GRAHAM WARWICK / MONTREAL
Bombardier seeks competitive edge with launch of super-large business jet, predicting sales of 750 over 10 years
Bombardier has opened a new front in its battle with Dassault and Gulfstream in the market for large business jets.
The "super-large" Global 5000, a shortened version of the ultra-long-range Global Express, is due for launch by year-end, with entry into service expected in late 2004.
The Global 5000 is intended to compete directly with the Gulfstream IV-SP, but offering a larger cabin, longer range, higher speed and better field performance. With a launch price of $33 million "green" (uncompleted), the aircraft will fill a gap in the company's business-jet product line between the $22 million Challenger 604 and the $44 million Global Express. The company also studied a derivative of the stretched CRJ700 regional jet, but the design did not offer the required performance.
The aircraft has a design range of 8,900km (4,800nm) at Mach 0.85, sufficient to reach continental Europe from central North America. Range at the maximum cruise speed of M0.88 is 6,850km. This compares with the Global Express' 12,000km at M0.8 and 11,100km at M0.85. Range is reduced by removing the tail fuel tank and limiting wing fuel, says John Holding, executive vice president, engineering and product development. Take-off field length for the design 8,900km mission is 1,525m (5,000ft), he says.
Compared with the Global Express, fuselage length has been reduced 810mm (32in) by removing a plug forward of the wing. The longer-range aircraft's crew rest-area and large forward galley have been eliminated, but the passenger cabin is only slightly shorter and volume is 12% greater than the GIV-SP's, says Bombardier Aerospace president Pierre Beaudoin.
The Global Express' 14,750lb-thrust (65.6kN) Rolls-Royce BR710 engines are retained and avionics and systems are expected to be largely unchanged.
The project is in the joint definition phase, and talks with risk-sharing partners are continuing - but the breakdown will stay the same, says Holding. Mitsubishi provides the Global Express wing and Honeywell the avionics. Bombardier's share of development costs will be only C$150 million ($85 million). The company sees a market of 750 for the Global 5000 over 10 years.
Assuming a launch by year-end, and enough orders, the sole Global 5000 certification test aircraft is due to fly in early 2003, with type approval to follow a year later. Bombardier has already received its first order, from a California-based instrument company.
Source: Flight International
