AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 45

I pitch up to 15 degrees and hastily raise the landing gear as the airspeed
blows through 130 knots. Aerostar Aircraft
Vice President Jim Christy retracts the
flaps from their 20-degree takeoff setting and the airspeed jumps to 180 knots.
With two people on board, 200 gallons
of fuel, and each of the FADEC engines
pushing out 1,460 pounds of thrust, our
power-to-weight ratio is a sprightly 0.5:1,
or a half-pound of thrust for each pound
of weight. (When fully loaded, the
Aerostar Jet has a thrust-to-weight ratio
of 0.42:1 compared to a Cessna Citation
Mustang at 0.337:1.)
Even though the air temperature is 85
degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees above standard), the airplane is climbing 4,000 feet
per minute at 200 KIAS.
"Even after many years and thousands
of hours flying high-performance piston
Aerostars, I was still taken by surprise at
the jet's initial acceleration, and how long
that acceleration lasts," said Christy, whose
company owns the Aerostar type certificate
and produced this jet airplane-the culmination of designer Ted R. Smith's original
vision for the Aerostar-in 2010. "It continues to amaze me."
On another flight with three aboard,
full fuel, and photo gear, we are about
200 pounds below the Aerostar Jet's
maximum gross weight of 6,850 pounds
and hand-fly all the way to its non-RVSM
ceiling of 28,000 feet. There, at maximum
cruise power, the airplane is traveling 355
knots true airspeed while burning 55 gph
per side. At an economy cruise setting
we slow to 330 KTAS at 40 gph per
side with an outside air temperature 28

34 feet 9 inches

13 feet 2 inches

37 feet 6 inches

degrees F over standard. With a 5.5-psi
pressurization system, the cabin altitude
is 9,500 feet.
Aerostar Aircraft designer Steve Speer
estimates the jet will reach a maximum
403 KTAS at FL320, and fuel flow will fall
to 35 gph per side at FL410. With a fullfuel payload of 652 pounds, the Aerostar
Jet can fly 1,000 nm with IFR reserves.

"Aerostar has always been the performance leader in piston aircraft and we
want to extend that legacy in light jets,"
Speer said. "That's the history of the
Aerostar-and its future."
SPEED MACHINE

Legendary designer Smith created the
original Aerostar in the mid-1960s as a
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 45



http://www.aopa.org/pilot

AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - February 2014
Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - February 2014
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 5
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 34
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 37
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 51
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 55
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 65
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 72
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 79
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 81
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 82
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 86
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 88
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 92
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 94
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 95
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 98
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 100
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 102
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 104
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 106
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 107
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 112
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - Cover4
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