B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 2 - (Page 81)

N B A A 2 0 07 and We’re Looking Forward to Avio NG the aircraft because it’s not required for FAR Part 23 certification. There was little help from the flight director from takeoff to touchdown. Vertical functions were restricted to pitch hold, altitude capture and altitude hold. Lateral modes were limited to heading hold. There was no VOR/ILS/GPS nav course tracking capability, in fact no GPS at all. We were restricted to VOR airways/jetways navigation. In order to track a radial, we had to make constant adjustments to the heading setting to correct for course deviation. The on-board weather radar d i d n ’t w o r k , s o w e u s e d a Garmin GPS496 for XM radio weather services. It also provides a moving map, another feature not available in this version of Eclipse 500 avionics. Once level at FL 360, we accelerated to 349 KTAS while burning 420 pph in ISA+5°°C conditions at a weight of 5,360 lb. The published cruise speed was 352 KTAS while burning 400 pph. Oakland Center needed us to descent to FL 340 north of Bakersfield. At that altitude, the aircraft cruised at 355 KTAS while burning 450 pph in ISA+5°°C conditions. The book predicted 357 KTAS with cruise number. At FL 410, you’ll still be able to cruise at 350 KTAS and fuel flow drops to 345 pph— that’s just over 51 gph, so its fuel efficiency in cruise is highly competitive with high-performance piston twins. But, the aircraft sorely needs Avio NG to fulfill all promises to customers. Basic Avio, lacking GPS functionality, can’t even provide pilots with a moving map, let along electronic charts, en route and approach GPS navigation and full flight director modes. For now, this is a manually flown aircraft, except during high altitude cruise when the cruise must use the heading mode to make course deviation corrections. Raburn pointed out that the flight guidance system limitations didn’t prevent Eclipse from earning RVSM group approval for the new aircraft. Eclipse is making steady progress with post-certification clean-up chores and we look forward to providing you with a full analysis in an upcoming issue of Business & Commercial Aviation once all shortcomings have been remedied. Until then, we’ll keep you posted with periodic progress reports in Show News and at our AviationWeek.com website.—Fred George Fred George calls him as he sees ’em, says Eclipse “sorely needs” Avio NG. a fuel burn of 475 pph, so the aircraft achieved slightly better-thanbook fuel efficiency. We noted a slight wing rock of two degrees to each side with the autopilot engaged. Raburn said that it’s only a problem on northbound headings and that proved to be true on the way home to San Diego later that afternoon. There was no wing rock while we were southbound from Reno. The autopilot also exhibited a little pitch wobbling while descending at redline airspeed. And it disengaged completely two or three times during the descent into Reno, also disengaging the yaw damper. More bugs will be ironed out in the months to come. We slowed to an 87 KEAS Vref for landing at Reno and touched down after a flight of one hour 25 minutes. Vern cautioned me to go easy on the brakes. EA 500 doesn’t have anti-skid and its 100 psi main tires can easily be flatspotted or blown out if you have lead feet on the rudder pedals. What did we learn? The Eclipse 500 is very close to making advertised book speeds. We believe it’s now a 370 KTAS aircraft at FL 300 at moderate cruise weights, but you’re going to be burning 553 pph in order to achieve that high-speed Turn night into day with IPFD on Primus Epic ® Mountains. Water. Obstacles. Terrain. The complete picture comes together on one crystal-clear display with the new, awardwinning* Integrated Primary Flight Display (IPFD) for Primus Epic. It’s the latest technology, providing a 3-D perspective of your surroundings and your ﬂight path; enhancing your situational awareness and safety. Engage Safety. *2007 Business Aviation Product of the Year Award–Flight International Top 100 Technologies for 2007–R&D magazine clear sunny night To engage Honeywell Safety, visit our website at www.honeywell.com/ipfd. ©2007 Honeywell International Inc. http://www.aviationweek.com http://www.honeywell.com/ipfd

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 2

Contents Spectrum Stresses Freedom Adam Shows A700 Cabin User Fee War of Words Execujet Boosts Services Saab's Got Your Back CAE Covers the Field London Airports Roundup Pratt & Whitney Canada Another Show! A More Digital Jeppesen CMC Rides Bizjet Wave Thales Weighs In We Fly the Eclipse 500

B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 2

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