TYPE: Light business jet.
PROGRAMME: Design started early 1994 as PD374 (later PD390) and approved early 1995; originated in former Beech design offices, but was first aircraft to carry only the Raytheon name; brief details of 'new light business jet' revealed June 1995; launched at National Business Aircraft Association Convention in Las Vegas 26 September 1995 with full-scale fuselage/cabin mockup; wind-tunnel tests of one-eighth model conducted early 1996 at Boeing, Boeing V/STOL, NASA-Lewis and Wichita State University facilities; to compete with Cessna CitationJet.
First forward fuselage completed in February 1997 and mated to aft fuselage in April 1998; roll-out (N390RA, c/n RB-1) 19 August 1998; first flight 22 December 1998. Second aircraft (N704T) first flown 4 June 1999, followed by third (N390TC), first with complete interior, on 17 September 1999; public debut (N390TC) at National Business Aviation Association Convention at Atlanta, Georgia, October 1999; more than 720 flight test hours accumulated by 23 December 1999, at which time eight production aircraft were in final assembly; static testing of wing to 150 per cent of design load completed on 17 December 1999; four aircraft undertook 1,400 hour flight test programme culminating in FAA FAR Pt 23 certification on 23 March 2001, followed by German certification on 3 September 2001; FAA RVSM approval granted in May 2003; certified in Bermuda, Denmark, Mexico, Israel, South Africa and Switzerland in 2002, and in China in November 2003. Deliveries began with three aircraft in third quarter of 2001: RB-4, -6 and -7 to Tyrose Investments, Raytheon and Town & Country Food Markets, respectively. 100th Premier I production fuselage completed 24 July 2003. Target production rate 60 per year from 2003.
CUSTOMERS: More than 300 orders received by October 2001 from customers in 27 countries, of which some 100 were from outside the USA and 51 from Europe, representing a backlog until 2005. Total of 65 delivered by September 2003, including 29 in 2002; 49 scheduled dor delivery in 2003, of which 18 delivered in the first nine months of the year. Customers include Raytheon Travel Air, the fractional ownership subsidiary of Raytheon Aircraft, which has ordered 71 for delivery beginning 2001; the Jordan Grand Prix racing team, which has ordered one; and Aviation Leasing Group (ALG Transportation Inc) of London, which ordered three in August 2000, two of which will be used by the Civil Aviation Training Centre (CATC) in Thailand for training student pilots for Thai Airways International and other Pacific Rim carriers.
COSTS: US$5.3 million. Estimated direct operating cost US$680 per hour (60th 2001).
DESIGN FEATURES: Conventional small business jet, developed with assistance of CATIA programmes. Rear-mounted engines, T tail and wing mounted below fuselage for additional cabin space. Sweepback 20° at 25 per cent chord; 2° 30' dihedral; tailplane sweepback 25° at 25 per cent chord.
FLYING CONTROLS: Conventional and manual. Activation via pushrods and cables. Pitch trim via electrically actuated, variable incidence tailplane and mechanically driven geared tab on each elevator; electrically actuated trim tab on each aileron; electrically actuated rudder trim tab. Electrically signalled, hydraulically powered, three-segment spoilers on upper surface of each wing augment aileron roll control; outboard and middle panels provide roll, airbrake and post-landing lift-dump functions; inboard panel provides lift-dump function only. 75 per cent span, four-segment, electrically controlled Fowler flaps, deflections 0, 10, 20 and 30°. Rudder boost, for asymmetric thrust and yaw damper, standard.
STRUCTURE: Fuselage of graphite/epoxy laminate and honeycomb composites, formed by Cincinnati Milacron Viper automatic fibre-placement machines over aluminium mandrel, placing fibres at speeds up to 46 m (150 ft) per minute, enabling entire fuselage to be completed in one week; elimination of all internal frames, and skin thickness of 20 mm (0.78 in), increase cabin volume by 13 per cent and afford a weight saving of some 20 per cent over conventional alloy construction. Wing of aluminium alloy with six-spar wing box, manufactured using high-speed equipment capable of machining more than 93m² (1,000 sq ft) of material per minute, and automatic riveting machines; with exception of three small bays along trailing-edge, entire wing is used for fuel storage. Ailerons and flaps of graphite/epoxy composites; fin has aluminium alloy spars and ribs with graphite/epoxy honeycomb skin; tailplane has one-piece, composites forward-and-rear spar with alloy centre rib, composites mid- and tip ribs and Nomex composites skin.
