BBJ to Get API Winglets; Makes First Appearance at NBAA

Boeing's BBJ Business Jet will be fitted with Aviation Partners Inc. (API) winglets, according to Boeing Business Jets president Borge Boeskov.

The winglets will boost specific range performance by 5.5 percent to 7.0 percent, thereby enabling Boeing to eliminate the tenth, and aft-most, underfloor supplemental fuel tank needed to achieve the aircraft's 6,200 mile, NBAA IFR profile, range with eight passengers on board.

The news comes soon after Boeskov announced six more orders for the BBJ, bringing the total number to 35.

Boeskov also said that BBJs will be assembled at Boeing's Long Beach, California, facility using fuselages from Wichita, Kansas, and wings from Renton, Washington.

Green price is $33.75 million in 1998 dollars.

Mike Hewitt, chief test pilot for Boeing 737 programs, completed the first flight of the BBJ sans winglets for certification work. Hewitt told Show News that pushing MMO to 0.84 Mach will be another post-certification task. The 8.5-foot high winglets are expected to have no impact on MMO or VMO.

Hewitt explained that the range boost attributable to the winglets results from a 2,000-foot increase in initial cruising altitude, plus reduced drag during climb and cruise.

Boeskov claimed that his staff is selling two BBJs per month, which is in line with the 24-per-year production plan. Each year, Boeskov expects five of the 24 aircraft to be sold to Boeing Netjets, a fractional ownership program owned by Executive Jet International.

"Two years ago, people doubted that Boeing was serious about getting into business aircraft," Boeskov.

"Now, we have a real airplane for those who are doubters."

The BBJ will make its first major public appearance here at the NBAA convention. "It might even show up with winglets," he said.

Winglets have already been fitted to the BBJ, and Boeing is so impressed with the results it is studying adding winglets to its other 737 models.

If the winglets are "properly installable" on the 737 wing structure, Boeing likely would try them on the long-range airline version of the BBJ, now designated the 737-700X, according to Joe Ozimek, director of product marketing for Boeing's Commercial Airplane Group.

The -700X would have up to a 4,000 nm range for long, thin niche markets, such as Pacific island-based airlines.