"This isn't an airplane for everybody, but it certainly lowers the bar for people to afford a jet." That's how Century Aerospace CEO Bill Northrup describes the new CenturyJet business twin.

At last year's NBAA, Century unveiled its twin-engined CenturyJet design; this year the company hopes to name a risk-sharing partner or partners to build the airplane's wings, tail and engine nacelles, and to disclose a new location for final assembly. When that announcement is madeeither here in Atlanta or later in the year the CenturyJet will be 20 months away from first flight.

Century has already formed a partnership with SGL Carbon Composites/Hitco, with expertise in composite structures for Boeing and Lockheed rocket launch vehicles, to design and build the fuselage. The $60 million deal makes SGL a major risk-sharing partner.

Compared with some other new-start ventures, Century is taking a distinctly different approach to the design of a new aircraft. "Our saving grace," says Northrup, "is that we are not going to build an experimental aircraft. Our whole goal is that the first aircraft we build will be conforming. We have a good group of engineers and we're addressing Part 23 issues before we build the airplane."

"You only get one bullet," he says. "Any program which has started with an experimental airplane has failed."

Another key principle is that Century itself will only assemble the aircraft. "We won't paint, and we won't do interiors." Risk-sharing partners have been invited to join the program, and will be responsible for the detail design and manufacture of the major airframe subassemblies.

"There is a whole industry of suppliers out there," Northrup says. "Why not use them?" This strategy reduces start-up costs and takes some risk away from Century's investors.

The first airframe partner, SGL, was named this summer. It will produce the CenturyJet's carbon fiber fuselage structure. The composite fuselage, says Northrup, was selected purely because it is thinner than a comparable metal structureproviding more interior room without increasing wetted area and drag.
"I'm convinced that a composite and an aluminum fuselage, on a certified aircraft, will be the same weight," says Northrup. The wall thickness on the CenturyJet will be about an inch, around half that of a conventional metal structure. The fuselage will be a sandwich structure, with inner and outer carbon fiber skins and a honeycomb core. The structure will be laid up by hand around a male mandrel.

Century was negotiating with potential partners on the metal componentswing, tail and nacelleslate this past summer. "We may have one, two or three partners," says Northrup. "We're talking to four companies and two of them want to do all the work." With this partner in place, and after choosing an assembly site, the program will be fully launched with a definite schedule.

Selection of the CenturyJet's engine, the new Williams FJ33, was disclosed at last year's NBAA in Las Vegas.

The company plans to reach a production rate of 60 aircraft per year, Northrup says.

Four aircraft will be used in a 16-month certification program, including two flying prototypes. At the same time, Century will launch an aggressive marketing campaign: the company has taken 52 orders at last year's NBAA show and at Oshkosh, but has not spent much on advertising. "This airplane will really go with fractional ownership," says Northrup. "You should see the numbers." The CenturyJet, he says, will be the airplane for middle management"You don't see anyone call up the Falcon to move an engineering team"with trip costs which will start to compete with unrestricted airline fares when three or four passengers are on board. "I hope this will be the yellow cab of jets," Northrup says.

The CenturyJet has changed its name and acquired an extra enginemaking it a twin, rather than a singlesince Northrup started work on the Paragon Spirit in 1993.

And, like anyone who has started out to build a new airplane, Northrup has learned a great deal in the process, but he remains confident.

"If we keep our noses to the wheel, we'll get it," he says.