Piperjet, first flight planned in 2008

BUSINESS Aviation is going through the roof! The annual meeting of the US National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), held in Orlando, Florida last month, was the biggest ever.
The three-day event had a record attendance of 33,088 - substantially higher than the previous record set in Las Vegas eight years ago.

A total of 1140 exhibitors filled both halls of the convention centre, just a few miles from Disneyworld, and 117 aircraft on static display filled the apron at nearby Orlando Executive Airport.

Those are the figures but even more impressive is the energy and entrepreneurship now bouncing back into the industry. The Very Light Jets (VLJs) are hitting the headlines with the Cessna Mustang and Eclipse 500 achieving FAA certification, with Adam Aircraft's A700 not far off and other manufacturers revealing details of their projects.

Cessna revealed a billion dollars' worth of new orders taken at NBAA, and Honda announced 400 orders for its impressive HondaJet were taken during the show.

Cirrus and Piper, better known for piston-engine aircraft, both revealed details of their personal jets.
Raytheon announced new derivatives of its Hawker range - contributing greatly to Raytheon's overall business - as did Boeing for its BBJ range, and Airbus, Boeing's great rival, announced the first delivery of its Elite business jet.

But the upsurge goes far deeper than just new aircraft. New operators are springing up, established ones are ordering many new aircraft, avionics and technology is moving in leaps and bounds, FBOs are suddenly a great business to have, and even some of the regulations governing business aviation are moving in the right direction.
Here's LOOP's take on the top stories from NBAA.

PIPERJET: FIRST FLIGHT FOR $2.2M JET PLANNED IN 2008

PIPER has finally announced it will design and build a Very Light Jet, with first flights taking place as early as Spring 2008.

After years of pondering, Piper made the decision as a result of its business alliance with Honda where there is expected to be a certain amount of "sharing of resources" to get the jet off the drawing board. Piper will also be involved in the marketing and customer support of the new £2 million, twin-turbofan HondaJet.
With Piper's range looking long in the tooth, this is a perfect opportunity for the company to re-energise the brand.

Piper boss James Bass said at NBAA, "In designing this revolutionary aircraft, we have assembled the finest team of engineers and designers and conducted an extensive consumer research effort to ensure that the PiperJet will be second to none.

"Every measure has been taken to make sure that the PiperJet answers what our customers have told us they want and need in a jet, because at the end of the day, it's not about being first to market, it's about getting it right in the first place."

Piper is taking a 'clean-sheet' approach to the design and has opted for a high-speed natural laminar flow wing, a single 2400lb thrust turbofan for efficiency, state-of-the-art safety measures, and an all-metal airframe.

The new aircraft will be capable of reaching a cruising speed of 360 knots, a maximum operating altitude of 35,000 feet and have a 1300nm range. It is expected to have an Mtow of about 7000lb, seat up to seven, feature side-stick controllers, a full-fuel payload of 800lb. Price? $2.199 million was quoted at NBAA.

Piper has not yet selected the engine and avionics suppliers but plans to start deliveries of the PiperJet in the first half of 2010.

HONDAJET: PRICE SET AT $3.65M – STILL THE ORDERS ROLL IN

"A PASSION for aviation propelled HondaJet into the air, but a strong business case is what is taking it to the customer," said Takeo Fukui, president & CEO of Honda Motor Co. Honda announced the price of the new HondaJet at NBAA - $3.65 million, substantially ahead of its iommediate rivals but that doesn't seem to have diluted enthusiasm for the aircraft. After NBAA,

CESSNA UPBEAT ON ALL LEVELS 

AS WELL as achieving certification for the Mustang VLJ, Cessna proved it’s firing on all cylinders when it announced two new models, gave a upbeat progress report on the Encore+, and revealed it is looking at building a large cabin intercontinental bizjet. The two new aircraft are the CJ4 and XLS+. Jack Pelton, boss of Cessna, said, “We’ve used new technology developed from our latest jet models,

such as the Citation Mustang and the Citation Sovereign, as well as advances targeted specifically at the CJ4.” Configurable for seven to eight passengers, the CJ4 is expected to have a full fuel payload of 1000lb and a cruise speed of 435kt.

