Fresh from their 2,570 nmi, Miami to Seattle world record flight
on Tuesday, June 10 in the Challenger 300, Bombardier's flight
test department manager James 'Bo Peep' Dwyer, director of flight
operations Robert 'Godfather' Agostino, and demonstration pilot
Rod 'Flash' Lundy claimed the world record from Boston to Paris
on Thursday, June 12, with Show News on board to witness the event.
Dwyer pushed up Serial Number 005's throttles on Logan's Runway
22 Left at 12:03 Paris time. This aircraft, still in experimental
status because of minor type certification non-conformities, weighed
nearly 38,400 lb at takeoff aircraft, just 100 lb below its MTOW.
Yet, it needed only 5,490 feet of runway at 21°C. Boston Center,
eager to help Dwyer and Agostino, cleared the aircraft to climb
directly to FL 410, which it reached in just under 22 minutes
in ISA to ISA+6°C conditions. Fuel burn from takeoff roll
to top of climb was 2,690 lb.
Two minutes later, Dwyer was pulling back the throttles to maintain
.80 Mach on a total fuel burn of 1,740 pph in ISA+1°C conditions.
Center soon cleared us direct to COLOR intersection, the western
gateway in our flight plan for crossing the North Atlantic Oceanic
Airspace. We reached COLOR one hour 41 minutes into the flight
and Moncton cleared us through oceanic airspace directly to SOMAX,
the eastern gateway into European airspace.
Dwyer and Agostino climbed the aircraft, then at a weight of 34,400
lb, up to FL 430 for better fuel economy and to take advantage
of 50- to 75-kt tailwinds during the crossing. We maintained .80
Mach, equivalent to 461 to 467 KTAS while in oceanic airspace.
Our ground speed varied from 502 to 508 kts with the tailwinds.
But, enough of the technical details for now. Challenger 300's
strong suit for the folks who pay the bills is its 23.7-foot-long,
six feet high and 7.1-foot-wide super mid-size cabin. While that's
a foot narrower than the Challenger 604, there's a full 16.6 feet
available in the main double club section where NAA observer Stan
Nelson, Bombardier safety pilot Rod Lundy and this Show News reporter
relaxed for the transatlantic flight up at 43,000 feet. Challenger
300's cabin is fairly quiet, with a soothing hum from the Honeywell
AS907 engines in the background. Each pair of facing seats may
be converted into a fully reclining berth for overnight flights.
Up front, there's a full-service, three-foot-long galley with
china, crystal and silverware storage, dual hot beverage containers,
a generously sized ice chest and large waste receptacle. There's
plenty of room for catering and beverage storage, plus an oven.
Serial Number 005 also has left- and right-side coat closets in
the forward cabin area, plus a 38-in-long, 106-cubic-foot, 750-lb
capacity aft baggage compartment behind the lavatory that's accessible
in flight with no restrictions. Challenger 300 has only slightly
less luggage room than a nicely appointed suite at Hotel Crillon
on Place de la Concorde.
Just over three hours after entering transatlantic oceanic airspace,
we reached the SOMAX eastern gateway for the final sprint toward
Le Bourget. Dwyer pushed up the throttles to cruise right on the
barber pole at .83 Mach at FL 430 with aircraft weight then being
about 29,500 lb. Our true airspeed increased to 480 kts and we
moved over the ground at close to 521 kts. Back in the cabin,
we saw 600+ mph on the Air Show display.
Eurocontrol helped take the remaining kinks out of our routing
and cleared us direct to Le Bourget over the Jersey coast. But,
they also directed us to descend to FL 200 for air traffic, resulting
in some true airspeed loss. Nevertheless, we crossed overhead
LFPB at 320 KIAS, the aircraft's redline Vmo, at 16:07 Zulu, resulting
in an elapsed time from takeoff of just less than six hours four
minutes. The FMS said we'd traveled 2,985 nmi for an average speed
of 492 kts or 566 mph. After 43 minutes of vectoring, we touched
down on Runway 25 at 18:50 local time.
What a spectacular way to travel to the 45th Paris Air Show! Congratulations
to the Bombardier team on the performance of its recently certified
BD100 Challenger 300 (née Continental). It surely made
for a spectacular flight to Le Bourget. And we can't say we missed
the never ending duty-free shopping, frequent flyer club and affinity
group credit card sales pitches that blare from the PA system
on a commercial airliner, along with its sticky tray tables, filthy
carpets and run-amok day care center screams. Initial Challenger
300 customer deliveries are slated for later this year.
