Bombardier Introduces Hot (-and-High) Learjet 40XR
Monday afternoon, Peter Edwards, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft; UK launch customer David Glass, founder, president and CEO of Jet-Care International; and John Mallo, founder, president and CEO of Las Vegas-based Malco Enterprises, unveiled a model of the Learjet 40XR, a variant of the Learjet 40 with a $400,000 performance pep-up that will slash climb times by almost one-third and reduce required runway by up to 2,500 feet when departing hot-and-high airports.
"I'm a pilot," Mallo said. "Steve Rohn, a Bombardier sales rep, showed me this airplane and I fell in love with it. It's pretty damned good-looking. Then, I flew it and it performed beautifully," Mallo said. He put in his order almost immediately, thereby becoming one of the launch customers.
Honeywell TFE731-20BR turbofans, borrowed from the Learjet 45XR, make possible the Learjet 40XR's improved performance. They're essentially 4,435-pound-thrust TFE731-40 engines in disguise, with the same ITT limits, and N1 and N2 rpm redlines, according to the FAA type certificate data sheet. For the Learjet 40XR, the -20BR turbofans are flat rated to 3,500-pounds-thrust up to ISA+25°C. The additional 10 degrees of flat rating enables the -20BR to produce more high-altitude climb and cruise thrust than the -20AR engines fitted to the Learjet 40, already the econo hot rod of the Learjet 45 family.
The Learjet 40XR also gets a 650-pound MTOW increase that will enable operators to fill up the tanks, fill up the seats and depart from B/CA's 5,000-foot elevation, ISA+20°C airport using 1,214 feet less runway than the base model—even though the new model will have a 21,000-pound MTOW. At equal 20,350-pound takeoff weights, the 40XR needs 1,650 feet less runway than the base model 40. Four-passenger range, even when departing such a hot-and-high airport, will exceed 1,650 nmi with NBAA IFR reserves.
Operators will be able to depart Jackson Hole, Wyo., on a 28°C day, for instance, and fly six passengers 1,604 miles with NBAA IFR reserves. The basic Model 40, in contrast, can fly only 566 miles with the same payload. For virtually any mission when hot-and-high airport performance is a limiting factor, the Learjet 40XR has about one hour more range than the Learjet 40.
The Learjet 40XR will be able to climb directly to FL 450 at MTOW, passing through FL 410 in 16 to 17 minutes. Then, it will accelerate to Mach 0.80 for cruise, some 12-plus knots faster than the Learjet 40. It will be able to fly from Dallas Love to John Wayne-Orange County in less than three hours—25 minutes faster than a Hawker 400XP, according to Bombardier officials. Max cruise speed at FL 450 at mid-cruise weight is 465 KTAS.
The time margin on the Dallas to Orange Country trip increases when the 40XR is compared with the Citation Encore or CJ3, two other prime competitors. And the Learjet 40XR is the only aircraft in the mix that can fly the mission with full seats.
The Learjet 40XR has the widest, tallest and longest cabin in class, plus it has a flat floor. The standard interior configuration has a forward four-seat club section, two forward-facing chairs in the aft cabin, and a full-width aft lavatory. An optional, full-time occupancy lavatory seat is available. B/CA equipped price is $8.2 million. Customer deliveries begin in late 2005.
