Bell Agusta Aerospace

The BA609 has amassed 77 orders.

A conventional helicopter with a five-blade main rotor and four-blade tail rotor, the AB139 will have a large, unobstructed cabin, capable of accommodating 15 passengers or six litters in a medevac role, and a retractable tricycle landing gear. Maximum cruising speed will be 160 knots. Agusta has chosen Honeywell Primus Epic avionics, including a four-axis automatic flight-control system. Both companies will take part in the manufacture of both aircraft. Bell will establish a second assembly line for the AB139 in North America, most likely at Mirabel in Canada. First deliveries are slated for 2002.

The Bell Agusta BA609, the first civil tiltrotor, will now be offered under the aegis of the Bell Agusta Aerospace as another joint venture of the two rotorcraft manufacturers. The companies have split the BA609 into 75-25 percent shares, with Bell taking 75 percent of the new aircraft. Both companies will take part in the manufacture of both aircraft. Agusta will assemble BA609s in Italy for the European market and other selected regions.

The six- to nine-passenger aircraft will sell for between $8 million and $10 million, depending on interior configuration. The 609 is scheduled to make its first flight in the fourth quarter of next year and will be certified in mid-2002. The 609 will cruise at 275 knots and have a tanks-dry range of 750 nmi. The 10,500-pound aircraft has a useful load of 5,500 pounds.

In addition to having speed and range twice that of most helicopters, the 609 will be pressurized, maintaining an 8,000-foot cabin at 25,000 feet, and it will have full de-ice/anti-ice capability. A pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6C-67As rated at 1,850 shp will power the rotorcraft. It will have a composite fuselage and wing. Avionics will be based on the Collins Pro Line 21 system with three 10-by-eight-inch active-matrix, color LCD displays and a complete nav/comm package. Certification will be a blend of FAR Part 29 transport category rotorcraft and Part 25 transport category airplane requirements.

Ayres Corp.

Ayres will use Dothan, Al. as the U.S. final assembly site for all Loadmaster configurations.

At 10,000 feet, the aircraft will fly at a maximum cruise speed of 205 knots and a normal cruise speed of 180 knots. MTOW is 19,000 pounds, and the empty weight is 9,000 pounds. Ayres will use Dothan, AL as the U.S. final assembly site for all Loadmaster configurations. Meanwhile, the prototype will be built at company headquarters in Albany. Ayres reports 100 firm orders for the LM200 and options for another 200.

In late summer 2000, FedEx will and Fokker F27s. By year-end 2000, the passenger/combis will be ready for delivery. First flight of the Loadmaster is anticipated for September. Certification is expected in third quarter 2000. The price of the regional configuration has been set at $5 be the launch customer, adding the Loadmaster to its fleet of Cessna Caravans million, and $4.5 million for the cargo aircraft.

Bombardier

First flight of the new Continental is scheduled for June 2001.

The Continental will feature a double-club configuration in an 86-inch-wide, 23-foot-long cabin with standup headroom. With an MTOW of 37,500 pounds and a maximum landing weight of 33,750 pounds, the Continental's target takeoff distance is 4,950 feet. Projected landing distance is 2,650 feet. AlliedSignal AS 907 turbofans will power the Continental, while the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system has been selected for the cockpit. Group Intertechnique will provide the complete fuel system, and ECE (also from Intertechnique) will supply the electrical systems. The fourth major Continental supplier is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which will build the complete wing section for the aircraft.

Bombardier plans to wage a hard-driving development and certification program. First flight of the Continental is scheduled for June 2001, with initial customer deliveries slated for the second half of 2002. The base price is $14.25 million.

Cessna

Cessna Soverign is priced at $11.995 million in 1998 dollars.

