BOMBARDIER HAS formally unveiled its Canadair Special Edition (SE) corporate jet - an adaptation of its CRJ regional airliner - and delivered the first example to Middle-East distributor TAG Aeronautics.
The SE - first disclosed at September's National Business Aircraft Association convention in Las Vegas, Nevada - will accommodate up to 19 passengers in luxury, in the space normally occupied by 50 passengers in the CRJ. To enhance its attraction to the corporate market, it has two extra fuel tanks (each holding 900kg) mounted at floor level behind the main cabin: this allows a range guaranteed to exceed 5,740km (3,100nm), compared with the CRJ's normal range of around 2,400km.
The first aircraft has the standard General Electric CF34-3A1b engines of the CRJ, but later aircraft will be fitted with the latest CF34-3B, as used on the new Challenger 604 business jet, says Canadair Business Aircraft division president, John Lawson. The new engines should give the SE even greater range. The SE also features an avionics package based on the Rockwell-Collins Pro Line 4 installation of the CRJ, but having a third flight-management system and other enhancements.
Lawson insists that the SE should not be seen as an alternative to the forthcoming Bombardier Global Express, but more as a modern replacement for corporate aircraft converted from airliners such as the British Aerospace One-Eleven.
The SE will cost, in typical fully fitted configuration, $22-23 million.
Source: Flight International
