Biz Jets, Ag Flying, GA etc.The place for discussion of issues related to corporate, Ag and GA aviation. If you're a professional pilot and don't fly for the airlines then try here.
Well, the boss wants a jet to move crews around, as well as for exec operations.
The Challenger models listed above are on the short list. Any pitfalls with the above? How about performance and reliability with the engines on the 600?
Need 9 pax seats for hosties and and FD crew. TransAtlantic range would be nice.
Get a 600 with Branson tanks and you will have a trans atlantic range for a good price. Understand that they are superb airplanes on market this moment. We operated 600 for a while and had no problems what so ever with engines. However, 601 with GE engines is a bullet proof machine and with a tail tank having all the range what one can ask. Also EFIS and Honeywell FMS are a nice improvement from 600 and definitely worth for extra money. Good airplanes all of them! Blues
411A, When you start looking a right plane keep in mind that Bombardier used aircraft sales is a good source for the reliable info as well as a good airplane. Their product support is superb for even the oldest ship! Never heard about bad word of them but same can not be said from all brokers. Nikolai
411A, having flown the 600, 601 and more rcently the 604, I have to say that the 604 is by far the best aircraft for obvious reasons. Having said that, if you can get your hands on a good 601 3A (ER or not), you can't go wrong. My personal advice, and take it for what it's worth, is to stay away from the 600, they are dated and 14,000lbs of fuel sometimes just isn't enough. If you would like further info, send me a PM and we'll chat. Regards and good luck with the search
Back when Do Not Deliver were building several reworked CL600 (aka CC144s), I had the pleasure of flying as ballast with the ex-Chief Pilot of TAG Aviation who probably has more hours on type than anyone. He thought the 600 was much underrated but there were two things that made a big difference:
1. You needed to keep ahead of the aircraft so throttle movements are smooth - you can be rewarded by compressor stalls if too harsh and 2. Get a crew chief who knows what he's doing to keep the engine nacelles' panels correctly aligned or you won't get decent range.
One good thing about the Lycomings is that you get sufficient windmill energy to keep hydraulics up without the RAT right to touchdown...
Many thanks for the replies. We are evaluating several CL600's now.
Another question...
Has anyone here operated the G159, the original turboprop Gulfstream? We might need another company aircraft for shorter sectors, and this aircraft seems a suitable candidate.
Personally operated F.27/FH227's for quite some time, so am familiar with the RR Dart engine.
Hiya, have spent two years on G1's. Great machines. Need a good mechanic who knows type and the darts - but plenty around. PM me if you need any data. Happy hunting.
I flew the G1 for about 1500 hours some years ago. It's a superb airplane. Look for one with the -8X engines, they'll give you a bit better performance when it's hot out. Props could be getting scarce for the G1. It had basically the same prop as the F-27F which we also operated, and back five years ago Piedmont was telling us to stock up on propeller blades if we ran across any. Something else to look out for is corrosion in the tanks. If the previous operator flew mostly in warm and humid conditions and skimped on the Bioboar, there could be a problem with corrosion. Other than that, the bugs have been pretty well worked out of machine. You don't see a lot of AD's on the G1, unlike some of the newer plastic turboprops.