Cessna's Sovereign will carry eight passengers and fly 2,500 nmi with NBAA IFR reserves. Maximum cruise will be 444 knots, and typical cruise will be 0.75 Mach at FL 410. MTOW will be less than 30,000 pounds, and the design maximum payload is 2,500 pounds. Powerplants selected for the aircraft are FADEC-controlled Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306Cs, each with a takeoff thrust of 5,686 pounds flat-rated to ISA+15C. Honeywell will provide standard avionics in a system that will include four large, eight-by-10-inch active-matrix, quartz flat-screen displays, a multi-function display and a traditional enunciator panel.

The Sovereign will be group certified for RVSM. Type certification is expected in second quarter 2002, followed by the first customer delivery in third quarter 2002. The Sovereign is priced at $11.995 million in 1998 dollars. Swift Air of Phoenix is the launch customer, having signed up for six of the aircraft in October 1998.

Raytheon Aircraft

Three Raytheon Premiers are in flight test.

Pratt & Whitney Canada PW308As will power the Horizon, each with a takeoff rating of 6,500 pounds of thrust. Currently, the engine is in flight test and has logged more than 400 operating hours. It will have a 6,000-hour TBO.

Like the Premier I, the Horizon features a composite fuselage and metal wing. In executive configuration, the aircraft will seat eight passengers, but it can be configured for up to 12 passengers. The cabin has a flat floor, running 29.5 feet, and provides 72 inches of stand-up headroom. A 105-cubic-foot baggage compartment is located aft and is accessible during flight.

With six passengers, the Horizon will have a maximum NBAA IFR range of 3,400 nmi. Maximum cruise speed is 0.84 Mach. Built into the aircraft's MTOW of 36,000 pounds is an operating empty weight of just under 21,000 pounds and a 3,570-pound payload.

The totally integrated Horizon cockpit includes a comprehensive Honeywell Primus Epic avionics package with long-range navigation capability previously not standard in this class of business jet. First flight of the Horizon is set for late this year with certification and first customer deliveries targeted for spring 2001. The aircraft's price is $15.35 million in 1998 dollars.

Sikorsky

Five S-92s will be used in the development program.

Sikorsky offers three S-92 interior options: executive transport with multiple configurations, commercial, and military/utility, with two facing bench seats. Two of the prototype aircraft are powered by twin 1,700-shp General Electric CT7-6D turboshafts, and the remaining three have the CT7-8, which is the certification configuration engine.

The S-92 has an aluminum and composite airframe. Gross weight will be 25,200 pounds, with an alternate gross weight of 26,500 pounds. Range will be 400 nmi at a cruise speed of 155 knots and a service ceiling of 15,000 feet.

Sikorsky has assembled an international S-92 design and manufacturing team that includes Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (cockpit), Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (main fuselage), Spain's Gamesa (fairings, aft fuselage), Brazil's Embraer (fuel system, sponsons) and China's Jingdezhen Helicopter Group (empennage). Sikorsky is manufacturing the rotor blades and is machining gears and gearbox housings. Certification is expected in 2001. A basically configured S-92 will sell for $12.5 million to $13 million.

Sino Swearingen

Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 now aims for certification in spring 2001.

The SJ30-2 is designed for missions of up to 2,500 nmi at a long-range cruise speed of 0.78 Mach with one pilot and three passengers, and 1,900 nmi with a total of seven seat occupants. Maximum speed for this light jet will be 0.83 Mach. MTOW is 13,200 pounds, and operating empty weight of the aircraft is 7,900 pounds. Williams/Rolls FJ44-2A fanjet engines will power the SJ30-2, and the engines' maiden flightcoincidentally with the aircraftwas made in September 1997.

All SJ30-2s will come equipped with Honeywell Primus Epic Control Data System avionics, incorporating three large, eightby-10-inch active-matrix, full-color LCDs, including two primary flight displays and one multi-function display. In February, engineers finished static and fatigue tests on a representative section of the aircraft's primary wing joint. The structure exhibited no sign of cracking or other potential difficulty. Certification is now expected in spring of 2001. Production SJ30-2 aircraft will be assembled at Sino Swearingen's Martinsburg, WV factory. The SJ30-2 is priced at $4.3 million.

