With more than 50% of the program complete, Raytheon's Hawker
Horizon has been performing better than expected. According to
David Riemer, Hawker vp product development and engineering, "The
Hawker Horizon is proving its design in flight tests and exceeding
estimates in critical areas."
All of the developmental testing on the aircraft has been performed
in the normal airspeed and altitude flight envelope and more than
700 flight hours has been amassed among its three test aircraft.
Performance areas that are showing promise include range, takeoff
field length and climb performance. The original estimates for
six passenger, high-speed cruise was 3,100 nmi, take-off was 5,250
feet and climb was sea level to 37,000 ft in 15 minutes. Test
results were 3,147 nmi, 4,900 ft and 13 minutes, respectively.
"The more we test this aircraft, the more confident we become,"
said Reimer.
Other tests are also showing some promising results. In June,
the Horizon flew Wichita-Los Angeles-Seattle-Wichita in 7.6 hours.
During the flights, the aircraft was cleared to 45,000 ft MSL
and averaged Mach 0.77, which is .02 better than anticipated.
During the critical dive test the Horizon reached Mach 0.91, which
is 15% above the aircraft's top speed. Currently, the structure,
avionics, software and electrical system are frozen for production.
Raytheon expects to make its first deliveries sometime next year.
