Hawker 400XP operators who have been waiting years for upgrade options suddenly have two new but dramatically different products to choose from.
While Hawker Beechcraft at NBAA took the wraps off the 450XP light jet, which essentially is an upgraded 400XP, start-up Nextant Aerospace began selling the 400NXT, which essentially is a remanufactured 400A/XP.
Both products feature new more powerful engines that will increase the 400XP's range and reduce its maintenance costs. But while Hawker Beechcraft has chosen to go with a new variant of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW535, Nextant plans to replace the existing P&WC JT15D-5 with the Williams FJ44-3AP.
The PW535D FADEC-powered 450XP will be able to fly 2.960km (1,600nm) with four passengers and 2,035km fully loaded with eight passengers.
While Hawker Beechcraft president commercial sales Brad Hatt acknowledges this represents a range improvement of about only 280km compared with the 400XP when departing from low altitude airports, the improvement is more "dramatic" in hot and heavy conditions, including more than 900km additional range when departing Denver in the summer.
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Nextant chief operating officer Edward McDonald says the 400NXT will offer significantly more range, flying up to 3,700km. He says Ohio-based Nextant, which has been has been studying the feasibility of 400A/XP retrofits since the company was established last year, "looked at the PW535D very hard" but concluded the FJ44-3AP was clearly the better choice.
"I don't understand why they [Hawker] selected that engine," McDonald says. He adds that Nextant is also installing new nacelles, introducing redesigned pylons and changing the position of the engine on the 400A/XP, which is designed "to eliminate the inefficiencies inherent with the 400A/XP design".
In the cockpit both the 450XP and 400NXT will feature the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite. Both also plan to offer state-of-the-art integrated cabin management systems, with Hawker Beechcraft having already selected the Rockwell Collins Venue, which it claims is more advanced than any system currently outfitted in small jets.
The 850XP also features a new interior modelled after the 900XP, including redesigned seats, headrests and sidewalls. "This is what customers asked for," Hatt says. "This is the most successful aircraft in the fractional business and we just made it better."
First flight of the 850XP is scheduled for the second quarter of 2009, with certification scheduled for the second quarter of 2010. The "as new" 400NXT, which at under $5 million will be less than half the cost of the 450XP, is scheduled to fly for the first time next April. McDonald says Nextant hopes to certificate the 400NXT in early 2010 and plans to buy aircraft speculatively and resell them after they are remanufactured.
Nextant is evaluating three potential production sites in the USA, where it will install the new engines and avionics as well as 40 new or overhauled "zero timed" components.
It has already selected Constant Aviation to provide customer support from Birmingham in Alabama and Cleveland in Ohio. McDonald says Nextant plans to add several service centres in the USA and abroad as the fleet grows.
He says Nextant, which was established exclusively as a retrofit specialist, "will look for other niche aircraft to remanufacture over time", but with more than 700 400A/XPs operating there is no hurry to expand the product line.
Source: Flight International
