Raytheon Aircraft has set a conservative certification schedule for its Hawker 450 light mid-size business jet, after its experience with the Premier I and Hawker Horizon.
The company is projecting a programme of almost 70 months from launch earlier this month to certification in 2006. This runs counter to the industry trend towards shorter certification cycles, but reflects lessons learned on the Premier and Horizon programmes, both of which have experienced substantial delays.
Certification of the entry-level Premier I was originally set to require 40 months, but is now expected to take almost 70, with US approval due by year-end.
Certification of the super mid-size Horizon, a larger and more complex aircraft, was planned to take 55 months, but this has been stretched to almost 75 months, the company says.
In both cases, the programmes kept to schedule from launch to the critical design review (CDR), but ran into problems between CDR and first flight.
In the Premier's case, Raytheon blames the problems on competition for resources with the company's T-6 military trainer programme. The delays, in turn, had an impact on the Horizon.
Adopting a conservative schedule for certification for the Hawker 450 avoids any contention over resources. "Real investment in the Hawker 450 is two years away, well past Premier certification and well into Horizon certification," says Raytheon chief financial officer, Franklyn Caine.
The Premier I is pioneering the composite fuselage technology to be used in the Hawker Horizon and 450. It is the first all-new aircraft to be certificated by Raytheon, previous designs having been acquired from other companies.
Source: Flight International