Clearly this video reviewer has never owned or flown an Eclipse. I purchased my Eclipse 500 three years ago, it replaced my Bonanza G36. The Eclipse is truly the best airplane I have ever owned. It’s a true cross country plane able to easily fly legs of 1000 miles. It’s more than capiable of getting on top of most weather at FL410 and even certified for flight in known icing conditions. My Bonanza had the G1000 avionics and my Eclipse suite is provided by IS&S used in military and other high performance aircraft. The avionics suite is first class and fully integrated for single pilot flying. Many advanced features are not even mentioned in this video including FADEC engine management and auto throttles make this a dream to fly! After 45 years of flying the Eclipse 500 still puts a big sh?t grin 😁 on my face every flight. Don’t be afraid of an Eclipse, the company is alive and well! The owner operator support forums are second to none! After three years of ownership, I have never canceled a scheduled flight or experienced an AOG issue. 🛩️
I remember following Eclipse's development of this aircraft back in the early 1990's. People have no idea how advanced the 500 was, even by today's standards. So why did the company fold? It was a victim of the Dotcom bubble burst. That has nothing to do with how amazingly advanced this aircraft was. I am glad they are slowly bringing production back in a new iteration called the 550.
I was photo editor of the Yuma (Arizona) Sun when Eclipse was doing their high temperature test flights. It was the first one I saw fly. 10 years or so later, one w/ Mexican registration landed at KOLS (Nogales AZ) where I am a flight instructor, and the pilot got a little rambunctious on the brakes and blew a tire. They had to fly a mechanic and tire into KOLS the next day to get it back in the air. They are cute little airplanes. You know what they say... "If it looks good it'll probably fly good".
I was hired at Pratt&Whitney to build these engines. P&W had believed the hype for the EA500, reconfigured 1/6 of the floor plan to machine these parts and even built a standalone engine assembly line for the PW600. It was a fools folly.
Shoddy article. I had a deposit on one and had it returned after the bad business plan was revealed to be a lie. Hubris was evident from the beginning with too many new manufacturing and business ideas introduced. The real killer was the failure of the Williams engine to work, overheating and failing to produce sufficient power. If Vern had not believed so much in software development techniques for a certificated mechanical project, had priced it properly and not lied about the "thousands of orders", it would have been a revolutionary success. Second point: vanishingly few 6 seat GA aircraft have a toilet, they would take up too much room and you would be inches away from the user. I had several 6 seaters (Piper Malibu and Mirage and a TBM) and would not have considered one.
Eclipse A few things on this video - each was sold for $800K a copy - There was an early option for a lav, but never materialized - APR kicks in both in a failure, or if the throttles are split, can’t recall off the top of my head but split by more than a specific N1 - Fuel burn is 65gph the first hour, 40gph every hour after that. Less fuel than Mustang or Phenom 100 - Promised range 1300nm (1100nm NBAA), but realistically over 1000nm are common. Airplane can do it. - Speed is 384ktas. Faster than Mustang and Phenom 100 - The Eclipse 550 is the same as an Eclipse 500. There are no additional parts, only extra software functionality. It’s not really a “variant” per se - There were originally 263 Eclipse 500s built. All Eclipse 550s were retrofits. No new eclipses were ever produced. - Originally all eclipses sold for $800K per unit, but cost to build was $1-$1.1M. There were many reasons why Eclipse Aviation failed: management, product delays, certification delays, non-performing contractors, many redesigns, and failing to deliver the promised functionality. - The aerodynamic mods were called “ITT mods”. Most but not all Eclipse 500s were upgraded. There are still a few non-AVIO NG/ITT mod airplanes out there. Bottom line, the eclipse is a great airplane and got a bad rap for its use of AVIO (Avydine) and AVIO-NG (IS&S) (pronounced “Ahhhh-V-O”). I personally found AVIO much better than the G1000 low res version at the time, and more intuitive to use. Garmin wasn’t as smooth and streamlined, but people were used to G1000s in other products, like the C172, so the complaints piled up. (And no, you can’t just add a G1000 in an Eclipse 500/550). The eclipse will fly faster than the Mustang and Phenom 100, on less fuel. But the difference between the Eclipse and a Phenom 100 is like driving a Miata Vs a G-wagon (if the Miata was faster). The scale, fit and finish are very different between the 2. The Phenom is a far more mature airplane. Both were well baked products, but the Phenom had more “real private jet” feel. The Eclipse is a great airplane. I still prefer it over all other light jets. Sadly, without a large support network and product “feel”, there is a reason why Embraer has won the light jet battle.
