Aviation Partners expects to fly a Raytheon Hawker 800 fitted with prototype winglets by mid-year.
This follows the successful Gulfstream II upgrade programme, under which 100 aircraft have been retrofitted with the company's patented blended winglets.
Joe Clark, chief executive of the Seattle-based company, says winglets should be available for retrofit to Hawker 800s within 12-13 months, with the Hawker 700 to follow.
He expects performance benefits similar to those achieved with the GII upgrade, including a 5-7% drag reduction.
The Hawker series was selected because of customer interest, Clark says. Aviation Partners hopes at least half the 385 Hawker 700/800s in service will receive the upgrade, which is expected to cost $300,000-350,000 per aircraft. Winglets are projected to extend endurance by 20-30min and increase altitude capability by 1,500-2,000ft (450-600m). "This makes it a better [US] coast-to-coast aircraft. It needed a little more legs," he says.
Source: Flight International
