Eclipse wing passes flight test

Chief Test Pilot Jerry Chambers evaluated the aircraft handling qualities and transitions between configurations during a 90-minute sortie with a maximum altitude of 15,000 feet, and reported the aircraft felt “very solid,” the company said in a news release.

One Aviation announced the new Eclipse model in 2016, and followed up in June with word that the new model will be powered by Williams International’s FJ33-5A-12 turbofans that will improve performance. The company aims to give the EA700 a maximum-cruise-speed range of more than 1,470 nautical miles with a 100-nm reserve, and the capability to climb direct to 43,000 feet msl.

One Aviation expects to certify the new Eclipse EA700 in 2018, with a price tag (announced in 2016) initially set at $3.5 million, compared to $3.3 million for an EA550 with typical equipment. The EA700 will retain the EA550 fuselage, with a 4-foot increase in wingspan and adjustments to the airfoil shape and inboard planform. The test aircraft flew without the wingtips that engineers plan to add to the EA700.

“This is a key milestone in the path to making a very good airplane a great airplane,” said One Aviation CEO Alan Klapmeier, in a news release, adding that the “team has worked hard to achieve this key milestone for the EA700 proof-of-concept wing.”