LANDING GEAR: Hydraulically actuated, retractable tricycle type with free-fall emergency extension system; single wheel on each unit. Mainwheel size 22x8.2 (12 ply); nosewheel 18x4.4 (6 ply). Mainwheels retract inwards; nosewheel forwards. Steerable nosewheel, maximum pedal-commanded deflection ±35°, increasing to ±45° with differential braking and asymmetric thrust. Hydraulic disc brakes with electric anti-skid system.
POWER PLANT: Two pod-mounted Williams FJ44-2A turbofans, each rated at 10.23 kN (2,300 lb st). Fuel contained in integral wing tanks, each of four sections, plus inboard collector tank; total usable capacity 2,040 litres (539 US gallons; 449 Imp gallons), with gravity filling point on each wing. Single-point pressure refuelling/defuelling optional.
ACCOMMODATION: Crew of one or two, with dual controls standard; six passengers in cabin, comprising four in standard club seating arrangement with tracking, swivelling and reclining capability and stowable writing tables and two on fixed forward-facing seats to rear; lavatory at rear, doubling as flight-accessible baggage compartment, maximum capacity 64 kg (140 lb). Refreshment/hang-up baggage cabinet on forward starboard side of cabin. Airstair door on port side to rear of flight deck; single plug-type emergency exit on starboard side. Three cabin windows on each side. Accommodation is air conditioned and pressurised. Externally accessible, unpressurised main baggage compartment to rear of cabin, with upward-opening door on port side, can accommodate large items such as skis; heating optional; forward baggage compartment in nose on port side with swing-up door.
SYSTEMS: Pressurisation system, maximum differential 0.58 bar (8.4 lb/sq in), maintains 2,440 m (8,000 ft) cabin altitude to 12,500 m (41,000 ft). Vapour cycle, ozone-safe R134a air conditioning system. Hydraulic system, maximum pressure 207 bar (3,000 lb/sq in), for landing gear, brakes, anti-skid and spoilers. Electrical system comprises two 28 V 300 A engine-driven starter/generators, 24 V 40 Ah lead/acid main battery, 24 V 5 Ah standby battery and 28 V external power receptacle; system is configured so that load-shedding is primarily automatic in the event of failure of any or all main electrical power sources. Oxygen system, capacity 1,134 litres (40 cu ft) standard, 2,182 litres (77 cu ft) optional, with diluter-demand masks for crew and continuous flow masks for passengers. Engine bleed-air anti-icing for wing leading-edges and nacelle inlets; electromagnetic expulsion de-icing (EMED) for tailplane leading-edges, automatically activated by dual nose-mounted, heated, ice detectors; electrically heated windscreens (with silicone coating for rain dispersal), pitot tubes and AoA probes.
AVIONICS: Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 EFIS avionics suite as core system.
Comms: Dual Rockwell Collins VHF-422A transceivers, TDR-94 Mode S transponders and DB Model 438 audio systems; single CTL-23 nav/com tuning unit; four-speaker cabin paging unit.
Radar: Rockwell Collins WXR-800 colour weather radar.
Flight: Dual Rockwell Collins AHC-3000 AHRS, ADC-3000 air data computers, CDU-3000 control/display units and VIR-432 nav receivers; LAPS-3000 lightweight, integrated avionics processing system; FGC-3000 flight guidance system, FMS-3000 flight management system with database, ADF-462, DME-442, GPS-4000, ALT-4000 radio altimeter and MDC-3000 maintenance diagnostic computer.
Instrumentation: Rockwell Collins AFD-3010 integrated EFIS comprising two 254 x 203 mm (10 x 8 in) active matrix LCD adaptive flight displays providing PFD and MFD functions, with CRT HSI and back-up electromechanical rate/sensor/attitude instrument and ASI on right side; second PFD optional, but not mandatory for RVSM compliance.