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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 3527.PDF
like other manufacturers, of the recession. Cessna's new Citation IV is expected to weigh in at around 24,000lb, the level occupied by the Sabreliner 65/75A. The lightweight business jets are exempli fied by the small Learjets, Citations and the Beechjet 400 (which first appeared in this sector as the Mitsubishi Diamond in 1982). Apart from isolated Learjet 25Gs and the 46 Beechjets delivered in the past three years, all shipments have involved aircraft weighing in at below 15,0001b. CONSISTENT PERFORMER The most consistent aircraft through the past ten years has been the Cessna Citation II and S/II, although only 1985 saw anything like a return to the levels of pre-1982 shipments. The original Citation Is were all in service by 1985, with the new Learjet 31 picking up entry-level sales last year. f Most of this category of jets overlaps with the heavier turboprop aircraft. Only the Beechjet 400 is heavier than the newly an nounced Beech King Air 350, while the first Starship Is will enter service in 1990 at a weight close to that of the Citation S/II. The heaviest turboprops—King Air 350 and Starship I—will be reasserting the class established by the Swearingen Merlin III/300 before 1984. The King Air is a good example of the propensity for aircraft, like people, to gain weight with age. Three series of King Air—C90, F90 and 200—have given way to heavier variants. At about 12,0001b, the Piper Cheyenne 400 from 1984 followed the King Air B100 and may have taken sales from its lighter sister, the Cheyenne III/IIIA, whose shipments declined through the later 1980s. The 10,5001b-12,5001b category enjoyed its best year in 1981, when more than 350 new machines were delivered. Below 10,0001b, sales were very much a straight fight between the King Air C90 and the Piper Cheyenne. The C90's strong sales fell away after 1981 (when the E90 also stopped), although the C90A has maintained healthy shipments. Cheyennes I and II were at their best before 1981. At the Very bottom, Cessna's Conquest lightweight turboprop was well placed for the six years 1978-83, before a steady decline until 1987. The Conquest II, at just under 10,0001b, and the Cheyennes represent the weight class of the proposed new light jets from Swearingen and Cessna. These late- 1980s designs echo proposals made ten years earlier for similar small jets, which sported such names as Fox Jet and Hustler. The four-seat Fox Jet executive transport carried a $475,000 price tag and claimed that it would operate at just 20% of the costs of the most economical competitor. Develop ment saw engine thrust raised by almost half and an airframe scaling-up to accommodate six people. Wing sweep was reduced and aspect ratio raised with the prospect of a supercritical section to come in more-power ful versions. Plans were made to fly the 1100 1000- aircraft in 1980, but it is thought that only two mockups were completed. Another small aircraft proposed at that time was the Gulfstream American Peregrine II. This twin-turbofan was to be developed from the Peregrine trainer, itself a two-seat military variation of the earlier Gulfstream American Hustler 500. The Hustler is re membered for its use of both a turboprop and a jet engine. Many hours and flights were accumulated at Van Nuys and Mojave before the project was dropped. AUSPICIOUS OPENING No account of plans for business aircraft ten years ago, the period which set the scene for the 1980s, can be without reference to anoth er remarkable design. The decade began most auspiciously with the first flight on 1 January, 1981, of the LearFan. This all-composite design had a tail-mounted propeller driven through a gearbox by two PT6 engines mounted in the rear fuselage. The maiden flight date itself was perhaps a portent of times ahead. To qualify for British Government money, the LearFan was re quired to fly by the end of 1980. In the event, the financiers were moved to declare the date "December 32, 1980" and to promise the required $50 million for development. Evenr tually, three LearFans flew before the pro gramme finally stalled just before the 1985 Paris Air Show. It has been said that a pioneer can always be identified by the arrows in his back; the composite-aircraft mantle was picked up by Beech, led in those days by Linden Blue, who had run both LearFan and Learjet at different times. Beech bravely took on the problems of certification that had defeated LearFan. Starship's surprise appearance at the 1983 NBAA convention ensured that Beech took that year's headlines and the aircraft seems rarely to have left them. This year's Paris Air Show saw the first customer aircraft handed over, but only briefly, before returning to the manufacturer's care to continue the certifica tion programme. The 1980s began with the flight of the LearFan, and Bill Lear's name has been carried throughout the decade by Learjet and, indirectly, by Canadair, the Challenger having its origins in a 1965 Lear design exercise. The future of Learjet, meanwhile, remains to be resolved. Gulfstream and Toyota have been associated with reports of bids for this company, although advisor Drexel Burnham Lambert has since thrown the competition open to four or five others. It is still possible that Gulfstream's Alan Paulson could bid successfully for the Wichi ta company. Since it is hard to hide a GIV in the town of small aircraft, his visits have been documented. If he does buy the company, one can hypothesise on his thoughts about a very small jet. Having been engaged briefly with Ed Swearingen and heard the arguments for such a design, it is not impossible that Gulfstream could be tempted to look closely at the original Learjet 23 design, married to the Williams FJ44. "During the past decade, there has been a decline in sales every year," lamented US general Aviation Manufacturers Association president Edward Stimpson at the beginning of this year. His hope that the downward sprial had ended appears to have been ful filled, but, Stimpson cautions, "This once robust industry still faces a long and hard road back to where we were just a few years ago". • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15-21 November 1989 S4
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