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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 2451.PDF
M3AJ\ If the debut or launch of six new corporate jets at the US National Business Aircraft Association's 47th annual convention, 4-6 October, is anything to go by, the recession may be over. Forbes Mutch, Guy Norris, Karen Walker and Graham Warwick report from New Orleans, Louisiana. Photographs by Mark Wagner. Swearingen obtains financial help for SJ30 SWEARINGEN AIRCRAFT is to launch certification and production of the SJ30 light busi ness-jet with funding from Taiwan and Lockheed. A new joint-ven ture company will be formed by Swearingen and a consortium of private Taiwanese investors. Lockheed will contribute $10 million to the consortium through the Taiwan Government. Taiwan Aerospace (TAC) will supply the SJ30 fuselage. Final assembly will be at Martinsburg, West Virginia, where construction of a factory will begin as soon as the deal is closed, says chief executive Ed Swearingen. The state of West Virginia will pro vide $4.9 million in infrastructure improvements at Martinsburg. Local investors have also con tributed towards the $150 million funding needed to complete devel- Swearingen: final assembly imminent opment and begin production. US certification is expected 26 months after start-up, Swearingen says, and first deliveries of the $3 million SJ30 are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 1996. The com pany says that it holds firm orders for more than 60 aircraft, repre senting a two-year backlog. The $175 million backlog, a flying prototype and other assets will be Swearingen's contribution. Lockheed was instrumental in bringing Swearingen and Taiwan together, seeing the SJ30 pro gramme as a way to meet its offset commitment on the sale of 150 Lockheed F-16s to die island. The US aerospace giant will provide management and technical assis tance for a new civil-aircraft plant to be set up by TAC. The Taiwanese company has previously terminated agreements to take a share in the McDonnell Douglas MD-12 and a 50% share in British Aerospace's Avro regional-jet company. Swearingen expects to select a risk-sharing wing supplier from "several interested parties" within three to four months. The empen nage, along with nacelles for the Williams-Rolls FJ44 turbofans, will be produced at Martinsburg. Four certification aircraft will be built, two for flight-test and two for ground-test. Sufficient funds have been committed for certification and production start-up, "with pro visions for overruns", according to Swearingen. • Cessna Citation Excel: a model for future development Cessna adds to Citation family CESSNA HAS launched an addition to its Citation busi ness-jet family, the Excel, saying that it is sold out to the end of April 1999. Cessna's goal is to sell all of its 1990s' production of the aircraft by the end of 1995. The Excel shares many features with the Citation V Ultra, but has a shortened version of the wider Citation X fuselage, providing a stand-up cabin for up to eight pas sengers. Cruise speed will be 43 5 kt (800km/h) at up to 45,000ft (13,500m). At maximum cruise speed, and with a full-fuel payload of over 450kg, the Excel will have a range of more than 2,950km (l,600nm), Cessna says. The aircraft will be powered by 16kN (3,6401b)-thrust Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545A turbofans and will be fitted with Honeywell Primus 1000 inte grated avionics. Certification of the aircraft is scheduled for the third quarter of 1997, with first deliveries due to follow in December of the same year. Unveiling the Citation Excel, company chairman Russ Meyer described it as the "...most extra ordinary aircraft ever announced by Cessna". He offers a guarantee that its operating costs will be less than those of Raytheon Aircraft's Beech King Air 350 twin-turboprop. With a price of $6.39 million fixed to the end of 1994, the Excel is billed as a logical step up for owners and operators of smaller light business-jets and turbo- props. The purchase price will rise to $6.59 million in 1995. • Cessna also gave prominence at the NBAA to its Citation X, tak ing both the prototype and the first production unit to Amelia Island, Florida, for fly-past demonstrations to some 450 guests at an off-site briefing. Meyer says diat the programme is on schedule for certification before the next NBAA convention in September 1995. • Bombardier slashes 31A price BOMBARDIER HAS reduced die price of the Learjet 31A by 10%, re-positioning the business jet at the lower end of the mid- range corporate-aircraft market. A Learjet 31A now costs $4.49 million, which, the manufacturer claims, is roughly $1 million less than its closest competitors, the Cessna Citation V Ultra and Raytheon Beechjet 400A. The new price is being offered until the end of December for air craft delivered in 1995 and reflects a two-year effort by Learjet to reduce manufacturing costs. The cost will rise again in 1995, but only by $100,000. The new basic-price aircraft includes previous options, such as a lm-wide door and a centre-club seating arrangement, as standard. Also included as standard is the AlliedSignal Bendix/King five- tube electronic flight-instrument system, Universal UNS-1M flight-management system and single-point refuelling. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 12 - 18 October 1994
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