It was to be a short daytime hop from Concord, N.C., Regional Airport to Downtown Airport in Greenville, S.C., with two pilots and three passengers aboard the Falcon 900. However, during the approach, the anti-skid system test had to be repeated to get the right indication. Upon touchdown, the copilot deployed the spoilers and thrust reversers. However, as pressure was applied to the wheel brakes, the Falcon began drifting left.
(Percent Relative to Average) The SJ30-2 was designed to maximize speed, range and fuel efficiency. That's apparent from the Comparison Profile, which includes the SJ30-2, Cessna CJ1+ and CJ2+, Raytheon Premier I and CJ3 in the composite average. This is a personal jet that's designed to transport two folks in the front and two folks in the main cabin more than 2,150 nm while cruising at 436 KIAS. The aircraft has the highest pressurization differential of any civil aircraft in current production. Its cabin altitude is only 1,800 feet at FL 490.
Thursday, July 13, 2006, was a historic day for Sino Swearingen Aircraft. Just before noon, we touched down at San Diego-Montgomery Field (MYF) after a five-hour, 44-minute nonstop flight from New York's Westchester County Airport (HPN), marking the first time the SJ30-2 had flown coast-to-coast across the United States. It was also the first time since the introduction of the Learjet 36 in 1974 that a new, regular production light jet demonstrated a New York-to-California nonstop range capability.
FLASHLIGHT, CHECK. Screwdriver, check. Eyeshadow, check. I was ready. I'd been heading out the door when I stopped to more carefully consider the job at hand, the problems I might encounter, and what remedies I might need. While the hangar is just seven miles away, returning for a forgotten tool or document is annoying and yet occurs so often, I've begun to double-check myself before I get in the car.
Swearingen claims that the cabin of the SJ30 is 150 inches long and 60 inches in diameter. In reality, though, the cabin measures 4.5 feet high by 4.3 feet wide, thus it's slightly smaller in cross section than a legacy Learjet but a touch bigger than the Citation Mustang. The distance from cabin/cockpit divider to the aft cabin is 11.6 feet with a 7.7-foot-long main seating area. There are five 9.3-inch-wide by 12.5-inch-tall squared-oval windows on each side of the cabin. Each has a slide-lever operated window shade.
The SJ30-2's second-generation ECU-equipped, Williams FJ44-A turbofans are rated at 2,300 pounds of thrust for takeoff up to ISA+7°C, so thrust starts to drop as the OAT rises above 72°C. The -2 engines have a 2.1:1 bypass ratio and deep-fluted mixer nozzles for improved high-altitude thrust output and lower FAR Part 36 noise levels.
En route from Oxford, Miss., to Rochester, Minn., the pilots of a Cessna Citation 560 diverted to Ellen Church Field, Crasco, Iowa. After touching down on Runway 33, the jet ran off the 2,949-foot-long runway's end and into a cornfield where it received substantial damage. Both pilots were killed, while the two passengers were seriously injured.
As sensible as steep approaches might be, those folks who fly N-registered aircraft can't fly them. That's because the FAA evidently doesn't issue Letters of Authorization for such operations.
Aircraft hydraulic systems were developed in the early 20th century as a practical means of transmitting robust mechanical power generated by a pump, usually driven by an engine, to a motor or actuator several feet away. Newly developed "heavy lifting" functions, such as actuating landing gear and flaps, required more mechanical muscle than could be supplied by electric motors or actuators of acceptable weight or size.
VMC prevailed as the Aero Commander 690A took off from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport at 1900 hours with three people aboard for the VFR instructional flight. Neither the twin turboprop nor anyone aboard was seen again. It's presumed the aircraft crashed in Cook Inlet, about 12 miles west of Anchorage.
London City Airport (LCY) is tailor-made for business aircraft travelers. That was immediately apparent as we peered from the jump seat over the shoulders of Captains Marcel Moura and Antonio Bragança while they were flying the Embraer Legacy on ILS approach Runway 10 to LCY in July, demonstrating the aircraft's steep approach capabilities.
