Brazilian beauty

Okay, so a Phenom will set you back US$3.6m a pop, but think about that for a moment. Between ten partners, that is just $360,000 apiece. You can’t get a 172 for that today! Fractional ownership is the 21st Century way to go. For a $360k outlay, this is one heck of a lot of aeroplane. Even if you can’t afford one today, this is definitely the aeroplane for your wish list.

Sometimes referred to by Embraer as a ‘Very Light Jet’, and sometimes as an ‘Entry Level Jet’ this, the smallest among their wide range of executive jets, carries six or seven people and is both significantly faster and appreciably roomier than its obvious VLJ competitors, the Eclipse 500, CitationJet and Mustang.

Built, not by a mere lightplane maker or a pop up designer, but by a major manufacturer of airliners (indeed, Embraer is the world’s third largest), the Phenom 100’s apparently simple systems are undemanding and informative to observe and yet natural to operate. Needless to say, such apparent simplicity is the result of advanced complexity under the surface, a byproduct of Embraer’s wide airliner experience. This background also ensures the Phenom is designed for high utilisation, and has a 35,000 cycle airframe fatigue life which is more than double that of many other entry level jets.

The Phenom 100 is not the terminally redeveloped offspring of some ancient airframe, but a state of the art, clean sheet design and, thanks to that background foundation in airliners, this littlest big Embraer jet was brought from project launch to successful certification in a mere three and a half years. Compare that to the protracted, two decade plus gestation of the Sino-Swearingen SJ 30. These guys at Embraer know what they are doing, they get on with it, and I am convinced they have produced a winner. Furthermore, the production Phenom 100 has either met or exceeded all design performance parameters. How many manufacturers can say that?

All this refinement means that this substantial small jet is just dead easy for a reasonably accomplished piston pilot to fly and operate single handed. This is by far the easiest, and at the same time, the most sophisticated jet I have ever flown. Yes, it is simultaneously both those things, and a lot more aeroplane than any other VLJ costing similar money.

I was introduced to brand new Phenom serial number 005, registration PP-XOM, at Embraer’s São José dos Campos flight test headquarters by Embraer’s most hospitable Press Officer, Daniel Bachmann, and Captain Berto. The glossy, long nosed Phenom stands surprisingly tall on the tarmac for a light jet. It may be immense fun to fly, but this is clearly no pricey plaything. It has a presence and solidity belying its mere three tonne empty mass. Its structure is mostly conventional riveted aluminium, although Embraer are keen to emphasise their increasing use of composites.

Like all its contemporaries, the Phenom has a tapered, very slightly swept wing to give it excellent handling over the broadest possible speed range. Wing fences and a dorsal fin were added during development to give it the broad speed range required from stall to a maximum TAS of 390kt (Mach 0.70) in the cruise. The trailing edge carries manual ailerons with mass and aerodynamic balances and wide span flaps. Refuelling is through simple overwing fillers with lockable caps, and maximum usable fuel is 1,272kg.

The trailing link main gear legs almost guarantee soft landings. They retract inboard hydraulically, and have single wheels with (alone among the VLJs) lightweight brake by wire carbon disc brakes, featuring anti-skid as standard. The main legs have integral doors, but the wheels remain uncovered when retracted. The steerable, long travel oleo nose leg carries a single wheel and retracts forwards to be covered by twin doors.

A tall fin and rudder carry a T tail with large control surfaces and big tabs. Since the Phenom 100 is of course certified for flight in known icing conditions, its wing and tailplane de ice are both by silver coloured flexible pneumatic boots, although neither the ventral nor dorsal fins need de-icing. The wing’s boots have a black patch and outboard extremity for visual detection of ice accretion.

The gleaming, compact, and almost miniature podded turbofans high on the aft fuselage were developed by Pratt & Whitney Canada specifically for this airframe. They are PW617Ts, each rated at 7.18kN or 1,615lb static thrust flat rated at 10°C and each has dual FADEC systems. Before series production, the engines’ oil sight gauge panels were lowered for easier access, so that pilots can complete their walk rounds without steps. These small fans give the Phenom 100 low takeoff, sideline and approach noise levels of just 70.4, 81.4 and 86.1 EPNdB respectively. These give it a 33 EPNdB margin to the ICAO stage IV limit.

