Eclipse Celebrates End-of-Year Milestones

Avionics certification, leading edge production and maintenance software and making production history by manufacturing and certifying 103 aircraft in 12 months, marked Eclipse Aviation’s new year. Eclipse Aviation Achieves FAA Certification of Avio NG As anticipated, Eclipse Aviation, received...

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Avionics certification, leading edge production and maintenance software and making production history by manufacturing and certifying 103 aircraft in 12 months, marked Eclipse Aviation’s new year.

Eclipse Aviation Achieves FAA Certification of Avio NG
As anticipated, Eclipse Aviation, received certification of Avio NG from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) just before year’s end. Aircraft 105, the first production Eclipse 500 equipped with Avio NG, received its certificate of airworthiness and will be delivered to its owner shortly, according to VLJ Report’s sister publication Avionics. Eclipse will ensure a homogenous Eclipse 500 fleet by modifying all in-service Eclipse 500s with Avio NG by the end of 2008, at company expense.
Avio NG significantly reduces pilot workload by simplifying tasks, generating useful information and acting as a virtual copilot. Certification of Avio NG marks the completion of an intensive effort to develop and certify a significantly improved Electronic Flight Information System (EFIS) and Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) functionality for the Eclipse 500. This milestone was achieved in a short 10 months, following the company’s announcement that it would replace the equipment supplied by Avidyne, and build and certify the improved Avio NG system. In March, Eclipse named a team of avionics providers for the avionics suite on the Eclipse 500, replacing Avidyne. With Avio NG installed, Eclipse 500 customers receive higher primary flight display and multi-function display resolution, enhanced user interface features and four-color weather radar. Eclipse said the Avio NG also provides increased functionality for optional equipment, including a third AHRS, Skywatch HP, Class B TAWS, DME, ADF and a Mode S enhanced transponder with diversity capability. As additional Avio NG functionality is certified in early 2008, Eclipse 500 customers will be able to add these features through simple software updates.
The Avio NG Total Aircraft Integration™ system, exclusive to the Eclipse 500 VLJ, provides centralized control of virtually all Eclipse 500 systems and avionics functions. The cockpit features two PFDs and one MFD, which are controlled by selection keys and knobs on the displays or by a keyboard at the pilot position. The PFD and MFD provide the pilot with high-resolution display of all flight parameters, engine and system performance data, and total system control.
As the lead integrator, Eclipse Aviation certified Avio NG with the support of its partners, including Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc. (IS&S), Honeywell, Garmin International and PS Engineering, Inc.
“Certifying Avio NG marks one of our greatest accomplishments,” said Vern Raburn, president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation. “Avio NG now provides the seamless, safe, and reliable jet operating experience we always envisioned for our customers. It sets a new standard for single-pilot aircraft operations.”
Avio NG is designed to accommodate changes brought by the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and provides a platform that incorporates the migration of technology envisioned with NextGen. Since Avio NG is designed with NextGen in mind, all of the NextGen technology solutions can be incorporated at little or no cost to Eclipse 500 owners.

Eclipse Implements Cutting-Edge Production and Maintenance Technology
Eclipse will generate consistent and transferable manufacturing and maintenance procedures for use at its production facilities in Albuquerque and its service centers in the United States. With a software suite from Right Hemisphere, Eclipse will develop illustrated production and maintenance instructions from the original 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) of the Eclipse 500 VLJ.
"Eclipse Aviation strives to use the most advanced technology available and the design of the Eclipse 500 was guided by this principle," said Raburn. "In our drive toward continuous improvement, Eclipse will use the software from Right Hemisphere to produce standardized graphic instructions for our manufacturing and maintenance technicians, no matter where they work."
Right Hemisphere's fully-integrated software suite, which currently is used by other commercial and general aviation manufacturers, will translate the Eclipse 500's complex design into interactive production instructions. This will reduce the time required to create written production and maintenance directions and the interpretation needed to change engineering models into production applications. Additionally, when applied to the production line, technicians can visualize work as it is performed and make improvements at any step in the production process.
Transforming the design of the Eclipse 500 into easy-to-use visual steps also will reduce manufacturing and maintenance training time. New or current Eclipse Aviation trainees learn from the simulated work process created by the software, thus speeding up training time and producing accurate results after training.
Right Hemisphere is the leading provider of enterprise visual product communication and collaboration solutions enabling manufacturers to optimize their global product development, launch, and support processes. Right Hemisphere maximizes knowledge transfer efficiency of product information to downstream stakeholders by automatically publishing product information readily available in CAD, PLM, and ERP systems into common document formats and business applications. Founded in 1997, Right Hemisphere is a privately held, venture-funded corporation based in Silicon Valley and Auckland, New Zealand.

Eclipse Makes Production History
Despite delays, Eclipse Aviation managed to set a record by certifying more than 100 Eclipse 500s in only 12 months. In addition, shortly before the New Year, it announced it had produced and certified 104 Eclipse 500s since December 31, 2006.
Reaching this milestone makes Eclipse the fastest general aviation jet aircraft manufacturer in history to produce its first 100 airplanes, according to the company. The VLJ leader completed a total of 103 aircraft in 2007. Previously, the fastest ramp up to 100 aircraft was achieved by Cessna, which reached 100 Cessna Citation 550 aircraft after approximately 18 months.
“We’re transforming how jets are built, and how people travel,” said Raburn. “It’s an audacious goal, and one that stretches us every day to go beyond what seems possible. Day-to-day setbacks are inevitable, but the reality is that we have created a new aircraft category and are bringing a new breed of jet to market at a rate never before seen in general aviation.”