The newly engineered wing of the CJ4 is moderately swept. Some features of the wing are similar to the Sovereign, including three wing speed brakes. First flight of the CJ4 is scheduled for the first half of 2008 and entry into service is set for the first half of 2010.

Cessna’s XLS is the top-selling mid-size bizjet with more than 500 delivered, so the XLS+ announced at NBAA is important to the Kansas company. A mock-up of a new cabin was shown, with wider seats. It will also have a fully integrated Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite.

Announced at last year’s NBAA, the Encore+ is heading towards certification at the end of 2006 with two aircraft having clocked up more than 440 hours of flight. It’s a 7 to 11 seater, powered by two Pratt & Whitney engines.

DASSAULT FALCON 7X GOING HOT AND HIGH

HOT weather trials in the deserts of Tunisia have been completed by French manufacturer Dassault on its Falcon 7X as part of EASA and FAA certification. Next are high altitude tests scheduled to take place in the US Rockies, with certification complete by the end of this year. Four aircraft are taking part in the flight tests with an expected 1500 hours being flown by the end of the process. NetJets Europe has already committed to buying 24 Falcon 7X at a value of $1.1 billion. W: www.falconjet.com

CIRRUS: WILLIAMS TO SUPPLY JET ENGINE

CIRRUS officially launched its single engine CirrusJet at NBAA, confirming that it will use a 1900-lb thrust Williams FJ-33 turbofan engine, left. Sales VP John Bingham didn’t release many more details other than the Jet will have the emergency parachute system that the company’s single engine piston aircraft, the SR20 and SR22, are famed for. He also said the CirrusJet will have a ceiling of 25,000ft and will cruise at around 300kt. The price of the CirrusJet is not confirmed but the company is trying to beat $1 million. Orders are being taken with a deposit of $100,000.

BOEING: NOW THERE ARE THREE

AT the bigger end of the bizjet sector is the Boeing Business Jet, the BBJ. At NBAA, Boeing announced the BBJ 3, the biggest yet and based on the Next- Generation 737-900ER airliner. The BBJ 3 has a max range of 5475nm and can be configured any way the customer wants it. Although Boeing doesn’t release details of its customers, it did say that 43% of buyers of the seriously-expensive BBJs are private individuals, about 35% are government heads of state, 12% corporate operators and the remaining 10% are charter operators. W: www.boeing.com

ECLIPSE 500 TYPE CERTIFICATION AT LAST

“IN SPITE of the hurdles we’ve encountered and those that still lie ahead, this is a day to reflect on what has been accomplished,” said Vern Raburn, boss of Eclipse Aviation, just before NBAA when the Eclipse 500 finally received its US Type Certification. Raburn continued, “We successfully launched a new aviation company, developed and certified a truly revolutionary aircraft and created a whole new market segment that helped return relevancy and growth to general aviation.”

The FAA Type Certification clears the Eclipse for most operations including single pilot, day/night, VFR/IFR and Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM).

AERION SUPERSONIC BUSINESS JET

DELTA wings are normally associated with supersonic aircraft but Aerion has gone for a new shape that looks decidely Star Wars, though still with a hint of Concorde around the nose. The aircraft is said to seat eight passengers, fly subsonic across land, then accelerate to Mach 1.5 at 51,000ft for transatlantic crossings. Aerion is an advanced aerospace engineering company based in Reno, Nevada. It has additional offices in Palo

Alto, California where it computes airflow analysis, and Arlington, Virginia.

It’s worked with the US govt on supersonic aerodynamics so there’s considerable expertise behind the project. They’re aiming for a first flight by 2010.

RAYTHEON NEW HAWKER 750 AND 900XP

BUSINESS jets are contributing hugely to the revenues of aerospace giant Raytheon and it announced two new midsize aircraft, the 750 and 900XP. Both are based on the successful Hawker 800-series cabin. The 900XP, will use new, more powerful engines from Honeywell, a division of Raytheon, to give better hot and high performance. Raytheon says the aircraft will fly six passengers more than 2800nm.

It can make New York to Honolulu with just one-stop.

The smaller 750 will take four passengers for 2100nm, with one of the most spacious cabins. Long range and good hot and high performance are vital for the US market.