Eclipse Aerospace announced a slate of upgrades for its next generation of light jet—”Project Canada.” The successor to the Eclipse 550 will be, predictably, bigger, faster and have fancy new avionics. The new jet will be powered by two of Williams’ FJ33 turbofans, similar to those fitted to the Cirrus SF50, though the engines on the Canada will be rerated from 1,900 pounds thrust to 1,200 pounds thrust. With 14 inches added to the fuselage and two-foot wingtip extensions holding bigger fuel tanks, the Canada will have a maximum range of about 1,500 NM at maximum cruise and the power to climb direct to its maximum operating altitude of 43,000 feet. Also like the Cirrus SF50, the new jet will be equipped with a Garmin G3000 flight deck.
Eclipse Aviation is a division of One Aviation, the product of a merger between the former Eclipse Aerospace and Kestrel Aircraft. Alan Klapmeier, CEO of One Aviation, in a company press release said, “I look forward to working with Williams and to all the possibilities the FJ33 brings to the ‘Canada’ project. The additional power and efficiency of the Williams engines will once again change our customers’ view of personal jet performance.”