A $500,000 price tag is a ridiculous fantasy. No one believed that the aircraft could be delivered for that price. The engines cost more than that. 300 to 500 mile flight profile makes this a very expensive puddle jumper.
One of the biggest issues was with the engines, and I'm not talking about the Pratts she has now. The original specifications called for a smaller Williams jet engine, the FJ22 IIRC. Williams never was able to get it to work correctly, so Eclipse had to go to the Pratts, and the weight and fuel burn were substantially higher than the Williams engines. The Avio system was a disaster. In your video, you have pictures and video of an Eclipse 550, '2-RAYS' and right now, that aircraft has about 1,300 hours on it and is available for sale. Asking price is $2.4M USD. In the end, after bought out by Eclipse Aviation, the price on the aircraft went to about $3M USD, which was still less than the Cessna Mustang, but was appropriate for the aircraft. That's probably why they couldn't sell it.
Too brief and no mention of Verne Rayburn the mastermind. He was a genuine aviation enthusiast. One of the major failures was planning on a Williams jet engine in the beginning. Williams couldn't deliver an engine with the right combination of power and size. The prototype EA500 only made one or two flights with the Williams. Redesign for the Pratt and Whitney affected something like 75% of the parts already designed. Verne Rayburn stated that Williams due to their heavy military contract experience expected to exceed schedule and cost requirements by 10% something that Eclipse couldn't afford.
There are so many complaints on this UA-cam channel and I really just don’t understand why if you want more there are other channels this is supposed to be like one of those quick and brief channels and there’s a space for this guy. I’m sorry I’m not normally the type to create a freaking paragraph to defend somebody. I’ve never met, but I’m just getting so tired of the top comment always being something negative..
"The eclipse 500 had failed, but? A new company needs to takeover and redesign the fuselage structure by increasing the head room area and extending the tail section to include a row of additional seating or room for a functional lavatory station. If these simple features are added, marketing would be a no problem page for the new company who takes over the production of the aircraft. A sleek design is always a winner over performance when comfort is put to the test to please the owner."
We definitely need someone like Elon Musk to look at this issue. The cost reductions and efficiency improvements that Tesla has been able to implement via automation in the building process are amazing. Economy of scale is great for some products but aerospace in the US has the misfortune of pushing against a bureaucratic headwind that is the FAA. We need the raw efficiencies that come from high quality engineering and well developed and refined production technologies.
It has good qualities but it's a problem that the half million dollar plane ended up costing more like 3.5 million today. There still remains huge opportunity in actually light jets. While Eclipse is half the weight of Phenom 100, it could be halved at least once more. Maybe twice. And that's no small margin.
In your commentary regarding this collapse of the Eclipse manufacturer you failed to cite the overall economic situation that faced the US economy at that time. While there may have been problems with the company’s financial forecasting and the timing of the release and certification of the plans, the niche market the company planned to dominate had a window of opportunity that had a good chance for success
Okey the cirrus has a bathroom as the phenom has it and is not a bath gosh is the most advance jet economic faster fly hi with engine failure is not jet that Mach a eclipse
Clearly this video reviewer has never owned or flown an Eclipse. I purchased my Eclipse 500 three years ago, it replaced my Bonanza G36. The Eclipse is truly the best airplane I have ever owned. It’s a true cross country plane able to easily fly legs of 1000 miles. It’s more than capiable of getting on top of most weather at FL410 and even certified for flight in known icing conditions.
My Bonanza had the G1000 avionics and my Eclipse suite is provided by IS&S used in military and other high performance aircraft. The avionics suite is first class and fully integrated for single pilot flying. Many advanced features are not even mentioned in this video including FADEC engine management and auto throttles make this a dream to fly!
After 45 years of flying the Eclipse 500 still puts a big sh?t grin 😁 on my face every flight. Don’t be afraid of an Eclipse, the company is alive and well! The owner operator support forums are second to none! After three years of ownership, I have never canceled a scheduled flight or experienced an AOG issue. 🛩️
3800 hours since 2007, I can verify the operational range is 1000 nm if properly flown. Still a great alternative to the Cirrus jet
The Eclipse 500 is still an amazing aircraft and outclasses the Cirus Vision Jet in many ways
Better fuel use
I remember following Eclipse's development of this aircraft back in the early 1990's.
People have no idea how advanced the 500 was, even by today's standards.
