NBAA 2014 News Roundup
Aircharter is proud to announce the hottest events that sparked our attention from NBAA 2014. The National Business Aviation Association’s annual show is being held in Orlando, FL from October 21st to 23rd for the public. Spread across 25 acres at ORL (Orlando Executive Airport), bringing together over 29,000 professionals from the business aviation field. This is the seventh annual convention with the highest turnout since the very beginning.
Gulfstream unveils a G600 mockup
Already mentioned in our comparison between the all new G550 and G600, we have been eagerly awaiting the unveiling of the G600 cabin after seeing the G550 days before taxi up to the stage under its own power. With a 19 passenger capacity, we were very interested in how this business jet would compare to the immensely popular G650. The cabin feels thinner than the G650, but also feels much longer. We can see that this aircraft was a subtle response to Bombardiers Global 7000 and 8000, both with long, narrow cabins.
Airbus unveils a VIP concept cabin for the A330-200
This specific cabin is made to seat a massive 90 passengers, quite the feat for a VIP configured airliner, though the VIP section includes seating for 19, a standard in VIP configured airliners. The Airbus CJ series has lacked behind in the recent years with Boeing taking the initiative with their all new BBJ line spread across all widebody platforms they have to offer including the monstrous 787. Airbus’s VIP configured A330 features a bedroom with ensuite bathroom, an office, a conference and dining room and a work area. It’s been a while airbus, the VIP airliner business is nearly on par with standard business aviation, and it’s about time Airbus caught up.
Bombardier Brings its testing Learjet 85 to NBAA 2014
The Learjet 85 program has had it’s ups and downs, for NBAA 2014, this was certainly an up. Bombardier showed us its flight testing learjet 85, far from the mockups we had seen in the past, this aircraft had begun flying in spring of this year and has accomplished more than 60 flights without a hitch. Bombardier has yet to disclose when the aircraft will be available for delivery due to modifications on the production jet. Flexjet has already put in an order for 60 Leajet 85s, but the delivery looks to be a slow one due to the effort being put into the Global 7000 and 8000 projects.
Nextant’s G90XT cockpit shown off for all to see
Nextant, well known for their modification of old hawkers into newer, more fuel efficient, and safer Nextant400Xi, has had the G90XT project in progress for quite some time now, the Nextant modifications will add airspeed, stability, and fuel efficiency to the Kingair C90 turboprop. Nextant has added a host of features to the G90XT cockpit, including a Garmin G1000 avionics suite, an integrated electronic engine management system, single-lever power control, digital pressurisation and an environmental cooling system.
Cessna Citation Latitude makes its debut
Cessna’s newest midsized business jet makes its public debut this week at NBAA 2014. A perfect example of any mid sized jet, it features a range of 2,700 nmi, and allows a takeoff distance of 3,670 ft, quite a feat for a mid jet of this size. With 6 feet of cabin height, and the ability to reach it’s cruising altitude of 43,000 feet in 24 minutes, this jet fits right in as a middle range jet. Not much is known about this aircraft, even though a production testing model was kind enough to land in orlando to be seen, but various components are still being designed, but we can’t wait to receive a full spec sheet for this aircraft.