STC Application Progresses With Certification Due In
December
Premier Aircraft and
Yankee Pacific Aerospace have secured the launch customer for their
Falcon 50-4 performance upgrade program, as the FAA certification
process continues at Honeywell and Premier. The program, with
support from Honeywell, to reconfigure customers' original
TFE731-3/3D engines to the new TFE731-4-1C specification, and to
apply minor nacelle modifications and re-marked engine gauges in
the cockpit, is on target for STC certification in December of this
year.
The launch customer will place its aircraft with Premier for the
first customer engine upgrade, while S/N 094, owned by Premier
Aircraft, will act as the test bed for certification. While the
total upgrade takes only seven weeks, customers may choose to rent
engines from Honeywell's "Dash 3" loaner pool until the original
engines are upgraded to 'Dash 4' configuration. By using the 731-3
loaner engines, the aircraft downtime can be reduced to
approximately 10 days.
Flight Test Associates, Inc. in Mojave, California will
undertake the airborne certification requirements for presentation
to the FAA. These tests include establishment of the baseline
performance characteristic of the unmodified aircraft with the
TFE731-3 engines followed by flight tests with the TFE731-4
engines.
Major benefits of the Falcon 50 Dash 4 include higher climb and
cruise thrust, lower specific fuel consumption, up to 26 percent
greater range due to enhanced high-hot performance, reduced time to
climb, and higher initial cruise altitude. The Falcon 50 Dash 4
conversion also provides further increases in durability, extended
2500/5000 hr MPI/CZI intervals, a special 3yr/1800 hr engine
warranty and reduced MSP rates.
The formal STC program is using S/N 094 as its test aircraft,
arriving at Flight Test Associates in late July. Installation of
test instrumentation and data acquisition system was completed on
August 22. Baseline flights were conducted in August, consisting of
25 hrs of testing The aircraft is currently undergoing modification
to the "Dash 4" configuration and will return to flight testing in
early October. The modified aircraft flight test phase will be
start in early October for 6 weeks consisting of 50 hours of
testing, and will establish the "Dash 4" performance and
operability characteristics The STC is expected to be awarded
December 22, with first customer input in December 2006
The test aircraft, owned by Premier Aircraft, is available for
purchase, with delivery upon completion of the certification
program.
Jim Swehla, president of Premier Aircraft, is bullish on his
company's offering. "With fuel prices escalating almost unabated,
the 50 Dash 4 program is gaining unexpected attention," he said.
"With it, you can go farther, faster, and into more airports than
before. Now that we have the launch order, we will be able to
demonstrate the benefits in real time. The 50 Dash 4 really brings
significant performance enhancements to the original Falcon 50 at
an affordable price," he added.