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| Williams V-Jet II | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| General information | |
| Type | Light jet |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Williams International,Scaled Composites |
| Designer | |
| Status | On display |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1997 |
| First flight | 1997 |
| Retired | 2001 |
| Developed into | Eclipse 500 |
TheWilliams V-Jet II was designed and built byBurt Rutan'sScaled Composites forWilliams International as a test bed and demonstrator aircraft for Williams' new FJX-1turbofan engine.[1]
Williams International had been building small turbofan engines forcruise missile applications since the 1950s, and had successfully entered thegeneral aviation market in the late 1980s with theFJ44 engine. In 1992,NASA initiated a program,Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) to partner with manufacturers and help develop technologies that would revitalize the sagging general aviation industry. In 1996, Williams joined AGATE's General Aviation Propulsion (GAP) program to develop a fuel-efficient turbofan engine that would be even smaller than the FJ44. The result was theFJX-2 engine, which produced 550 lbf (2,400 N) thrust.
Williams then contracted withBurt Rutan'sScaled Composites to design and build the V-Jet II, considered aVery Light Jet (VLJ), to use as a testbed and technology demonstrator to showcase the new engine.[2] At Scaled, the aircraft was known as theModel 271. The aircraft and engine were debuted at the 1997Oshkosh Airshow. Scaled's test pilotDoug Shane received theIven C. Kincheloe Award from theSociety of Experimental Test Pilots for his flight test work on the plane.
The V-Jet II was an all-composite structure with a forward-swept wing, a V-tail, each fin of which was mounted on the nacelle of one of the two engines. The overall design was quite reminiscent of theLearAvia Lear Fan, although much smaller.
Williams had not intended to produce the aircraft, but it attracted a lot of attention, andEclipse Aviation was founded in 1998 to further develop and produce the aircraft. The airframe was significantly redesigned as an all-metal structure sporting a T-tail, and the nameEclipse 500. The prototype flew with a pair of EJ-22 engines, a variant of the FJX-2. However, performance was not satisfactory, and the design was changed to use twoPratt & Whitney Canada PW610F engines, which had been specifically designed by Pratt for the Eclipse.
The prototype and only V-Jet II aircraft was obtained byEclipse Aviation along with the program, and was donated to theExperimental Aircraft Association AirVenture museum inOshkosh, Wisconsin in 2001.
General characteristics
Performance
