Eclipse Aviation News
Eclipse will be the first to use friction stir welding to assemble primary aircraft structures and is pioneering this technology in the joining of materials as thin as aircraft aluminum.
“The benefits of friction stir welding are numerous,” said Oliver Masefield, vice president of engineering for Eclipse. “It produces stronger, lighter joints and eliminates the need for thousands of rivets, resulting in reduced assembly costs. However, its largest benefit is the enormous improvement in manufacturing cycle times.”
Fabrication of the structural wing and fuselage members of the pre-production Eclipse 500 flight test aircraft will begin in November this year. The parts fabricated for the pre-production aircraft will be the same as those planned for production manufacturing.
“Our use of the friction stir welding technology and the exceptional capabilities offered by this process, characterize our commitment to the use of innovative technologies and the automation of assembly processes,” said Vern Raburn, president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation. “The convergence of new economy business practices, these and other innovations, make the Eclipse 500 possible.”
The Eclipse Aviation friction stir welding machine incorporates integrated process control, monitoring and data acquisition software which will further decrease aircraft assembly time by making automatic, real-time adjustments to the joining process possible.
While fabrication of parts for the first flight test aircraft will be made at MTS, this machine will be moved to the Eclipse Aviation manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the first part of 2003 in preparation for volume assembly of the Eclipse 500 production aircraft.
Live friction stir welding demonstrations will take place daily at the Eclipse Aviation exhibit tent during AirVenture 2001. The Eclipse tent is located on the Southwest corner of AeroShell Square (formerly the West Ramp).
About Friction Stir Welding
Friction stir welding is a machine process in which a special tool with a protruding pin is inserted between two pieces of material to be joined. The tool moves along the area to be joined while rotating at a high speed. The action between the tool and the aluminum creates frictional heat, which softens the aluminum but does not melt it. The plasticized material is then, in essence, consolidated to create one piece of metal where there were originally two.
Eclipse Aviation is in the business of designing, certifying and producing modern, affordable jet aircraft that will revolutionize the transportation market. The company is applying advanced electronics systems, manufacturing and business practices to produce aircraft that cost less than a quarter of today's small jet aircraft, will be significantly safer and easier to operate than those of today, and have the lowest cost of ownership ever achieved in a jet aircraft.
The goal of Eclipse is to bring the word "personal" into aviation, making it possible for commercial air passengers to move directly between cities on a quick, affordable and convenient basis. It will also allow pilot owners to enter the world of jet-powered aviation.