Bombardier expects to recommend that operators of its Global Express ultra-long-range business jet rotate crews on long flights, to avoid pilot fatigue. This move follows experience gained on several flights conducted during a recent sales tour to Australia and Africa.
"On any flight over 8h we carry a third pilot," says John Race, director of flight operations for Bombardier's Business Aircraft division. Race led the 36-day tour, during with aircraft 9004 logged 110h and visited 20 cities.
"The issue with long flights is fatigue. You want to have a place where the pilot can get horizontal and rest. You need to put the crew on a rotation schedule or they will not get rest," he says.
The tour included a 10h 50min leg from Hawaii to Melbourne, and an 11h 6min flight from Perth to Johannesburg. Race believes the latter is the longest overwater flight in the world in terms of distance from an alternate airport. At one point, the Global Express was almost 4h single-engine flying time from an airport.
Bombardier says the tour demonstrated the Global Express' reliability for extended-range twin-engined operations. Race says the aircraft achieved a 100% dispatch reliability.
He says the tour illustrated that the Global Express is likely to be used most often over ranges less than its design maximum. "We've been focused on 6,500nm [12,000km]. In reality, it will be more like this trip - 10-12h flights of around 5,000nm."
Bombardier has 12 Global Express aircraft in completion and expects to deliver the first aircraft by mid-year.
Source: Flight International
