Ryan Ferguson
Pre-Flight
Got back home with my fresh type rating and the company drops a bombshell on me: I'm moving into the Hawker 800XP, by far the company's most valuable ($15mil) and modern aircraft in the entire fleet.
Of course, I did all my training in the 700, a much simpler airplane avionics-wise. And all of my HS125 to date is in the 700. No matter. Now I'm going to be flying the 800XP, although I'll occasionally float back onto the 700. (The HS125 type covers the 125 line from the 1A all the way up through the 400, 600, 700, 800A, and 800XP Hawkers.) This one is literally brand new; the airplane has just 200 hours TTAF.
This is one bad mother. New 800XPs come from Raytheon in two basic avionics flavors: Honeywell and Collins Pro Line 21. The latter is by far the more sophisticated of the two and is being found in a growing number of business jets (Gulfstream G150, Challenger 300/600/601, CJ1/2/3, Falcon 50, and others.) This 800XP is a Pro Line 21 ship. Having Pro Line 21 experience is great for a resume, incidentally.
The Pro Line 21 integrated flight deck is what Avidyne and Garmin 1000 GA glass panel displays want to be when they grow up. "Integrated" is far too shallow of a description for Pro Line. The entire airplane flows through these boxes in one way or another. It is an incredibly full-featured, effective, and user-friendly interface.
Yesterday I had my first trip in the airplane - a drop-off from Orlando to Hayden, Colorado with a quick-turn back home. That's the other great thing about this airplane - almost all of its trips are long dailies; yesterday I picked up eight hours of flight time, and I still had time to come home and play with my 13 mo. old daughter before it was time for dinner. This alone would be worth moving to ANY airplane in the fleet.
Here are some pictures from the right seat. The airplane trued out at @ 445KTAS (about .78M) at FL390. Gobs of power to shove you back in your seat (an extra 1,000 lbs. of static thrust per side over the old TFE731-3Rs in the 700) and the T/Rs don't take all day to deploy!
Enjoy the photos...
Of course, I did all my training in the 700, a much simpler airplane avionics-wise. And all of my HS125 to date is in the 700. No matter. Now I'm going to be flying the 800XP, although I'll occasionally float back onto the 700. (The HS125 type covers the 125 line from the 1A all the way up through the 400, 600, 700, 800A, and 800XP Hawkers.) This one is literally brand new; the airplane has just 200 hours TTAF.
This is one bad mother. New 800XPs come from Raytheon in two basic avionics flavors: Honeywell and Collins Pro Line 21. The latter is by far the more sophisticated of the two and is being found in a growing number of business jets (Gulfstream G150, Challenger 300/600/601, CJ1/2/3, Falcon 50, and others.) This 800XP is a Pro Line 21 ship. Having Pro Line 21 experience is great for a resume, incidentally.
The Pro Line 21 integrated flight deck is what Avidyne and Garmin 1000 GA glass panel displays want to be when they grow up. "Integrated" is far too shallow of a description for Pro Line. The entire airplane flows through these boxes in one way or another. It is an incredibly full-featured, effective, and user-friendly interface.
Yesterday I had my first trip in the airplane - a drop-off from Orlando to Hayden, Colorado with a quick-turn back home. That's the other great thing about this airplane - almost all of its trips are long dailies; yesterday I picked up eight hours of flight time, and I still had time to come home and play with my 13 mo. old daughter before it was time for dinner. This alone would be worth moving to ANY airplane in the fleet.
Here are some pictures from the right seat. The airplane trued out at @ 445KTAS (about .78M) at FL390. Gobs of power to shove you back in your seat (an extra 1,000 lbs. of static thrust per side over the old TFE731-3Rs in the 700) and the T/Rs don't take all day to deploy!
Enjoy the photos...
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