SyberJet Aircraft is showing off its SyberVision avionics suite and redesigned cockpit mock-up for the SJ30i light business jet for the first time at NBAA.
“Our aim is to give our high-end customers a private jet with the look and feel of a high performance sports car,” says SyberJet general manager Mark Fairchild.
To help meet this goal, SyberJet has appointed automotive interior designer Jason Castriola to style the cockpit and the cabin which features a mixture of brushed aluminium and carbonfibre.
“We are manufacturing a business jet which is mainly targeted at owner-pilots, so attention to detail in the cockpit is paramount,” Fairchild says.
The Cedar City, Utah-based airframer says it wants to offer "a very advanced cockpit" into the segment. SyberVision is a Honeywell Epic 2.0-based system with four 12in displays and a host of features including synthetic vision, a moving map display system, electronics charts,TCAS II, dual flight management systems (FMS), graphical flight planning, and on board weather radar.
SyberJet has redesigned the side walls and ledges to provide maximum room. The engine control panel has been repositioned to the overhead panel to reduce visual clutter.
The SJ30 programme was acquired by SyberJet’s parent company MTI in 2011 from Emivest Aerospace. Emivest, and Sino Swearingen before it, produced two each of the seven-seat aircraft, although several more were on the production line when operations were halted in October 2010.
SyberJet is now planning to fly the first $8 million, 2,500nm- (4,630km) range SJ30i – equipped with SyberVision - in the first half of next year. The first Mach 0.83, Williams International FJ44-2A-engined aircraft is scheduled for delivery in early 2016.
An uprated version of the aircraft called the SJ30X – powered by more fuel-efficient, higher-thrust FJ44-3AP engines – is scheduled for certification in 2017.
"We will switch the [$8.5 million] X version at serial number 15, says SyberJet. The company will not disclose order numbers or delivery projections, but it is optimistic about the aircraft’s sales prospects, despite the continued tough conditions for the light jet market.
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Source: FlightGlobal.com