The rear (heated but unpressurised) luggage area is accessed through a hatch below the left engine’s jet pipe, and its 1.5m3 capacity will carry up to 160kg, including four sets of golf clubs or two pairs of six-foot skis. On the left side of the nose, opposite the hydraulics bay, there is a smaller, 0.19m3 compartment, with space for a further 30kg of bags.

The air conditioning system uses a vapour cycle machine and has two temperature zones, so that the pilots can select their own cockpit temperature separately from the passengers’ cabin. With the optional VIP panel the passengers can even control their temperature from within the cabin.

Despite the fuselage’s height off the ground, entering the aeroplane is simple, thanks to a 1.47m high, light and easy opening, counterweighted drop down door with its four integral steps and a short left side handrail which also acts as the over centre lock. Inevitably, although above a dropped aisle, the Phenom’s ceiling line requires a slight stoop. Embraer call the fuselage’s egg shaped cross section ‘Oval Light’ and claim it to have increased shoulder room and legroom where it counts, plus a headroom higher than any other jet in its class, including the significantly more expensive HondaJet.

Yes, at just 1.50 metres this roof is a little low, but so is that in a Mercedes. Actually, this one’s more BMW, having been styled by BMW Group Designworks USA, with an emphasis on ergonomics. The result is a lovely, welcoming, light and airy cabin in one of their four ‘gemstone palettes’. These are families of predominantly warm, light tones, with contrasting and complementary sets of seven colours and ‘soft and satiny’ textures entitled quartz, topaz, obsidian and citrine, giving 48 variations of standard materials.

There are two similar standard cabin layouts. One has four seats that can be in either a club (fore and aft) layout or with all four forward facing, plus at the front on the right, a six cubic foot (170 litre) wardrobe or optional food and beverage stowage and refreshment centre. An alternative arrangement substitutes a sideways facing seat for this wardrobe, making five cabin seats in all. Both plans have a flushing chemical toilet and wardrobe at the rear of the cabin, although six forward facing cabin seats can be fitted as an option if the toilet is dispensed with.

PP-XOM has the first option, with the tambour fronted wardrobe facing the passengers as they enter. Turn right and the comfortable seats are just the ideal distance apart for legroom comfort, and they share 1.55m of shoulder room. Facing pairs are separated by easy foldout tables, and each occupant has their own big, double glazed window with internal pleated fabric blinds, plus another on each side over the tables. These windows are bigger than those provided by most other small and mid sized jets. Everybody has retractable lap diagonal seat belts, adjustable headrests, headset jacks for the inflight entertainment, AC laptop power outlets, speakers, lights and air vents, although the only armrests are along the sidewalls, where there are also cork lined cup holders and magazine stowages. These armrests lift to reveal small stowage compartments for mobile phones or personal electronic devices.

At the very rear of the cabin is a curtained-off lavatory area (a rigid door is optional) with plenty of light from two exterior windows, a half height cabinet on the left, plenty of work surfaces and storage but, surprisingly, no mirror. This area can also be used for the stowage of smaller items that cannot go into the unpressurised exterior baggage compartments, plus there are some more spare spaces under the seats.

Having set your passengers at ease in their cabin, you can perhaps offer them a drink, but don’t waste any time. As with all civil jets, we VIPs turn left on boarding. You have to step over the centre console, and the entry gap between the pilots’ seats may be a trifle narrow, but it opens on to a brilliant flight deck. The panoramic heated acrylic windshields give a broad outside view, although they do not open. Everything is where you would expect it, with no surprises, no clutter and no awful overhead panel (although there is a small lighting panel above the standby compass).

Both pilot’s seats feature multiple adjustments, foldaway armrests and sheepskin covers. The eye position indicator on the central windshield pillar is perfect (even Boeing cannot always get this right) and the rudder pedals can be adjusted into four positions by simply pulling a trigger on each. The control yokes are very comfortable rams horns with pitch trim rocker switches and four buttons for radio transmit, the autopilot / pitch trim / yaw damper and stick pusher disconnect, autopilot Control Wheel Steering (CWS) and stopwatch start, stop and reset. There are also PTT buttons at either end of the glareshield, so that the non-flying pilot does not disturb the handling pilot’s flying when he transmits.

To the pilot’s left are a slim sidewall storage space, plus his headset box, oxygen and quick don mask and the flight recorder controls. Ahead of these is the small electrical panel, while below on the inner sidewall is the main circuit breaker panel, with another similar one mirrored on the right sidewall.

