B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 1 - (Page 58) NEW AIRCRAFT N BA A 2007 continued from page 56 maximum fuel is 1,400 nmi. Verdict: Getting there Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 At the 2005 NBAA Convention, Sino Swearingen announced that the SJ30-2 had, finally, gained FAA Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 temporarily but tragically delayed at 44 flying hours by loss of the aircraft and its two crew in a takeoff crash attributed to misconnected controls. However, the company bounced back at last year’s convention with the announcement of the larger but similar SA-40. With a light but strong filament-wound carbon fiber/epoxy airframe comfortably housing seven occupants in total, the $3.65 million SA-33 is in the CJ2-size class, but it aims to be more economical and effic i e n t . Tw o r e a rmounted Williams FJ33-4A-19s deliver 1,900 pounds-thrust each and bestow an NBAA range of 2,000 nmi with a reduced complement of four Midsize and Super-Midsize Jets While manufacturers continue to derive derivatives at the smaller end of the scale, most have identified a requirement for a brand-new super-midsize design that will seat eight to 10 and fly high and fast over 4,000 miles. No fewer than five engine manufacturers are offering new 10,000-poundsthrust-class turbofans, and they have identified no fewer than six potential applications. But as usual, details remain sparse as concepts gel into defined designs. Cessna LCC The Citation Large Cabin Concept (LCC) was announced as a potential future development at last year’s NBAA Convention in Orlando, where a full-scale fuselage/cabin mock-up was unveiled. Since then, it has seen more of the world than some business jets, even making the journey to Geneva last May as part of a mass consultation exercise certification—a decade after Taiwanese funding launched Ed Swearingen’s promising light jet and 19 years after the SA-30 Fanjet project was revealed. It seems that, exhausted by this sustained effort, the steam has gone out of the SJ30 at precisely the time that its production line should be a blur of activity. Just one aircraft per year has emerged since certification, and the future looks bleak now that Taiwanese politicians are claiming that the $340 million of new investment needed to ramp up production over 18 months will be throwing good money after $500 million of bad already spent by that government. Far Eastern calls for a sale of the Taiwanese stake in Sino Swearingen are more numerous in the air than SJ30s. For all that lost time, the SJ30 still has valuable selling points, not the least of which is (thanks to chemically milled fuselage skins taking 12 lb/sq in pressurisation) sea level cabin pressure at 41,000 feet, falling away to a hardly gasping for breath 1,800 feet at the FL 490 ceiling. Furthermore, on the 2,300-pounds-thrust each of Williams FJ44-2A turbofans, the airplane turns in a very useful 2,500 nmi NBAA range while cruising at Mach 0.78 at less than 95 gallons per hour. Maximum cruising speed is Mach 0.83 (486 kts). Accommodation is for seven; certification is for singlepilot operation with Honeywell Primus Epic avionics suite. Verdict: It’s here (but elusive) Spectrum SA-40 Freedom Spectrum SA-33 Independence and SA-40 Freedom A surprise at 2005’s NBAA Convention was the unveiling of this new-company/new-design aircraft a couple of months before the SA-33 prototype’s first flight on January 7. Progress has been 58 aboard. Max altitude is 45,000 feet, but with 6,000 ft equivalent in the cabin. The 10-seat SA-40 will take on the Learjet 60, Citation XLS and Hawker 750, for which it needs the 2,050-pounds-thrust GE Honda HF120 turbofan—another 2006 convention debutante. Spectrum’s composites construction means the SA-40 will cost (at 2006 prices) $6.2 million, compared with $10.7 million for an XLS…and the cabin is bigger, too. Projected performance includes 435 kts maximum Cessna LCC speed and 2,200-nmi range. The second SA-33 prototype missed its August being undertaken before Cessna makes up its mind. 2007 first flight date, but the reason became As presently schemed, the LCC is externally obvious that same month when the company similar to the Citation X, but with upturned announced a swapover of priorities. The S-40 pro- wingtips and a stand-up, flat-floor cabin 6 feet, totype will be the next to fly, in 2008, and will be 1 inch high, for nine passengers. It is optimized for first for certification, toward the end of 2009. The maximum cruising speed of M0.86 (488 kts) at up S-33 is relegated to a late-2010 certification date. to its 45,000-foot certified ceiling and will offer an Verdict: Slim chance continued on page 60 September 25, 2007 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews
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