Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 16, 2008 - (Page 57)

BUSINESS AVIATION FA R N B O R O U G H 2 0 0 8 More Power at Altitude–and Much More the FMS for subsequent legs. Many Primus Apex capabilities aren’t yet available as part of the first certification achieved in May 2008. The second certification, slated for the end of 2008, will enable the MFD to display XM radio weather graphics for U.S. operators, Stormscope and TAS/TCAS 1 imagery, plus onboard weather radar imagery. Jeppview e-charts will be available on the upper MFD, but only after engine start when all busses are powered. The second certification also will include WAAS approval and ILS frequency/course auto-tune upgrades for the FMS. PC-12/47E hasn’t lost any of the original model’s qualities. In the landing pattern, it’s still one of the most docile turbine-powered aircraft ever built. The wide-chord flaps permit 73 to 85 KIAS Vref landing approach speeds and 1,800 to 2,200 ft landing distances over a 50 ft obstacle. Actual runway required may be further reduced by touching down on the numbers and using reverse thrust. For example, we needed no more than 800 to 1,000 ft of runway to stop the aircraft during our demo flight. An angle-of-attack indicator on the PFD is used to fly the proper approach speed. But it’s not as well damped as the old analog clock dial, so some averaging is required as the needle dances up and down the scale, even in very light turbulence. Long-travel, trailing-link landing gear and large rolling stock, designed for rough field operations, sop up imperfections in pilot technique during touchdown. It’s difficult to make a bad landing in the PC-12/47E, even when you’re Generator vent outlet on the cowl is the tipoff that PC-12 at Farnborough is the new PC-12NG, aka -12/47E. stopping in at Courchevel for holiday in the French Alps or virtually any other runway used by light single-engine aircraft. Topping all that, it’s an aircraft for a green planet. It has a larger cabin and five times the tanks-full payload of a King Air 200GT, but can fly farther and burns nearly one-third less fuel. It can fly a typical 600 nmi trip in 2 hours, 15 minutes, about ten minutes longer than a King Air 200GT. A business jet with a comparable cabin arrives 45 minutes sooner on a 600 nmi trip, but burns about 75% more fuel. PC-12/47E won’t win any long-distance races against twin-turboprop or twin-turbofan aircraft with its 255 to 272 KTAS maximum cruise speeds. —Fred George The aircraft’s upgraded PT6-67P engine provides substantially improved climb performance. Australia’s Nomad Turboprop to Return to Production Australia’s GAF N24 Nomad 17-seat utility twin turboprop is set to return to production after a 25-year gap following Gippsland Aeronautics’ purchase of its type certificate from Boeing Australia. Gippsland, which currently builds the eight-seat GA-8 Airvan, says it is in an “advanced stage of negotiation with a partner” to restart production and deliver the first new Nomad in late 2010. Australian operators Airfreight Solutions and tour operator Grant Kelly Aviation have signed letters of intent. The company plans to fit uprated Rolls-Royce 250-B17F II turboprops, reduce empty weight, and evaluate upgraded avionics and glass cockpit options. Gippsland hopes to deliver the first of the new Nomad GAF N24 turboprops in early 2010. www.aviationweek.com/shownews July 16, 2008 57 http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 16, 2008

Bombardier, Shenyang $5 Billion for Composites 787 and Seven V-22s for Export Sale? Saving Fuel at SFO Raytheon Roars Into UAVs Bell Eyes ARH-70A Costs All According to Plan We Fly the PC-12NG Russia’s T-50 PAK-FA Optimistic in Israel ICAO Sim Classifications Pratt to Power New Drone Russian Conglomerate

Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 16, 2008

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