EBACE Show News - May 20, 2008 - (Page 8) EBACE 2008 Hawker 750 Gets EASA Nod Bombardier on Composites: More Important to Be Affordable Than Advanced Bombardier’s strategy for the all-composite Learjet 85 was to find a manufacturing method that was quick, easy and cheap. That, in a nutshell, is why Grob Aerospace— and not Bombardier’s Northern Ireland composites facility—was selected for the program, says Bombardier Business Aircraft vice president, Learjet 85, Ralph Acs. “This technology is well-known, it’s been around for a while and it’s been used by Grob already in most of their products and their work,” he told Show News here yesterday. While Grob’s composite manufacturing techniques are not new, they are new to Bombardier, and the company plans to bring the capability in-house—albeit not before Grob has built a significant proportion (perhaps as many as 50) of the initial production aircraft. Later this year, the company will announce which of its sites will get the work, but Bombardier has said that it will be “within trucking distance of Wichita.” Bombardier’s Acs stated clearly that while the company’s Belfast site is a center of excellence for composite technology, it wasn’t the right type of excellence for the Learjet 85. “Belfast is a center of excellence for high-temperature, high-pressure autoclave manufacturing. That’s not what we wanted. “The Learjet 85 uses vacuum-bagging techniques; it doesn’t need autoclaving or any terribly sophisticated approach,” Acs said. “We need a robust and simple process. If Belfast had wanted to provide that simpler process, then they’d have been welcome.” —Robert Hewson Hawker Beechcraft has received EASA certification for the Hawker 750. The new aircraft has also received type certifications in India, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. It received FAA certification in February. Using a Hawker 800 fuselage and wings, the light-midsize 750 features Honeywell TFE731-5BR engines and a Collins Pro Line 21 avionics package with Integrated Flight Information System and enhanced map overlays. Hawker Beechcraft is at Booth 7462. Eclipse 500 Certified in Australia, India Eclipse Aviation (Booth 7463) has received its first foreign certifications for the Eclipse 500 VLJ. On April 7, the director general of civil aviation in India granted the first, followed two weeks later by the Civil Aviation Safety Agency in Australia, enabling customers to register and operate their Eclipse jets in those two countries. “We are experiencing a tremendous amount of interest for the Eclipse 500 outside of the United States,” said Eclipse president and CEO Vern Raburn. EASA is expected this summer. Midcoast Named 7X Repair Center Stork Fokker and St. Louis, Missouri-based Midcoast Aviation signed an agreement for Midcoast to become the exclusive repair center in the Americas for the Dassault Falcon 7X . Stork Fokker designs and builds the wing movables, which include all wing-mounted flight control surfaces— ailerons, flaps, spoilers and related fairings—for the new jet under contract to Dassault Aviation. Midcoast (Booth 1147) is authorized to perform warranty and non-warranty repairs for the Stork Fokker-manufactured structures. Aero Toy Store Marketing Aerion SBJ Aerion (Booth 1602) has awarded Aero Toy Store exclusive marketing rights for its Supersonic Business Jet in Canada, Mexico, South America and the Caribbean. Aero Toy Store, which is exhibiting in the static area at EBACE as well as at Booth 881, has already secured 12 orders for the SBJ, placing the current order backlog for the $80 million airplane at well over $3 billion. “It is my belief that Aerion’s Supersonic Business Jet is poised to become the new standard for corporate executive and private individual travel across the global arena,” said Aero Toy Store CEO Morris Shirazi. Cessna Rolls Out First Production Citation XLS+ Cessna (Booths 7492, 7518) rolled out the first production Citation XLS+ on April 28 in Wichita, Kansas. The airplane is now with paint and interiors, while two flight test aircraft continue to work toward FAA type certification, expected by mid-year, with deliveries starting before year-end. The upgrade to the midsize Excel/XLS will feature a fully integrated Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite and FADEC engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada. Exterior and interior restyling is featured most prominently in the extended contour of the nose and expanded seat widths, both introduced to more closely resemble Cessna’s Citation X and Citation Sovereign models. The 440-knot, 1,800-nmi-range XLS+ is priced at $11.595 million. Rolls BR725 Powers the G650 Rolls-Royce (Booth 647) has announced its fourth new engine program in a year with the introduction of the BR725 that will power Gulfstream’s new flagship G650. The BR725 is the most advanced member of the BR700 engine series. Compared with the BR710, it is more powerful, with a maximum thrust of 17,000 pounds. It also is more than 4dB cumulative quieter, has 4% better specific fuel consumption and shows a 21% improvement in NOx emissions. It incorporates a 50-inch diameter fan with 24 swept titanium blades and an additional third low-pressure turbine stage to drive it. Other features include a new thrust reverser and nacelle assembly and a Trent 1000-based electronic engine control unit. Initial flight test engines will be delivered to Gulfstream toward year-end. 8 May 20, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews
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