Grob’s spn light jet is seeing sales success with its real owner-pilot appeal, it is marketed as a light utility jet, able to offer business and utility use, coupled with airport performance similar to that of turboprops. And here at Oshkosh the company is displaying a full cabin mockup of the spn.
Grob Aerospace managing director Claude Chidiac says: “The spn has a broad appeal because of the large cabin.”
And that cabin is 5’ wide and 5’ 5” high, with a length of 16’ 10”, giving it one of the largest cabins in the light jet category. Coupled with design appeal as the cabin was designed by Porsche Design.
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Grob holds over 100 firm orders for the twin-jet, but Chidiac says that unlike other manufacturers where a $10,000 or $20,000 deposit gets you started, Grob insists on a $250,000 initial deposit.
“We have 100 orders and this is significant because when we launched the program we structured the purchasing program with the $250,000 initial payment. We wanted to avoid the type of order taking that some manufacturers have done. The $20,000 deposits that pump orders but do not give firmness to these orders,” explains Chidiac. “Our orders are all firm.”
And on the back of these firm orders Chidiac highlights the fact that “we have a higher percentage than normal of US-based orders. You can say that around 70% of orders are outside of the US, but we’re at a 60/40 split with only a single fleet customer – PlaneSense. PlaneSense saw it as a perfect platform for fractional ownership because of the cabin size.”
Chidiac believes the airplane is being “very well received because of the cabin size.
“One of the selling arguments that has tipped a lot of customers has been the fact the cabin is 90% the size of a Citation Excel, which is more of a ‘medium light jet’. It has runway performance with a 3,000ft balanced field length at MTOW. The field performance is more in line with a turboprop than a jet.
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“We have had success with some turboprop owners that wanted to step up to a jet but didn’t want to compromise on short field performance or cabin size,” explains Chidiac.
The majority of the position holders are from owner pilots.Chidiac says “an owner-pilot can get into this airplane with substantial range – 1,800nm – that’s halfway across the US. With a large payload, a large cabin and it is still capable of being flown by themselves.
“I think that owner-pilot orders will continue. This is helped by the handling qualities and performance capabilities of this airplane,” he says.
Adding to the appeal are the avionics. The spn features Honeywell’s Primus Apex integrated avionics suite. “The avionics are from much larger aircraft and is a real add on benefit for customers,” he adds.
Chidiac says: “If you look at who has ordered the spn so far. All of them have twin turbine time. One of the things that helps is that this is an $8million airplane, it’s not a natural upgrade from the piston single or piston twin. It’s in a class that assumes the customer has had other aircraft of a similar size.”
But it isn’t just the owner-pilots that are driving demand for the spn. Chidiac says that Grob was invited by a flight department that handled around 40 jets, to showcase the cabin mockup.
“It took us by surprise, they [flight departments] are normally interested in larger jets. They tend not to look at FAR 23 airplanes. They were emphatic that it was a great cost alternative to a FAR 25 airplane,” he says.
And Chidiac is adamant that interest will continue but from both spectrums of the market.
"Another interest group is the Air Ambulance market. Traditionally they have operated older airplanes. But this sector has seen a bit of a revival over the last year, year-and-a-half. There has been some consolidation and the emerging big players are looking at new fixed-wing airplanes. They’ve already overhauled their helicopter fleets about two years ago.”
“Although the spn is scheduled for certification by the end of the year Chidiac says this target is “becoming increasingly more challenging. We are still aiming for it, but the issue we have is something we’re not alone in.”
The certification delay is not because of inferior design or manufacturing, nor for lacking the want and the funding but due to the engineering shortage that is becoming particularly apparent in Europe.
“Airbus has absorbed huge amounts of certification personnel for its A380 and the new A350 program”
For more on the Grob spn see flightglobal.com/spn
Source: Flight Daily News
