For the last few years, deliveries of large cabin long-range jets have remained stable while the rest of the market has suffered. However, I have to wonder – intercontinental range may be nice, but do owners really need it? And how do they actually use their aircraft? Business jets such as the Gulfstreams, Globals and Falcons have phenomenal capabilities. Bombardier’s Global 6000 has a 6,000 nm range – sufficient to fly from Moscow to Los Angeles – and the forthcoming Global 7000 will take you up to 7,300 nm from New York to Shanghai. Gulfstream’s G650ER goes even further at 7,500 nm, while Dassault’s upcoming Falcon 8X has enough range to go from Paris to Singapore or Sao Paulo. Don’t get me wrong, this is all just fine if you’re happy to ride in business jet comfort for up to 14 hours. But, perhaps surprisingly, it seems owners of these aircraft aren’t, with most using them for more mundane missions. A sample of around 100 business jets recently offered for sale shows that large cabin jets fly sectors averaging just one hour and 57 minutes – or around 1,000 nm. This is essentially flying from Washington, DC to Dallas, Texas. Not exactly the long-range missions these jets brag about on the brochures… Obviously, they do fly long-range missions, and it should be noted that the average for Bombardier Globals is higher – at around three hours. But there was only one aircraft (a G450) posting an average flight sector of more than five hours, and only two more with more than four hours. So the general evidence appears to be that the range capability of big jets is not fully used. Just in case Why do customers want more

Three weeks after the Citation Longitude’s wings were joined with the aircraft’s fuselage, Cessna powered the electrical distribution system on its super-midsize jet. Both steps are significant milestones in the aircraft’s path to accomplish first flight this summer. “The power on stage allows our team to begin verifying the aircraft’s electrical power system and paves the way for functional tests and engine runs that will get us to first flight in the coming months,” comments Textron Aviation President & CEO Scott Ernest. At the 2016 EBACE convention in Geneva, Switzerland, Textron Aviation’s Cessna announced that it has successfully completed the wing and fuselage mate of the first Cessna Citation Longitude. The milestone occurred only six months after revealing the new aircraft, which is on track for first flight this summer and entry into service in 2017. “The team has been working diligently to meet a development schedule unmatched in the industry, and it’s rewarding to see the aircraft taking shape,” comments Textron Aviation President & CEO Scott Ernest. “The market is asking for this aircraft.” The Citation Longitude is designed to seat 12 passengers, while featuring a stand-up, flat-floor cabin with a standard double-club configuration and a walk-in baggage compartment fully accessible in flight. The aircraft’s cockpit features Garmin’s G5000 flight deck and is powered by FADEC-equipped Honeywell HTF7700L turbofan engines with fully integrated auto throttles. Honeywell’s family of HTF7000 engines powers the Bombardier Challenger 300, the Gulfstream G280, and Embraer’s Legacy 500 and 450.  Rockwell Collins has been selected to provide several flight control systems for the Longitude as well. The company’s horizontal stabilizer trim and flap actuation systems will enable the aircraft to maneuver while in flight. “Cessna needed a flight controls provider that could deliver on the Longitude’s relatively short development schedule, and

Indianapolis-based Comlux America has completed an expansion of its VIP hangar. The hangar now has the capability to house wide-body and narrow-body aircraft simultaneously. Comlux America’s first wide body completion, an ACJ330 aircraft, was inside the hangar for an event that celebrated construction of the hangar. During the event, the hangar also housed two BBJs (one in completion and one in maintenance) and one SBJ in completion. The new hangar expansion increased the total size of the hangar from 128,000 square feet to 157,000 square feet. Also read: One-on-one with Scott Meyer “This is a major milestone in the development of Comlux America and the Comlux Group,” says Comlux America CEO Scott Meyer. “This event is a testament of our continued growing list of capabilities, and it further demonstrates our ability to adapt for future market opportunities.” The celebration of the facility expansion took place on April 27th, 2016, one year from the ground breaking ceremony. Guests flew in from all around the world to celebrate the unveiling, including customers, OEMs, authorities, designers, suppliers, business partners, and local political and airport officials.   Source: Fly Corporate

A Dassault Falcon 2000LXS has become the first business jet to fly an instrument approach with a published localizer performance with vertical guidance (LPV) minima of 200ft (LPV200), using the European geostationary navigation overlay service. The trial took place at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on 3 May, with an ATR 42-600 twin-turboprop and an Airbus A350 widebody airliner also taking part. Dassault Aviation LPV permits aircraft-guided approaches, operationally equivalent to a Category 1 instrument landing system, but without the need for ground-based navigation aid infrastructure. The system is reliant on global positioning system and space based augmentation capabilities like EGNOS and the USA’s wide area augmentation system. France was the first European country to publish approach procedures permitting EGNOS LPV200, says Dassault. Austria’s Vienna Internationalwill be the next airport to receive an LPV200 approach capability, although a trial date has not been disclosed. Dassault Aviation “The accuracy and stability of LPV guidance is really amazing; much better than with ILS,” says Dassault test pilot Jean-Louis Dumas, who was at the controls, alongside fellow crew member Olivier Perriaud. “Lowering the minima to 200ft will be a great boon for European business aviation operations.” Source: Flight Global

