The Eclipse 550 very light jet is powered by the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F-A turbofan engine. Pratt & Whitney Canada is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation that focuses on building smaller engines. The PW610F-A engine is a Pratt & Whitney Canada PW600 series engine that is used exclusively on the Eclipse 500 and Eclipse 550 jets. The turbofan engine is also sometimes called the PW610F, without the -A, however the official name of the engine is the PW610F-A. Two of the PW610F-A engines are mounted near the tail of the Eclipse 550 aircraft. The Eclipse 550 engine is controlled by a FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) system. The FADEC system controls the engines electronically, allowing for easier operations. Also the PW610F-A has an automatic power reserve (APR) that allows the engine to add extra thrust, if needed, during takeoff.

On July 25th, 2012, at EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Eclipse Aerospace officially selected the PW610F-A engine for the Eclipse 550. The selection was expected because the Eclipse 500 is powered by the same engine. Also Sikorsky, a United Technologies company, had made an investment in Eclipse, making the selection of a Pratt & Whitney engine likely.

These are some of the key features of the Eclipse 550 Engine:

  • The fan has an advanced shock management design with high efficiency and flow
  • The engine has a two-stage compressor that is compact, efficient and has a low part count
  • Reverse-flow combustor has low emissions and high durability.
  • Single-stage high pressure turbine is built with the latest technology at the time.
  • It also has a low part count that allows for lower maintenance costs and faster turnaround times.
  • The single-stage low pressure turbine is a free turbine, with shrouded blades, that has an high efficiency mixer for low fuel consumption and low noise. This is based on what Pratt & Whitney Canada calls "P&WC proven designs".
  • The engine has FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) with dual channel redundancy, ease of operation, reduced workload and intelligent health monitoring and diagnostics.
  • The FADEC on the PW610F-A is designed for efficient integration with aircraft electronics.

Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F-A   Eclipse 550 Engine PW610F-A

First PW610F-A engine photo Copyright Pratt & Whitney Canada, Used under the fair use provision. Second Eclipse 550 Engine photo by Josh Hallet on Flickr. Photo (only) released under a Creative Commons License.

 

Below is the information data on the Eclipse 550 engine.

FADEC Overview on the turbofan engine (From FAA type certificate):
The Eclipse 550 engine's FADEC relies solely on aircraft supplied electric power, a single stage fan driven by a single stage Low pressure Turbine, a high pressure compressor consisting of one mixed flow compressor stage and one centrifugal compressor stage, one stage high pressure turbine, annular reverse-flow fully effusion cooled combustor with internally mounted fuel manifold and a integrated mono case.

Engine Speed Limitations – RPM

  • Max steady state low rotor (N1): 22,542 RPM (102%)
  • Max steady state high rotor (N2): 48,000 RPM (100%)
  • Transient (20 sec.) low rotor (N1): 22,763 RPM (103%)
  • Transient (20 sec.) high rotor (N2): 48,960 RPM (102%)

Thrust Rating: (lbf – Pounds of force)

  • Maximum Takeoff: 950 lbf
  • Normal Takeoff: 950 lbf
  • Maximum continuous: 850 lbf

Interturbine Temperature (ITT)

  • Maximum Takeoff: 1463 ºF or 795 ºC
  • Normal Takeoff: 1463 ºF/795 ºC
  • Maximum Continuous: 1463 ºF/795 ºC
  • Transient (20 seconds): 1490 ºF /810 ºC
  • Starting: 1562 ºF /850 ºC

Oil Inlet Temperature:

  • Maximum: 265 ºF /130 ºC
  • Minimum: -40 ºF /-40 ºC
  • Transient maximum (90 seconds): 275 ºF/ 135 ºC

Air Bleed:

  • Maximum external bleed air available is: 9.5 PPM at Sea Level decreasing to 7.3 PPM at 41,000 feet PPM = Parts per Million
  • Bleed air is not permitted during starting.

Oil Pressure (Psig – Pounds Per Square Inch Gauge):

  • Minimum at ground idle & flight idle: 15 Psig
  • Normal minimum above idle: 100 Psig
  • Maximum: 160 Psig
  • Transient (20 seconds): 225 Psig

Oil Tank Capacity
Total Capacity:

  • 6.13 Liters
  • 1.345 Imperial gallons
  • 1.620 U.S. gallons

Usable Capacity:

  • 1.09 Liters
  • 0.239 Imperial gallons
  • 0.287 U.S. gallons

Engine Maximum Dry Weight: 255.1 lb (pounds).