One Aviation will stop building Eclipse 550 aircraft this year as it gets ready to replace that design with the code-named Eclipse Canada. CEO Alan Klapmeier told an event in Hammond, Louisiana, last week the company will make about four new 550 models before switching back to upgrading legacy Eclipses. According to the Hammond Daily Star, Klapmeier told the meeting the Canada model (its final name still isn’t being used) will be certified by early 2019 and be a much more capable aircraft than the existing models. “It’s a much better airplane than I expected,” Klapmeier was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
One Aviation announced the Eclipse Canada project at AirVenture 2016. The cabin will be 14 inches longer than the current design and the aircraft will have bigger engines, beefier landing gear and longer wings to carry more fuel without tip tanks. “So that’s a basic original idea: more power and more fuel for more speed and longer range,” he said. “The beginning concept was that we can do better.” The event was held at Pierce Aero, a designated Eclipse service center.
