Eclipse Aerospace has chosen to continue with the Pratt & Whitney PW610F turbofan engine on its Eclipse 550 twin-engine business jet, signing a new supply agreement with the Canadian manufacturer. The same engine powers the 261 Eclipse 500 aircraft currently in service.
According to Eclipse CEO Mason Holland, the miserly fuel consumption demonstrated by the PW610F was a factor in their decision to stick with the engine.
"Powered by the PW610F engines, our Eclipse Jet has amazingly efficient fuel consumption that continues to excite our customers. We look forward with equal excitement as we expand our relationship with P&WC through this agreement,” he said when announcing the deal at Oshkosh yesterday.
The PW610F-powered Eclipse 550 features an integrated electronic engine control that provides full-featured FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) management of the engine. According to Eclipse, this system provides dual-channel redundancy, ease of operation, reduced workload and intelligent health monitoring and diagnostics.
The two PW610Fs fitted to the Eclipse 550 produce 950 lb of thrust each, which will give the jet its 375-knot cruise speed.