Raytheon Aircraft (RAC) expects provisional certification of the Hawker Horizon super mid-size business jet within weeks, leading to delivery of the first aircraft to a customer in December. The company will immediately lease the aircraft back to support operational evaluations and customer demonstrations, and will not book the sale this year. "Development testing is complete - we are now in flight testing with the [US Federal Aviation Administration] on board," says RAC.
When the Horizon was announced in November 1996, first flight was planned for late 1999 and certification for mid-2001. By the time of the delayed first flight in August 2001, certification had slipped to mid-2003. The most recent delay was caused by flight-control system modifications (Flight International, 28 September-4 October).
Details on the schedule for full certification and service entry for the Horizon are expected early in December.
The company plans a military-style "operational evaluation" phase, before entry into service with a customer, to "work out any kinks" in the aircraft and in its supplier system.
Parent company Raytheon says research and development spending at RAC, which has been running at around $70 million annually during development of the all-new Premier I and Horizon, will decrease by 20% next year and another 20% in 2006 as Horizon spending winds down.
Source: Flight International
