Overview

The Eclipse 500 is a six-seat twin-turbofan Very Light Jet, type-certificated by the FAA in September 2006 under 14 CFR Part 23 in the Normal category. Built by Eclipse Aviation to be produced at high volume for the personal and air-taxi jet market, it pairs two aft-fuselage Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F-A turbofans with a pressurized cabin, a T-tail, and retractable tricycle gear. About 260 were delivered between 2006 and 2008 before Eclipse Aviation ran out of money and entered liquidation; the design passed through Eclipse Aerospace and One Aviation, both since defunct, with type support now held by a single specialist, AML Global Eclipse.

For the owner-pilot, the appeal is genuine twin-jet capability at a direct operating cost near $736 per hour: it climbs to 41,000 feet, cruises near 370 knots true, and flies about 1,125 nm. This record covers the original Eclipse 500; the later Eclipse 550, an improved continuation with the more powerful PW615F engines and dual flight-management systems, shares the airframe but is a separate build. The Eclipse 500 earns the buyer who wants real jet speed, altitude, and twin-engine redundancy at the low operating cost that was the type’s whole reason for being, and who will accept a small cabin, a thin parts-and-service network, and the ownership risk of an airframe whose manufacturer no longer exists.

Key Features for GA Buyers

• Low jet operating cost. A direct operating cost near $736 per hour, built on roughly 59 GPH cruise fuel burn and two small turbofans, was the type’s founding promise.
• Flight-levels capability. Certificated to 41,000 feet with RVSM and flight into known icing, the aircraft reaches jet altitudes and smooth air a piston or light turboprop cannot.
• Twin-engine redundancy. Two FADEC-controlled PW610F-A turbofans give an engine-out margin single-engine VLJs and turboprops do not, with a single-engine service ceiling near 25,000 feet.
• Cross-country speed. A 370-knot maximum cruise covers 800 to 1,000 nm legs in under three hours.

Trade-offs

• Orphaned manufacturer. Eclipse Aviation, Eclipse Aerospace, and One Aviation are all gone; parts and type support now rest with a single third party. Component availability and lead times are a real, ongoing ownership risk that pre-purchase diligence must weigh.
• Small cabin and payload. Six seats are nominal; with full fuel the roughly 2,400-lb useful load supports about four occupants and light bags, not a filled cabin.
• Early avionics immaturity. The type was certificated with an incomplete original Avio avionics suite, and functions such as known-icing approval arrived after entry into service; the later Avio NG upgrade, certified in 2007, addressed much of the shortfall. Avionics and modification status vary widely across the used fleet, so two examples can differ sharply in capability.
• Type-specific training and endorsements. Operating the aircraft requires multi-engine, high-altitude, pressurization, and instrument competency plus type-specific training, a step up from a high-performance single.

See Also

• Cessna Citation Mustang – The direct twin-VLJ rival from an established OEM, with the factory support the Eclipse lacks. Compare
• Embraer Phenom 100 – The VLJ that outlasted the Eclipse, with a larger cabin and a supported production line. Compare
• Cirrus Vision SF50 – A modern single-engine personal jet, simpler and better-supported, trading the second engine for current-production backing. Compare
• Cessna Citation M2 – A step up to an entry light jet with a bigger cabin, more range, and a full factory network. Compare