The first production Cirrus Vision SF50 recently completed its inaugural flight in Duluth, Minn. The flight moves the single-engine jet one step closer to FAA certification. Coined P1, the aircraft had a large and captive audience for the big moment. “Pilot feedback on P1 is simple,” says test pilot Terry LeSage. “The aircraft handled just great. It was unnoticeably different from C2 (the third of our conforming test-article jets), with handling qualities matching those of its predecessors and all systems working as intended.” Also read: GAMA report shows Q1 deliveries down Cirrus first welcomed the cabin of P1 to Duluth last April, fresh off the truck from the company’s Grand Forks facility. Since then, the aircraft has been trimmed, drilled, assembled and bonded, as well as received hardware and systems installation. The aircraft was built in tandem with the certification testing process. The structural components led the way, enduring a long and rigorous testing process before P1’s structures could be built out. Next, the plane moved into testing of the lamination and bonding processes, then systems testing with subsequent installation and addition of components within that area. The first flight of P1 signifies a shift of focus from engineering and production over to flight testing. The aircraft is currently fulfilling approximately 10 days of flying before heading into the paint booth. After that it will return to flight test for another week before its final interior and exterior detailing is completed.   Source: Fly-Corporate

Private Jet Routes: Ever seen a private jet in the sky? Chances are it’s on its way to NYC, or on the way back. Out of the most traveled jet routes in 2013, Knight Frank mentioned in his wealth report that 7 out of 10 private planes were flow in, or out of New York City. However,  the most popular out of the private jet routes was UVVV to LFMN. Moscow, to Nice-Cote d’Azur Airport. Based on our statistics, these are the top 5 itinerary rankings: Top 5 Private jet routes for the past two years. Departure Arrival Rank UVVV-Moscow LFMN-Nice Cote d’Azur 1 KTEB- Teterboro, NJ KFXE- Fort Lauderdale, FL 2 KTEB-Teterboro, NJ KVNY- Van Nuys, CA 3 EGGW- Luton, UK KTEB- Teterboro, NJ 4 KTEB-Teterboro, NJ LFMN-Nice Cote d’Azur 5 More than half of the traffic begins or ends somewhere in the states, mainly focused in the east coast. In Europe, statistics showed high interest for private jet users focused in London, Moscow, and Nice-Cote d’Azur. The passengers used routes between these cities. China’s private aviation market is also expected to grow once the government relaxes its set of laws. Currently, the third largest market is the Middle East. Knight Frank also mentioned in his report that many of the chartered private jet routes are growing tremendously since 2013. LFMN Nice -Cote d’Azur in France, to KTEB- Teterboro, NJ was the most noticed route for its growth. The top 5 list is as followed: Departure Arrival Rank LFMN-Nice Cote d’Azur KTEB- Teterboro, NJ 1 SVMI-Maiquetia, Ven. KMIA-Miami, FL 2 OMDB-Dubai, UAE EGGW-London, UK 3 KPIT-Pittsburgh, PA KTEB- Teterboro, NJ 4 KHOU-Houston, TX KPBI-West Palm Beach, FL 5   Many might wonder the reasoning

As aviation companies race to manufacture the perfect aircraft, Gulfstream Aerospace was honored recently to connect two pair cities, making one tech stop in between. The G650 ER landed both times with fuel in excess of NBAA IFR reserves. The Gulfstream G650 goes Round-The-World with 1 Fuel Stop with Three passengers on board, and four crew members, The Gulfstream 650 ER took off from White Plains, NY. This aircraft was able to fly 6,939 NM to Beijing in China, with an average speed of 0.87 Mach, totaling out the flight time at 13H20MN. After the stop, the jet was able for fly for another 6,572 NM to Savannah, GA. The mission was accomplished at a speed of Mach 0.89, totaling flight time at 12 hours. Furthermore, the company set two speed records during its test flight last year. The aircraft was able to fulfill a trip Los Angeles, CA to Melbourne, Australia, in 14H58MIN and from Hong Kong, China to Teterboro, NJ in 14H07MIN. The senior vice president of Gulfstream, Scott Neal, said that there is no other aircraft capable of doing this mission. It proves the true power of this machine. They’re promise of making an aircraft that can go faster and further than any other aircraft was fulfilled. This record will be sent to the Fédération Aéronautique International, currently located in Switzerland, in order to gain recognition as a world record. They are also pending approval by the United States National Aeronautic Association, according to Gulfstream. The Gulfstream 650ER is capable of traveling 7,500 NM at a speed of 0.85 Mach, and a distance of 6,400NM at a speech of 0.90 Mach. It has a maximum speed of Mach 0.925. Gulfstream aerospace noted that