Billed As World's Largest, Best Performing, Most Advanced Single Pilot Bizjet

In appropriate fashion, Monday's premier of the 8th Annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition was accompanied by a Premier of another sort. Hawker Beechcraft Corporation launched the newest member of its ever-growing family of business jets -- the new Beechcraft Premier II light jet.

Evolving from the successful Premier IA, the Premier II will feature higher cruise speeds, a 20 percent longer range with four passengers and an increased payload... while still offering the largest cabin and most technologically advanced single-pilot business jet in the world.

"For 75 years, our company has been on the forefront of private and business jet aviation," said Jim Schuster, Hawker Beechcraft chairman and CEO. "The Beechcraft Premier II will redefine the light jet market and take it to a new level in meeting customer expectations. With its unmatched performance and efficiency, impressively spacious cabin and advanced technology, the Premier II is a natural choice for business and private travelers who want to travel in comfort and get to their destination quickly."

The Premier II will be a twin turbofan, swept wing, light jet aircraft featuring a high-strength, state-of-the-art all-composite fuselage that allows for a medium-jet sized cabin at light jet costs. Featuring luxurious and comfortable standard seating for up to six passengers and their baggage, the Premier II will deliver more people to more locations, more efficiently and in more comfort than any other light jet.

At the heart of these major aircraft advancements will be a pair of FJ44-3AP turbofan engines, the newest member of the Williams International engine family. The efficient turbofans will produce 6,000 pounds of combined thrust, an increase of more than 23 percent from the Premier IA. Combined with new elliptical winglets, the new-generation engines will allow the Premier II to climb higher to an unrestricted, chart-topping maximum cruising altitude of 45,000 feet and fly farther -- a 1,500 nm (2,778 km) mission with one pilot and four passengers.

The 4,000-foot operating ceiling boost also puts passengers well above most traffic and weather, allowing them to enjoy the smoothest ride and arrive at their destination faster. The higher thrust engines will also improve high/hot take-off operations and increase maximum cruise speed to 465 knots (861 km/hr) at typical cruise altitudes.

"The Beechcraft Premier IA is the fastest large-cabin, single-pilot business jet in production today, and the Premier II will be even better. Our program objective was all about improving the performance of our exceptionally successful Premier IA," said Brad Hatt, president, Commercial Aircraft. "The Premier II takes everything that operators love about the Premier IA and improves upon it to create an aircraft that will deliver the performance and capabilities of a much larger jet while providing the economy and efficiency of a light jet. The result is an aircraft that can fly further, faster and higher than ever before."

Inside the Premier II cockpit, pilots will face an upgraded Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 panel layout, incorporating a new 3-in-1 Electronic Standby Instrument System (ESIS), FADEC control switches, VHF Comm ground switch and avionics integration of the standby COMM/NAV controller. All these changes are designed to reduce the workload for a single pilot.

Composite, elliptical-shaped winglets will be installed to enhance aerodynamic performance. The winglets offer reduced drag, and an increased effective wingspan without actually lengthening the wings, enabling the Premier II to fly farther than its predecessor. The custom designed winglets were sized to provide distinct performance improvements while not impacting airframe inspection schedules.

The improved capability is also largely due to the Premier II’s certification in accordance with 14 CFR Part 23 Commuter Category thru Amendment 23-57, which will include new engines specified in compliance with the environmental aircraft pollution standards.

First flight of the aircraft is scheduled for April 2009 with FAA Certification planned for Q2 2010. European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) certification is expected in Q4 2010.

FMI: www.hawkerbeechcraft.com, www.ebace.aero