It was a business flight from Visalia, Calif., to Ravalli County Airport in Hamilton, Mont. Aboard the Cessna Citation 560 was an ATP pilot and one passenger. According to witnesses, as the aircraft flared for landing, it kept floating until it touched down about 1,500 feet down the 4,200-foot-long runway. The aircraft began to slow, but failed to stop before running off the end. The Citation sustained substantial damage.
The SJ30-2's Primus Epic CDS, short for control display system, features three 10-by-eight-inch, portrait-configuration flat-panel displays. The outer left and right displays are PFDs and the left-of-center unit is an MFD. Standard equipment includes dual sets of Primus II radios with control units mounted in the instrument panel, TCAS, EGPWS, four-color weather radar, single radio altimeter, basic NZ2000 FMS and Iridium phone. Dual AHRS, yaw dampers, symbol generators and DADCs are included, along with a single-channel, three-axis autopilot.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the SJ30-2 under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance.
It was early afternoon when the de Havilland Twin Otter took off from Sullivan, Mo., Regional Airport with skydivers aboard. Witnesses said the airplane climbed to about 150 feet and at the runway's end when the aircraft made a Poof! sound and flames erupted from the right engine. The airplane began turning right and shortly thereafter struck trees and the ground behind a residence about a half mile northwest of the end of Runway 24. The pilot and five passengers were killed. Two remaining passengers suffered serious injuries.
The pilot and copilot of a Citation Ultra arrived early at Friedman Memorial (SUN), the airport serving Sun Valley, Idaho, for what was to be a quick flight to the Carlsbad-McClellan-Palomar Airport (CRQ), 638 nm distant and some 30 miles north of San Diego. The two passengers that morning, Jan. 24, 2006, were a scientific instrument company executive on an out-and-back business trip and a family friend, who happened to be the wife of one of the aircraft's owners.
Dassault elected to fit the Falcon 7X with one of the most redundant fly-by-wire (FBW) systems ever installed in a civil jet. It's highly fault-tolerant so its master minimum equipment list will be long and complete. Dispatch will be permitted with multiple single components faults, including failure of one channel of each side-stick controller, one SmartProbe inoperative and loss of a single flight data concentrator, one channel in a main flight control computer (MFCC) or in an actuator control monitoring unit.
A good way to get started with an airport-advocacy program is by composing a "values checklist" listing the strengths and weaknesses of the facility. Here are some areas to consider when getting started: -Is the airport really serving the community or region in its present state? Using the guidelines stated in this report (both the main story and sidebars, especially those describing state aeronautical programs) justify all the reasons why the airport benefits your community. (See also next point.)
A dearth of open space suitable for urban development has combined with the need for cash-strapped municipal governments to seek short-term tax revenues, creating a "perfect storm" in the ongoing assault on general aviation airports.
What's it like to pilot the world's first fly-by-wire (FBW) business jet? Dassault provided B&CA with an exclusive opportunity to find out firsthand when we belted into the left seat of the Falcon 7X at its Istres Air Base Flight Test Center for a two-hour demo flight in mid-July.
Vice President - Analysis, The Teal Group, Fairfax, Va. Raised in metropolitan New York, Aboulafia earned a master's degree in War Studies at Kings College in London. Trained in the details of armed conflict, he became an expert on the technology employed in war, particularly aircraft and engines. Hired by Teal in 1989, his field of interest has expanded to include all of aerospace. A fine writer, unemotional observer and pithy commentator, he is a favorite source of news editors and producers, trade conference speaker and lecturer.
Out in Oklahoma -- the birthplace of business aviation, according to state aviation director Vic Bird -- they practice what they call "airvangelism." "Airvangelism is an awareness campaign, letting average citizens know just how important the aerospace industry is in our state," Bird told B&CA. "The second part of it involves telling them how important their GA airports are. I simply make people aware of something they take for granted."
