Very Light Jets 2016

Light and very light jets just about to go on the scene

The HondaJet was subscribed by the FAA a few days after the last NBAA convention and is now in the customer's custody.... Pilate and SyberJet keep moving forward as long-forgotten VisionAire Vantage comes back to the spotlight in pursuit of money. Couple prototype aircraft flew in May and November last year are slightly past due for a one-third expansion to divide the 2,300 hour testing period that will result in certifications and first shipments in the third (fourth?) trimester of 2017.

Williams FJ44 -powered twins can raise up to 12 (including a solo pilot) of 2,690 feet of unsurfaced runway. The Pilatus ACE Aviation Electronics system designed with Honeywell includes a synthesized visual system, auto throttle, graphic scheduling, TCPAS II and LPV (vertical guidance) localization capabilities. SyberJet showed its NWORX Cabin Demonstrator and heralded its first ever NBAA facility in Europe at the recent NBAA conference in Vegas.

Ed Swearingen's quiet recovery of the SJ30 from Ed Swearingen into manufacturing (two former shareholders of the business constructed only four manufacturing examples) has been underway since SyberJet took takeovers in April 2011 and has constructed a new plant in Cedar City, Utah. An upgraded SJ30 test stand will soon be flying the Honeywell SyberVision 12-inch LCD Aviation Suites, which will pave the way for certifications and delivery by the end of 2017.

In spite of its old days - it was flying in 1991 and was certificated in 2005 - the $8.3 million LJ30i provides high power, with Mach 0.83 Max cruise, FL 490 operational deck and an NBAA IFR reach of 2,130 nm. ith three occupants. Just one Vantage was produced and piloted - as early as 1996 - but the job had an exciting lifetime, among them two missed takeoffs, the relocation to a new Brazilian firm, the upgrade to twin-engine power plants and a back to the USA, back under the same CEO (James Rice) who began it all in 1988.

Meanwhile, the six-seater is equipped with a Williams FJ44-3AP twin engine instead of the prototype's Pratt 15D, with the forward curved wings lowering and the undercarriage stowed from the body onto the engine. For long-haul flights, 375 kt. offer high cruising or 250 kt. offer 375 kt. VisionAire Jets LLC's manufacturing is scheduled for Hickory, North Carolina.