So why did the company fold?
It was a victim of the Dotcom bubble burst.
That has nothing to do with how amazingly advanced this aircraft was.
I am glad they are slowly bringing production back in a new iteration called the 550.
I was photo editor of the Yuma (Arizona) Sun when Eclipse was doing their high temperature test flights. It was the first one I saw fly. 10 years or so later, one w/ Mexican registration landed at KOLS (Nogales AZ) where I am a flight instructor, and the pilot got a little rambunctious on the brakes and blew a tire. They had to fly a mechanic and tire into KOLS the next day to get it back in the air. They are cute little airplanes. You know what they say... "If it looks good it'll probably fly good".
The Eclipse is probably the best small jet on the market for cost and efficiency.
i have watched over 1 million aviation videos an this is the very best of all time (literally spactime).
I was hired at Pratt&Whitney to build these engines. P&W had believed the hype for the EA500, reconfigured 1/6 of the floor plan to machine these parts and even built a standalone engine assembly line for the PW600. It was a fools folly.
Shoddy article. I had a deposit on one and had it returned after the bad business plan was revealed to be a lie. Hubris was evident from the beginning with too many new manufacturing and business ideas introduced. The real killer was the failure of the Williams engine to work, overheating and failing to produce sufficient power. If Vern had not believed so much in software development techniques for a certificated mechanical project, had priced it properly and not lied about the "thousands of orders", it would have been a revolutionary success. Second point: vanishingly few 6 seat GA aircraft have a toilet, they would take up too much room and you would be inches away from the user. I had several 6 seaters (Piper Malibu and Mirage and a TBM) and would not have considered one.
absolutely I need one of these
Eclipse
A few things on this video
- each was sold for $800K a copy
- There was an early option for a lav, but never materialized
- APR kicks in both in a failure, or if the throttles are split, can’t recall off the top of my head but split by more than a specific N1
- Fuel burn is 65gph the first hour, 40gph every hour after that. Less fuel than Mustang or Phenom 100
- Promised range 1300nm (1100nm NBAA), but realistically over 1000nm are common. Airplane can do it.
- Speed is 384ktas. Faster than Mustang and Phenom 100
- The Eclipse 550 is the same as an Eclipse 500. There are no additional parts, only extra software functionality. It’s not really a “variant” per se
- There were originally 263 Eclipse 500s built. All Eclipse 550s were retrofits. No new eclipses were ever produced.
- Originally all eclipses sold for $800K per unit, but cost to build was $1-$1.1M. There were many reasons why Eclipse Aviation failed: management, product delays, certification delays, non-performing contractors, many redesigns, and failing to deliver the promised functionality.
- The aerodynamic mods were called “ITT mods”. Most but not all Eclipse 500s were upgraded. There are still a few non-AVIO NG/ITT mod airplanes out there.
Bottom line, the eclipse is a great airplane and got a bad rap for its use of AVIO (Avydine) and AVIO-NG (IS&S) (pronounced “Ahhhh-V-O”). I personally found AVIO much better than the G1000 low res version at the time, and more intuitive to use. Garmin wasn’t as smooth and streamlined, but people were used to G1000s in other products, like the C172, so the complaints piled up. (And no, you can’t just add a G1000 in an Eclipse 500/550). The eclipse will fly faster than the Mustang and Phenom 100, on less fuel. But the difference between the Eclipse and a Phenom 100 is like driving a Miata Vs a G-wagon (if the Miata was faster). The scale, fit and finish are very different between the 2. The Phenom is a far more mature airplane. Both were well baked products, but the Phenom had more “real private jet” feel.
The Eclipse is a great airplane. I still prefer it over all other light jets. Sadly, without a large support network and product “feel”, there is a reason why Embraer has won the light jet battle.
A $500,000 price tag is a ridiculous fantasy. No one believed that the aircraft could be delivered for that price. The engines cost more than that.
300 to 500 mile flight profile makes this a very expensive puddle jumper.
it was NEVER $500,000 at introduction. It was introduced in 1999 at $895,000 as Pronto Aircraft and ultimately went to $2,195,000 in 2008.
I like the little cargo space in the back
I like the Epic and so do many others.
I remember the starting price was $827k when it first came out.
I like the eclipse 500 is still the best price for the money
This reminds me to look into whatever happened to Twinjet - the jet you were supposed to build in your garage.
