Spectrum Aeronautical has conducted a brief first flight of its Spectrum 33 light jet as it repositioned the proof-of-concept (PoC) aircraft to a neighbouring airport. The aircraft was flown from Spanish Fork, Utah to nearby Provo airport on 7 January.
Chief of flight test Bill Davies praised the aircraft’s take-off and landing characteristics and acceleration and climb performance, but was not satisfied with the pitch control. Before resuming flight tests, Spectrum is changing the position of the stop blocks on the stabilator to increase pitch control authority at higher speeds, says vice-president Mark Jones.
The PoC aircraft was built by Spectrum subsidiary Rocky Mountain Composites (RMC). The carbonfibre fuselage and wing are produced using a fibre-placement process called FibeX, which reduces weight. For take-off from Spanish Fork, the Spectrum 33 weighed just 2,450kg (5,400lb), including 455kg of fuel, says Jones.
“Weight reduction is key to boosting fuel efficiency and lowering operating costs,” says chief executive Linden Blue. Spectrum calculates the $3.65 million, Williams FJ33-powered aircraft will have a fuel cost of $0.38/km ($0.71/nm), compared with $0.71/km for the $4.2 million, FJ44-powered, Cessna Citation CJ1+ light jet, which has a similar speed, range and cabin size.
The Spectrum 33 lifted off from the 1,700m (5,500ft)-long Spanish Fork runway in about 230m, despite using reduced take-off thrust, but the move to Provo’s 2,700m-long runway will allow testing to higher speeds, says Jones.
GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
