ECLIPSE JET ALTERNATIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM
The Eclipse is an amazing aircraft. If you’ve flown one, you love it. What you likely don’t love is the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Eclipse. Your Eclipse Jet represents a substantial financial investment. Like any investment, you want the highest assurance possible that your investment is secure, and that it will maintain its value.
Operators have made their concerns clear. They want something to help assure they can continue to enjoy their Eclipse, even in the midst of a changing support environment. Since finding solutions is what we do, we are introducing our newest STC for the Eclipse.
STC SA04458CH creates an Alternative Maintenance Program for the Eclipse 500/550. This program replaces the manufacturers recommended maintenance program with a new alternative maintenance program, complete with a new Chapter 4 & Chapter 5.
The elephant in the corner
One of the greatest concerns for Eclipse operators is the availability of replacement PhostrEx Fire Extinguisher Canisters, both now and in the future. Currently, these canisters have a mandatory life limit in Chapter 4 (Airworthiness Limitations Section) of the AMM. That means that when that calendar life limit is reached, if there are no replacement Fire Extinguisher Containers available, your aircraft becomes a very expensive paperweight.
The RAS Alternative Maintenance Program for the Eclipse 500/550 provides the flexibility and certainty operators want. The RAS program moves the Fire Extinguisher Replacement from an Airworthiness Limitation with no relief, to a recommended maintenance action. With the RAS STC, operators can address the Fire Extinguishers as they would any other recommended overhaul item. Operators can make the determination on whether they want to want to replace their Fire Extinguisher Canisters at the manufacturers recommended interval, or if based on good judgement and service experience, they want to extend the replacement interval.
Foundation for the future
The STC is also the foundation by which we can make future changes to the inspection program. As the fleet ages and we gain more experience, a good inspection program should be adjusted to focus on areas of concern, while extending the inspection intervals for areas that have proven reliability. This approach maximizes safety while minimizing operating costs.