Embraer was in a bullish mood following the award by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) of a number of speed records set by three members of its business jet family.
The Phenom 300 set records on two flights over the Caribbean and the USA. The first flight was from Philipsburg, St Martin, to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, on 1 September 2016. The sortie lasted 2h 41min and reached an average speed of 455.7mph (733.38km/h), covering a distance of 1,063nm (1,970km).
The second flight was from Anchorage, Alaska, to Van Nuys, California, on 28 April 2017 and lasted 4h 42min. According to the NAA, the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW535E-powered light jet reached an average speed of 494.59mph and covered a distance of 2,022nm.
The Legacy 450 set speed records on three flights in the USA, and between Australia and Indonesia. The first flight was from Oakland, California to Maui, Hawaii, on 5 December 2016 which lasted 5h 14mins and covered a distance of 2,428 miles – its longest flight to date for the superlight twin. According to the NAA, the aircraft achieved an average speed of 449.91mph. The second flight was the following day, from Maui to San Francisco, California, covering a distance of 2,379 miles. The flight lasted 4h 27min, with an average speed of 525.89mph. The third flight was from Perth, Australia, to Jakarta, Indonesia, on 8 March 2017. The flight lasted 4h 36min, covering a distance of 1,620nm.
According to the NAA, the Honeywell HTF 7500E-powered aircraft achieved an average speed of 404.9mph, establishing the speed record for this course.
Its larger stablemate, the Legacy 500, set two speed records over Europe. The first flight was between Bremen, Germany, and Moscow, Russia on 7 September, recording an average speed of 481.75mph during a flight lasting 2h 24min and covering a distance of 1,008nm. The second sortie was made on 11 September 2016, between Moscow and Paris, France. It lasted 3h 11min and covered a distance of 1,332nm. The midsize jet achieved an average speed of 480mph, the NAA says.
Source: Flight Daily News
