Raytheon Aircraft demonstration pilot Mark Mills suddenly made my day with one simple sentence: “Jump in the left-hand seat and let’s go and have some fun.”
The seat in question was at the sharp end of the latest derivative of the Hawker 800 series, described as “the most popular mid-size jet in the world” - the Hawker 850XP.
The concept of “fun” was overshadowed by a sudden feeling of nerves. Like many people in this industry I am a leisure pilot, happy to dance with the angels in a single-piston Cessna or a Piper Cherokee, but this …. this is a real aircraft.
Mills was remarkably calm for someone entrusting nearly $14 million of hardware in the hands of a pilot with less than 100h. “You are going to love this plane. Just tell me if you feel uncomfortable at all and I will take back control.” He looked at me. “Er, just give me as much notice as you can.”
Taxiing out of the Beechcraft delivery hangar threw up the first difference. A tiller mechanism steers the aircraft up to speeds of 80kt (150km/h) before switching over to more traditional foot-controlled rudder steering. A test of the brakes almost sent chief demonstration pilot Corby Wilson tumbling out of the jump seat. “They work then!” said Wilson drolly.
The throttles controlling the twin Honeywell TFE 731-5BR engines were more responsive than I expected and we were soon on our way toward the end of runway 18. “When we are cleared for take-off open the throttles, I will call 80kt, switch to rudder control with your feet and get both hands on the yoke. That’s decision time. Rotate at 112kts and climb out to 2,000ft [600m] at 111kt and then make a right turnout.” Mills’ instructions were clear.
Without passengers the Hawker 850XP was light and acceleration was remarkable. The transition from the tiller was easier than it sounded and soon we were climbing rapidly into the clear blue skies above Kansas.
The turn came quickly: “Keep the nose down, you’re climbing,” Mills warned. The aircraft is remarkably responsive. We held straight and level to exit the zone that was busy with activities at the nearby McConnell AFB and Cessna’s Pawnee field facility. Soon we were away from metropolitan Wichita and Mills gave the instruction to climb to 13,000ft – the Hawker wanted to climb and with barely any effort and even less time we had reached the target altitude.
The 850XP is the latest in a line which began with the de Havilland 125 in 1961 – there is little left of the heritage design; already the move away from the more recent Hawker 800XP and XPI is apparent just by taking a look out of the left window as we tried some steep turns.
The Raytheon custom-designed winglets are the obvious external difference.
Product manager Dennis Hildreth had briefed me before the flight. “The lightweight composite winglets were designed in-house; they give us 3ft more wingspan and are outwardly canted with a supercritical aerofoil”. The changes in performance at high- speed cruise at 10,900kg (24,000lb) weight were marked with an increase of 5kt to 424kt at FL410. The climb has been improved too with an 8% reduction in time to FL280 while at the same time reducing fuel by 6% and saving 10% of ground covered. “We got more speed and faster to altitude,” Hildreth said. “We’ve improved block times and mission speeds – we have saved fuel.”
With eight passengers the new 850XP has an increased range of 196km (106nm) at 4,725km. “That 4% increase is right across the board,” said Hildreth.
For the US market this gives the New York to Los Angeles pairing. In European talk that would give you London to Cairo.
The Hawker 850XP was certificated at the end of February by the US Federal Aviation Administration and flight evaluation by European Aviation Safety Agency is complete. Already five customer aircraft have been delivered and Raytheon’s own demonstrator N-757XP was set to make a European debut at EBACE - subject to the little matter of one inexperienced flight-jockey finding K-BEC field and putting the wheels down in the right order at the right place.
Mills was keen to demonstrate the other great benefit of the new 850XP and we switched to autopilot and “play” with the Rockwell Collins kit, which includes the integrated flight information system (IFIS), with its Collins ProLine 21 avionics suite with digital CNS radios and the Collins Airshow 21 cabin management system.
The information at your fingertips is quite remarkable. Easy to read electronic charts showed us our approach to the Beech field. With the aircraft’s present position shown, we were able to zoom in to look at the runway, can check the weather, and have awareness of other traffic. “You can even have a 3D representation which could be useful during complicated departures and arrivals,” Hildreth had told me.
Our descent was under way and with a short turn on to final, three green lights for gear down and holding a steady 120kt – almost twice the speed of a Cessna 152 approach – the runway came rushing up. “Hold it steady, keep coming down, keep your speed up, remember to switch to the tiller at 80kt after you have hit the air brakes. Flare now! Flare.”
With the gentlest of bumps we were back on the ground – we survived and with an aircraft that could be used again. A perfect landing. Off the runway and a taxi back to the RAC apron. Twenty-four minutes of sheer delight and just 305kg of fuel lighter.
After shutting down I got the chance to look at the bit that most people at EBACE will be awestruck by, the cabin.
The Hawker 850XP has the largest and most luxurious cabin in the mid-size class. It features standing headroom throughout and has exceptional baggage capacity. With a useful load of 5,343kg, a cabin of 6.5 x 1.83m, it is no wonder that orderbooks are looking healthy.
The aircraft will be on the static park throughout EBACE and you never know, dreams do come true - someone might just say: “Jump in the left-hand seat and let’s have some fun!”
Specifications
Max cruise speed 466kt
Certified ceiling 41,000ft
Max range 5,019km
Honeywell TFE 731-5BR engines: 4,660lb thrust
Maintenance improved
Raytheon has announced that the Hawker 850XP will introduce scheduled maintenance improvements from 300h to 600h with only a detailed walk around inspection required at 300h. “This will reduce Hawker operator maintenance costs and downtime,” says Hawker’s president, Brad Hatt.
Source: Flight Daily News