One of the biggest issues was with the engines, and I'm not talking about the Pratts she has now. The original specifications called for a smaller Williams jet engine, the FJ22 IIRC. Williams never was able to get it to work correctly, so Eclipse had to go to the Pratts, and the weight and fuel burn were substantially higher than the Williams engines. The Avio system was a disaster.
In your video, you have pictures and video of an Eclipse 550, '2-RAYS' and right now, that aircraft has about 1,300 hours on it and is available for sale. Asking price is $2.4M USD. In the end, after bought out by Eclipse Aviation, the price on the aircraft went to about $3M USD, which was still less than the Cessna Mustang, but was appropriate for the aircraft. That's probably why they couldn't sell it.
Too brief and no mention of Verne Rayburn the mastermind. He was a genuine aviation enthusiast. One of the major failures was planning on a Williams jet engine in the beginning. Williams couldn't deliver an engine with the right combination of power and size. The prototype EA500 only made one or two flights with the Williams. Redesign for the Pratt and Whitney affected something like 75% of the parts already designed. Verne Rayburn stated that Williams due to their heavy military contract experience expected to exceed schedule and cost requirements by 10% something that Eclipse couldn't afford.
I still want one cheap one
Dude they are still in business with orders to fill for the next couple years.
Um no.
There are so many complaints on this UA-cam channel and I really just don’t understand why if you want more there are other channels this is supposed to be like one of those quick and brief channels and there’s a space for this guy. I’m sorry I’m not normally the type to create a freaking paragraph to defend somebody. I’ve never met, but I’m just getting so tired of the top comment always being something negative..
The original price was actually $875. Then in 2005 that was raised to $1.25m before options.
I worked at ross aviation before that ramp had eclipse aviation .
"The eclipse 500 had failed, but? A new company needs to takeover and redesign the fuselage structure by increasing the head room area and extending the tail section to include a row of additional seating or room for a functional lavatory station. If these simple features are added, marketing would be a no problem page for the new company who takes over the production of the aircraft. A sleek design is always a winner over performance when comfort is put to the test to please the owner."
do one on the failures of the tecnam p2012
You mean the one Cape Air is flying?
We definitely need someone like Elon Musk to look at this issue. The cost reductions and efficiency improvements that Tesla has been able to implement via automation in the building process are amazing. Economy of scale is great for some products but aerospace in the US has the misfortune of pushing against a bureaucratic headwind that is the FAA. We need the raw efficiencies that come from high quality engineering and well developed and refined production technologies.
i liked it :))
It has good qualities but it's a problem that the half million dollar plane ended up costing more like 3.5 million today. There still remains huge opportunity in actually light jets. While Eclipse is half the weight of Phenom 100, it could be halved at least once more. Maybe twice. And that's no small margin.
The eclipse 700 is the one to have...
In your commentary regarding this collapse of the Eclipse manufacturer you failed to cite the overall economic situation that faced the US economy at that time. While there may have been problems with the company’s financial forecasting and the timing of the release and certification of the plans, the niche market the company planned to dominate had a window of opportunity that had a good chance for success
Your claim that it uses 100gph is quite at odds with basically any other source. What's your source on that?
A company had 50 aircraft on order for a Florida air taxi service. For some reason they canceled the order and that hurt the company.
Still a better option than the Vision Jet.
It's only 3 and a half feet in 'length'?!
Would 3.5 meters be better?
@@4406bbldb So, 11 feet is better? It's still too short.
I know a doc that bought one…
Unless this jet could have taken off and landed VERTICALLY it was always DOOMED to be a commercial flop.
I'll bet it struggled badly in a stiff breeze.
Not at all. Handled like a dream.
Wasn't it a victim of the 2008 recession?
They should have at least cut "bomb bay" doors in the floor for any bathroom emergencies, in lieu of a toilet 🚽 😳
The initial avionics Avio package was terrible, and didn't seem well Integrated.
100 gallons of Gasoline per hour?
I've read it was around 59 gallons per hour. Even the vid states 68.
Jet-A kerosene more likely
@@wallacegrommet9343 exactly.
You showing the very very old ver bad propaganda the 2016 is synthetic vision auto throttle still one till the minimum with gear down and full flap …
Speak English
Is not 68 gallon gosh I flew Orlando YNC none stop 48 gallon ……. Gosh again the plane fly at 378 I register 380
Okey the cirrus has a bathroom as the phenom has it and is not a bath gosh is the most advance jet economic faster fly hi with engine failure is not jet that Mach a eclipse
GOSH!