Eclipse and Pratt & Whitney Find EA500 Engine Fix

Isabel Goyer

Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 01:01 AM ET

Verified

Robert Goyer

Key Takeaways:

Eclipse 500 twinjets are restricted to 30,000 feet by the FAA due to engine surges caused by unexplained carbon buildup, but a "split" combustor sleeve fix has been identified and awaits FAA approval.
Owners will bear the estimated $15,000 per engine repair cost due to a voided warranty, though both Eclipse and Pratt & Whitney are developing programs, including new warranty options, to help manage these expenses.
Pratt & Whitney Canada believes its initial cruise time limitation recommendation was sufficient and that the FAA's blanket restriction is unnecessary, with full engine modifications expected to take up to a year.

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While the cause of the carbon buildup in the engines that power the Eclipse 500 twinjet has yet to be discovered, a fix has been found, Eclipse Aerospace president of service Ken Ross told Flying. The jets have been restricted to 30,000 feet by the FAA because of six reported engine surges related to carbon buildup on the engine static vanes at high altitudes. Eclipse has been able to replicate the problem in a test cell, though why it happened with the affected engines and not with other engines in the fleet remains a mystery.

The fix, Ross said, is to replace the combustor sleeve with a “split” sleeve. Ross said it’s not clear why the fix works, only that it does. The FAA still needs to sign off on the fix to remove the altitude restriction for airplanes with the modified engines.