivery was on 22 October 2013. In March 2017 the company announced that 550 production would end after four more aircraft were completed, to concentrate production on the new Eclipse 700 model of the aircraft. In February 2021, One Aviation entered a

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debto ...

liquidation process.

Development

N580WC Eclipse 550 LX Airflite (11588718635)

The 550 was developed from the earlier Eclipse 500, enabled by

Sikorsky Aircraft Sikorsky Aircraft is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. It was established by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1923 and was among the first companies to manufacture helicopters for civilian and military use. Pre ...

's investment in Eclipse Aerospace in 2010. It retains the 500's airframe and PW610F engines, but incorporates an improved

avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fit ...

package, including

satellite phone A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio through orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. The advantage of a sa ...

autothrottle An autothrottle (automatic throttle, also known as autothrust, A/T) is a system that allows a pilot to control the power setting of an aircraft's engines by specifying a desired flight characteristic, rather than manually controlling the fuel f ...

synthetic vision A synthetic vision system (SVS) is a computer-mediated reality system for aerial vehicles, that uses 3D to provide pilots with clear and intuitive means of understanding their flying environment. Functionality Synthetic vision provides situat ...

and

enhanced vision system An enhanced flight vision system (EFVS, sometimes EVS) is an airborne system which provides an image of the scene and displays it to the pilot, in order to provide an image in which the scene and objects in it can be better detected. In other wo ...

s, as well as

anti-skid brakes An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a safety anti-skid braking system used on aircraft and on land vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing the wheels from locking up during braking, thereby maintai ...

. In May 2012 the company signed a deal with Sikorsky subsidiary

PZL Mielec PZL Mielec (''Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze'' - Polish Aviation Works), formerly WSK-Mielec (''Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego'') and WSK "PZL-Mielec" is a Polish aerospace manufacturer based in Mielec. It is the largest aerospace manufacturer i ...

to have the Polish company build the Eclipse 550 fuselage, empennage and wings, while final aircraft assembly will be carried out by Eclipse Aerospace at their

plant. The initial price for the 550 in 2011 was US$2.695M and production was intended at that time to be 50–100 aircraft per year. The aircraft achieved an FAA production certificate in April 2012. In June 2013 the FAA approved the Eclipse 550 for a fatigue limit of 20,000 hours or 20,000 cycles with an unlimited calendar life. In August 2013 it was announced that the aircraft would incorporate

s, new EFIS software, an

anti-lock braking system An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a safety anti-skid braking system used on aircraft and on land vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing the wheels from locking up during braking, thereby maint ...

and a high-resolution 3.25" x 4.3" standby display. In February 2014 the FAA approved

s and

for the 550. The manufacturer claims the new braking system will stop the aircraft in from normal landing speeds. The first customer delivery of a 550 was completed on 12 March 2014, and 10 had been delivered by August. However, sales had been slow, and employees were laid off.Finfrock, Rob.
Eclipse Blames Layoffs on Sluggish VLJ Sales
''AINonline'', 19 August 2014. Accessed: 4 September 2014. One Aviation received EASA certification for its Eclipse 550 on 18 November 2015, clearing the way for sales of the light twinjet in the European Union and its use for air-taxi service there. The company has deposits from half a dozen European customers awaiting delivery pending certification. Deliveries will begin in January 2016, according to Cary Winter, One Aviation's executive vice president. The only changes required from U.S. production models are to “paint a couple of switches red and change the connector on the door switch,” he said. In March 2017 the company announced that 550 production would end in favour of production of the new "Canada" model of the aircraft.

Eclipse 700

One Aviation is designing an improved $3.495 million "Project Canada" variant that was planned to have its first flight in 2017. A new

wing root The wing root is the part of the wing on a fixed-wing aircraft or winged-spaceship that is closest to the fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, o ...

section will lengthen its span by to , which will increase the wing area to , 13% more, and eliminate the tip tanks to reduce drag. more fuel can be carried to reach , and a higher

MTOW The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...

will increase the useful load to , more. It was initially intended to use

flat rated When an engine is flat rated it means that an engine of high horsepower rating is constrained to a lower horsepower rating. The engine output in this case will always remain the same, but when atmospheric conditions such as high temperatures and h ...

Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615 engines of of thrust. NBAA IFR range will improve to , and it will cruise at at a higher ceiling of . It will have similar takeoff, approach and landing speeds but will need 24% less

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a ...

at sea level and ISA+25 and time to climb to FL400 at ISA+10 will be halved.

Garmin G3000 The Garmin G3000 (and G2000/G5000) is an avionics system designed by Garmin Aviation for light turbine aircraft. The integrated touchscreen system, containing multiple glass cockpit displays, for operating a synthetic vision system, and a thre ...

avionics suite includes

, GFC 700

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...

, Garmin ESP protection system,

LNAV In aviation, lateral navigation (LNAV, usually pronounced ''el-nav'') is azimuth navigation, without vertical navigation (VNAV). Area navigation (RNAV) approach plates include LNAV as a non-precision instrument approach (NPA). When combined with V ...

and

VNAV In aviation, vertical navigation (VNAV, usually pronounced ''vee-nav'') is glidepath information provided during an instrument approach, independently of ground-based navigation aids. An onboard navigation system displays a constant rate descent ...

, and is ADS-B and

RVSM Reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) is the reduction, from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet, of the standard vertical separation required between aircraft flying between flight level 290 (29,000 ft) and flight level 410 (41,000 ft). Expr ...

compliant. In June 2017 it was announced the design would fit

Williams FJ33 The Williams FJ33 is an American family of turbofan jet engines intended for use in very light jet aircraft. The FJ33 is a scaled-down version of the FJ44 engine. The FJ33-5A is the latest version certified in June 2016. Design Engine configu ...

turbofans instead of the PW615s, derated to from . This selection follows the possible end of the PW615 production as a backlog of already developed PW610s components for the

is consumed, and restarting the production line at a low rate and for a short time is uncertain. The production of the 550 could be interrupted as early as in 2017, leaving a gap until "Project Canada" reaches market, which was initially forecast for late 2018 or early 2019, but which was not met. It is intended that "Project Canada" will be eventually designated as the Eclipse EA700, but it requires an additional investment of US$50 million to complete the development. It will compete with similar light business jets like the HondaJet and the

Embraer Phenom 100 The Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 is a light business jet designed and produced by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The project was announced in November 2005. On 26 July 2007, the aircraft made its first flight. It was awarded a typ ...

and also with high-speed single turboprops such as the Daher TBM 930/910. The EA700's fuselage is stretched by and its horizontal stabilizer has a greater span. The FJ33 engines provide better

hot and high In aviation, hot and high is a condition of low air density due to high ambient temperature and high airport elevation. Air density decreases with increasing temperature and altitude. The lower air density reduces the power output from the airc ...

performance with a higher speed and a range of . In 2017 it was forecast that the aircraft would be priced at $3.6 million and by July 2017 had received 30 orders, mostly from current owners, who will benefit from a trade-in program. Certification was expected between January and July 2019, provided that One Aviation secured sufficient investment. Three prototypes are planned: the first, presented in August 2017 and developed from an Eclipse 500, sports an aerodynamically conforming wing and the next, also based on an existing plane, will test the FJ33. The EA700 wing was first flown on an existing fuselage in September 2017. On October 10, 2018, One Aviation announced it had voluntarily filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

. Citiking International, a Chinese-supported company, then acquired the company; and the acquisition was cleared on March 9, 2020. However, in February 2021, it was reported that those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful and that the company's Chapter 11 reorganization case had been converted to a

liquidation process, with United States-based company AML Global Eclipse LLC maintaining support for all current Eclipse aircraft under the name Eclipse Aerospace, Inc.

Operational history

In 2013, Eclipse planned to submit the 550 for the USAF's very light jet requirement, even though that requirement specified FAR Part 25

certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

and the 550 is certified to the less-stringent Part 23."Eclipse Responds To USAF Request for Very Light Jets."
/ref>

Specifications (550)

References

External links

* {{Eclipse Aviation One Aviation aircraft

550 __NOTOC__ Year 550 ( DL) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 550 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...