Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Eclipse Owners convention in Fair Hope, Alabama. Why invite a Citation guy to speak at an Eclipse gathering? It turns out that pilots experience the same kinds of challenges regardless of the type of airframe they are flying. But to pretend I knew what I was talking about, I spent the day flying an Eclipse 550 with EJOPA board member and owner Mark Johnson.
It’s quite an airplane.
Certified in 2006, the Eclipse Jet was to be the future of mass air transportation. Thousands would be produced at prices as low as $ 775,000. A revolution followed in the single-pilot jet market. Cessna took notice and certified the Mustang. Embraer followed with the Phenom 100. The industry was off to the races. The Eclipse, however, with features and performance superior in many ways, could not “eclipse” its business hurdles. Alas, it was not to be, and several bankruptcies later, only about 260 airframes were produced. The airplane has a remarkable safety record, with only one fatal accident in 2015 in Africa.
Today, they are operated by a loyal following of diehard supporters.
I met up with Mark on the Million Air ramp at Dallas Addison (KADS) on a warm and clear February morning for my introduction. “Think of it as a pressurized Baron with jet engines,” he gushed. As a matter of fact, the two airplanes have close to the same 6,000-pound max takeoff weights. The Eclipse engines are one of the remarkable parts of the equation. Pratt and Whitney PW 610F’s to be exact. Producing 900 pounds of takeoff thrust and weighing about 115 pounds each, you can literally pick them up with two arms.
Just don’t drop them.
Inside, the cabin is tight for six and perfect for four to five passengers. But it’s the cockpit where things are so advanced. Side stick controls, several keyboards, autothrottles, and the most advanced diagnostic displays I have seen in any light jet. There have been multiple iterations of avionics capabilities over the years in their proprietary “Avio” system.
You don’t need a lot of thrust to push you back in the seat of a 6,000-pound airplane. The takeoff acceleration was evident as Mark smoothly advanced the throttles during our runway 16 departure. Our short flight to Louisiana only required a cruising altitude of 19,000 feet, but the climb rate and speeds were nearly identical to those of the Mustang on one-third less fuel. I was impressed with the handling qualities, especially the 285-knot Vmo limit compared to the Mustang’s 250 knots.
At the convention, I met almost one hundred enthusiastic pilots. The mother company’s new ownership has engaged the group, and safety initiatives are underway.
Mark transitioned to the Eclipse from a Cirrus. When I asked what his next airplane would be, he hesitated. “I just like the Eclipse, it fits my mission, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Fly safe.
