Eclipse 550

Overview & History

The Eclipse 550 is a very light jet initially built by Eclipse Aerospace and later One Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.

The aircraft is a development version of the Eclipse 500, which was produced by predecessor Eclipse Aviation.

Like the 500, the 550 is a low-wing, six-seat, twin-engine jet-powered aircraft. The Eclipse 550 is certified for single-pilot operation.

Eclipse Aerospace unveiled the Eclipse 550 at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October 2011.

The aircraft production started at EA’s Albuquerque facility in New Mexico in June 2012 and the production certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was received in March 2013.

The first delivery was made in March 2014.

Eclipse 550 Performance

The Eclipse 550 is powered by two PW610F turbofan engines, each rated at 950lbf of thrust. The engine is designed and manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Canada.

It is equipped with a single-stage high-pressure turbine, dual-stage compressor, reverse flow combustor, and Hispano-Suiza FADEC to minimize propeller noise by optimizing the output speed.

The engine inlets are incorporated with engine bleed air ice protection.

The length and diameter of the engine are 1.06m and 0.35m respectively. The Eclipse 550 features a tricycle-type landing gear comprising two main wheels and a steerable nose wheel.

The main wheels retract into wings and the nose wheel resiles into the front fuselage section.

The Eclipse 550 can climb at the rate of 33knots. The maximum and stall speeds of the aircraft are 374knots and 69knots respectively, while the range is 1,125nm.

The service ceiling with a single-engine is 35,000ft, whereas the maximum altitude is 41000ft. The take-off and landing distances of the aircraft are 742m and 850m respectively.

Eclipse 550 Interior

The spacious cabin of the Eclipse 550 business jet can carry six passengers in a tandem seating configuration.

It is equipped with leather seats, an Iridium phone, onboard oxygen generation systems, LED lightings, a cabin pressurization system, and a Wi-Fi-based cabin entertainment system.

The cabin is 3.67m long, 1.42m wide and 1.27m high.

Cockpit

The avionics suite installed in the Eclipse 550 includes an automatic direction finder, radar altimeter, storm scope, an attitude and heading reference system, and traffic collision avoidance system.

Innovative Solutions and Support (ISS) was contracted in October 2010 to supply Avio’s dual integrated flight management system (IFMS).

A supplemental type certificate for the IFMS was obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in March 2011.

The IFMS minimizes the workload of the pilot by acting as a virtual co-pilot. It centrally controls the avionics, engines, fuel systems, flaps, landing gear, cabin pressure, and temperature.

The synthetic vision system installed in the aircraft will render the pilot with a clear understanding of the flight conditions by using terrain obstacles, geo-political, hydrological, and other database information.

Other avionics encompass automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), wide area augmentation system, an iPad data entry integration system, distance measuring equipment, global positioning system, terrain awareness, and a warning system, and onboard color weather radar.

Eclipse 550 Charter Cost

The cost to charter this jet starts at around $2,600 an hour. Hourly charter rates do not include all taxes, fuel, and other fees.

Charter costs will vary based on year of make/model, schedule, routing, passenger & baggage totals, and other factors.

Purchase Price

The acquisition cost for this jet typically ranges from $2-3 million.

The price of a jet depends on the production year; it can also go above the given range if the production is new.

It will cost buyers around $500k per year which includes fuel, crew members, and maintenance, etc.

The price of a pre-owned aircraft can be within $1.5-2 million.