If all goes well, the SJ30-2 will be the first new business jet certified by a start-up company since the Learjet.

AASI

Deliveries of the Jetcruzer 500 have slipped again to sometime next year.

The company moved into its new 200,000-square-foot production facility and headquarters at Long Beach Airport in November 1998. Price of the Jetcruzer 500 has been set at $1.395 million. Future projects, such as the 12-place Jetcruzer 650 and the Stratocruzer 1250 turbofan, are on hold.

Chichester-Miles

Chichester-Miles Leopard is placing its hopes on the new Williams FJX-2 engine.

Design features of the new pressurized aircraft include sweptback supercritical wings and sweptback tail. First flight of the production aircraft, whose design was first sketched in 1981, is estimated after 2001. Production plans and provisional orders include two Leopard variants: the full-performance Leopard Jet 4 at $1.35 million, and a reduced-performance Leopard Jet 3 at below $l million.

VisionAire

VisionAire has now wrapped up its design review of the Vantage.

VisionAire has now wrapped up its design review of the Vantage. Changes include the installation of a Fowler-flap configuration to improve handling characteristics; some modifications to the engine air inlets; weight-saving, newer-technology changes in the avionics suite; leading edge extensions at the root, stall strips and fences on each wing; and elimination of some of the frames and longerons in the original design.

The Vantage is powered by a single, 2,965-pound-thrust Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5 engine. MTOW will be in the range of 8,100 to 8,200 pounds to accommodate the higher operating empty weight goal of 4,700 pounds. The aircraft requires only a 2,500-foot runway at MTOW at sea level, allowing for access to smaller airports. Slated for single-pilot certification, the Vantage will seat five passengersone up front, and four more in a single club section in the main cabin. The cabin also has two storage compartments and a lavatory. VisionAire reports 150 orders for the $1.8 million Vantage.

Alberta Aerospace

Phoenix FanjetAlberta Aerospace of Calgary, Alberta, Canada continues to develop two versions of the Phoenix Fanjet: a two-place trainer and a four-place pressurized personal jet or owner-flown business jet. The aircraft, powered by the Williams/Rolls FJ44 high-bypass turbofan engine, is based upon the original Jet Squalus. MTOW of the four-place aircraft is 6,300 pounds, and the basic equipped weight is 3,808 pounds. First flight of the pressurized business jet, priced at $l.875 million (U.S.) is projected for early 2000, with FAR Part 23 certification expected in late 2000. The $1.575 million training aircraft has over 600 flight hours on the prototype, and certification is expected in early 2000.

Socata

Socata TB360 TangaraThis four-place, twin-engine aircraft (formerly the Grumman Cougar) with constant-speed propellers is on hold while Socata looks for risk-sharing partners. The current plan is to replace the Tangara's Lycoming 0-360, 180-hp engines with Morane-Renault 200 hp turbocharged diesels. Inside sources say the Tangara almost certainly will be tapped to join a line of new-generation "MS" airplanes, a marketing throwback to the former Morane-Saulnier company. The "TB" designation would, then, be retired.

Century Aerospace

Century Aerospace Corp of Albuquerque unveiled the reconfiguration of its CA-100, a six-place business jet to a twin-engine design, at NBAA in Las Vegas two years ago. The switchover allows the company to opt for two new Williams/Rolls FJ33-1 engines at essentially the same price it would have paid for one FJ44. The new turbofans, with a 3.28 bypass ratio, will provide 1,200 pounds of static thrust each. The CA-100's maximum fuel range with NBAA IFR reserves is 1,300 nmi. Maximum ramp weight is 7,050 pounds, and maximum takeoff weight is 7,000 pounds. Empty weight is 4,080 pounds. Cabin width is 4.75 feet, and cabin height, benefiting from the use of a dropped center aisle, is 4.67 feet. The main passenger area consists of four seats in club configuration.