Bombardier's three demonstrator Lears (the 31A, 45 and 60) are being shown in uniform livery for the first time, and would-be buyers of Bombardier's new Continental can view a mock-up showing Pro Line 21 avionics from Rockwell CollinsBombardier tapped Rockwell Collins for the new eight-passenger jet early this year.
Bombardier's other aircraft are the Canadair SE and the Challenger 604 widebodies. The SE is a "special edition" version of the Canadair Regional Jet used widely in scheduled service. It's being shown here with a corporate interior. Bombardier also offers the Corporate JetLiner, likewise an RJ derivative. RJs are flown by nearly 30 regional carriers.

Acquisitions, not only of Lear but of de Havilland (regional airliners) and Northern Ireland's Short Brothers (major component fabrication), have brought Bombardier into the big time. For the fiscal year ended this past January 31, Bombardier delivered 227 regional, business and utility aircraft. It claimed a 37% share of large business aircraft (in the $20 million to $30 million category) unit deliveries during calendar year 1998.

Virginia's Teal Group predicts an overall business jet market share of 26% in dollar terms for Bombardier for the coming decade, "making it the biggest player."

Bombardier's biggest airplane is the Global Express, a $38 million, "ultra long-range" twinjet now going head-to-head with the Gulfstream V. The first Global Express was delivered to Toyota affiliate AirFlite (Long Beach, CA) this past July; in August Bombardier got the formal operational nod for the Global Express from the FAA and Transport Canada.

The Global Express also has its European JAA certification. "Our archrivals in Savannah still don't have this," a Bombardier spokesman says in reference to Gulfstream. And, in continuation of the Global-Gulfstream one-upmanship (which reaches a crescendo at every NBAA), Bombardier is disclosing new Global Express performance enhancements here.

This NBAA marks the first where Bombardier has been able to display a customer's Global Express. Orders now exceed 105, and as of August more than 20 aircraft were being fitted with custom interiors at Bombardier facilities in Montreal and Tucson, AZ. Bombardier claims "longest non-stop range in corporate aviation and a top cruise speed that reaches nearly the speed of sound" for the Global Express, "as well as the largest cabin of any true corporate aircraft."

Like the rival G-V, the Global Express is powered by twin BR710 engines from BMW Rolls-Royce.

The 2,000th Learjet, a Learjet 45, was delivered here Sunday to Pat Parker, chairman of Parker Hannifin Corp. Deliveries of the eight- to nine-passenger jet, which is priced at about $8.1 million, began early last year. Aside from the Global Express, the 45 is said to be "the only U.S. business aircraft in operation to have received both FAA and European JAA certification." It's powered by TFE731-20 engines from AlliedSignal.

Bombardier named Rockwell Collins as the avionics provider and avionics systems integrator for its $14.25 million Continental, the airframer's new, eight-passenger jet, this past January. The Pro Line 21 suite for the Continental will include TCAS II and EGPWS, with situational awareness enhanced via optional as turbulence-detection weather radar and 3-D FMS Navigation map presentation.

The Continental, Bombardier says, will provide "coast to coast muscle in either direction ... a true transcontinental workhorse." First flight is slated for mid-2001 with deliveries commencing in 2002. The Continental will be powered by new AS907 turbofans (6,500-pounds-thrust each) from AlliedSignal.