Nextant Aerospace is readying its G90XT twin-engined turboprop for first flight this week, and says it hopes to secure US certification for the remanufactured Beechcraft King Air C90 in the first half of the year.
First flight was originally planned for last month, but bad weather hampered efforts to get the seven-seat type into the sky.
“The aircraft is ready to fly,” says Nextant president Sean McGeough. “We are just waiting for the right conditions.”
The Cleveland, Ohio-based firm says it has received “phenomenal interest” in the type since the programme was launched in October 2013 in partnership with GE Aviation.
The G90XT replaces the C90’s Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop engines with GE H75-100 engines – the first twin-engined turboprop application for the powerplant.
Other upgrades include the addition of a Garmin G1000 flightdeck, a new interior and a refresh of all life-limited components.
“We have received a number of letters of intent which we plan to covert into full contracts once we have validated the aircraft’s performance parameters,” McGeough says.These include a projected cruise speed of up to 280kt (519km/h), a range of a 1,240nm (2,220km) and amaximum take-off weight of 4,770kg (10,500lb).
“We want to be as transparent [as possible] about the G90XT's ability before we ask our customers to commit to firm orders,” he adds.
Nextant is offering the G90XT for around $2.6 million. Alternatively it will retrofit existing C90s with the new engines, avionics and interior for around $2 million. This price also includes a two-year warranty, McGeough says.
Nextant hopes to emulate the success of its Hawker 400/XP business jet remanufacturing programme – the 400XTi – but on a vastly larger scale.
“We are targeting around 1,700 C90s globally [compared to around 600 Hawker 400s], which is a huge market for us,” he adds. “Our aim is to get US certification first, followed by European approval in the third quarter. Latin America is also an important market for the aircraft, so we will pursue validation there.”
Nextant plans to announce its third remanufactured aircraft programme once the G90XT has cleared the certification and entry into service hurdles
While McGeough will not be drawn on the type of aircraft under consideration, he hints that the new model has a larger cabin than the current line-up.
Meanwhile, Nextant delivered a record 16 400XTis in 2014 – three more than the year before – and says the market for light business jets has started to rebound. “We have a 10 month backlog for the XTi and have already committed to 20% of the Hawker 400 inventory,” McGeough says.
The $5.2 million updated twinjet features new Williams FJ44-3AP engines and Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics.
Source: Flight International
