Flying » New Business Aircraft Preview

Embraer's Lineage 1000
December 1, 2008
The Lineage 1000 will be able to operate from airports where some of the othe
Airframer Embraer entered the business aviation market in 2000 when it announced the Legacy 600, which it had derived from the ERJ-135 regional airliner. Taking a similar approach with the larger E-190/195, the Brazilian manufacturer has created the Lineage 1000.
Gulfstream G450
October 1, 2008
The engines allow for an astonishing 12,000 hours between overhauls. That is
Uber-barges, such as the 6,000-plus-nautical-mile-range Gulfstream G550 and Bombardier Global Express, are often the launch platforms for passenger comfort and avionics features that later show up on somewhat smaller, less expensive and more limited-range aircraft.
When bigger is better
October 1, 2008
Sales have been running far ahead of projections. Airbus took orders for 38 e
Charles Colburn, Boeing Business Jets/VIP director of marketing, was trying to explain the recent sales boom for his division's airliner-sized executive aircraft. "There's just been a tremendous rise in the number of billionaires," he said.
Eclipse Aviation's Eclipse 500
August 1, 2008
The challenge faced by Eclipse Aviation reminds me of the old joke: "How can you wind up with a million dollars by investing in aviation? Start with two million."
FAA Emergency Directive Targets Eclipse 500
August 1, 2008
During an encounter with wind shear at Chicago Midway Airport on June 5, the pilot of an Eclipse 500 pushed the thrust levers (throttles) forward with enough force to cause a software error that locked both engines at full power. Unable to slow the airplane for landing, the pilot elected to shut down one engine for the subsequent landing attempt.
The 500's Smaller Sibling
August 1, 2008
Last summer, Eclipse shocked aviation watchers by displaying a single-engine variant of its Model 500 twinjet VLJ. The Eclipse "concept jet," or ECJ, featured seating for four (including the pilot) and borrowed key elements from the 500, including the nose, wing, avionics and engine.
Hawker 900XP: Evolutionary improvements enhance a long-time winner
June 1, 2008
The old joke about Hawkers is that not only are they built like bricks-they fly like them, too.
Eclipse weathers the storm-for now
April 1, 2008
Eclipse has revamped its production line and doubled output, but it still tur
The very light jet industry wasn't exactly flying high last year. A major supplier told me last summer that he expected half of all VLJ makers to fold soon. By the end of 2007, he looked clairvoyant; first the Aviation Technology Group suspended work on the two-seat Javelin and then, early in 2008, after sputtering for almost two years, Adam Aircraft shut its doors.
Gulfstream announces its biggest jet
April 1, 2008
The clean-sheet G650, shown here in an artist’s rendering, Still looks every
Ending protracted speculation about how it would address the aging fuselage cross section of its large-cabin business jets, Gulfstream Aerospace last month unveiled the G650. The model will topple the G550 from its perch as the biggest Gulfstream business jet when it enters service in the first half of 2012. (At least initially, however, the G650 will not replace the G550.)
Cessna Citation Sovereign
April 1, 2008
Some sovereign operators fly their airplanes more than 1,000 hours per year.
Since being certified in 2004, this $17 million midsize jet has become one of Cessna's most popular models. One reason is that it can carry eight passengers almost 2,700 miles. Another is that it can take off and land on short runways. and then there's its intentionally simple suite of technologies, which helps minimize maintenance costs and down time.

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Quote/Unquote

“When you get into the larger aircraft it becomes like a hotel, with dozens of staff supporting the plane based in a galley area down below. You have very comprehensive cooking facilities, and on larger aircraft we have looked at theatres, with spiral staircases and a Steinway grand piano. The limitations for what you can put inside a plane are pretty much the limits of physics, and even money cannot always overcome that. Even so, people are still always trying to push [the limits]. ”

-Howard Guy of Design Q, a UK-based consultancy