The Phenom 100’s all-glass Prodigy 100 flightdeck layout is based on Garmin 1000 avionics, with three landscape format twelve inch flat panel EFIS screens, the outboards being Primary Flight Displays (PFDs), while the inner is a Multi Function Display (MFD). These monitors are not old fashioned cathode ray tubes, but much brighter and more easily read LED screens, and they are interchangeable in case of unserviceability. Most functions and selections are accessed by multi purpose ‘soft’ keys and knobs around their perimeters, and they provide far more information than those on any other airliner, business or military jet I have ever flown.

The central MFD displays diagrammatic synoptic views of the main aircraft systems for ease of monitoring, operation and system fault diagnosis, while the Central Maintenance Computer (CMC) monitors and logs all such snags for subsequent download and rectification. For warnings and instrument settings you can choose your own preferred profile from a selection of 25. These allow you to select hectoPascals or inches for your altimeter settings, kilos or pounds for the all the weights, nautical or statute miles for distances, headings in magnetic, true or grid, with your display track up or heading up, and to have a male or female voice for the warnings, among the many options.

The basic five standby instruments of ASI, altimeter, compass, ILS and artificial horizon are combined into a single, central, Digital Integrated Standby System (DISS) with its own self-contained AHRS/ADC. This predictably has a much higher MTBF than former electromechanical instruments and is situated to the left of the autopilot and flight director control panel (Flight Guidance Panel) on the central glareshield. I think this rather unusual positioning is excellent, because after an aircraft makes an uncommanded manoeuvre, one’s first instinctive reaction is to reach for these controls, and noticing an unusual attitude on the DISS will be the first step in remedying it.

This huge array of information might appear daunting at first, but you quickly learn what is important and where to look for it, so you can become informed at a glance, while the professional standard ‘quiet, dark cockpit’ concept ensures the pilot is only distracted by vital alerts.

Directly below the pilot’s PFD, and on either side of his control yoke are the fuel, stick pusher and anti-ice controls. The pressurisation air conditioning and test panels are similarly situated beside the right yoke, while the landing gear selector and FMS keypad are in the middle. Below these on a central console are the engine starting panel, the fire extinguisher controls and the flying control trimmers. Aft of these are the thrust and flap levers and the red parking brake handle, plus a couple of fold down cup holders.

Call me old fashioned, but I do have one tiny criticism of this otherwise exemplary flight deck. I know that maps and approach plates can be displayed on the EFIS screens, but I still like to have a paper chart and a notepad handy, and you always seem to need to scribble something from time to time inflight, so I would like to have seen a document clip somewhere in the cockpit – in the centre of the control yoke perhaps, or on the side window sill.

Nevertheless, the Phenom 100’s high level of automation gives its pilot an exceptionally low workload (claimed by Embraer to be 70 per cent less than on other equivalent jets) and makes operating the aircraft easier than even a piston single. For instance, before departure your flight plan data, ambient temperature and weights are entered on a central alphanumeric FMS keypad beside the landing gear lever. All the published SIDS, STARS, airways and approach profiles worldwide are already in its memory for your convenience. Then you merely make a quick scan around the systems panels, run through the checklist, call ATC and start the motors.

Nowadays, jet engine starting is so automated it has become dead simple, with all parameters monitored by the FADEC and all exceedences prevented (although you do still have to check that the oil pressure is rising). You just rotate each start switch knob to start, wait half a minute while the starter/generator does its thing, observe the switch click back to ‘run’ and that motor is in business. Our startup was with a stiff tailwind (usually the most difficult case) but the ITTs barely topped 500°C.

Just like any lightplane, the Phenom’s nose wheel is steered through its rudder pedals. Its brakes are both effective and nice and progressive and, although they do not have much feel, you soon get used to them. Quite a long pedal travel is needed for maximum retardation, but this allows precise gentle braking at low speeds. The wear on carbon/carbon brakes is proportional to the number of applications (rather than to the total energy absorbed, as with conventional steel/friction compound brakes), so for optimum brake pad life it is best to allow the groundspeed to build to a safe maximum (which happens quite quickly, thanks to the little Pratts’ high residual thrust at idle), and then brake down to a walking pace before repeating the cycle.

The landing gear gives a slightly firm ride over bumpy surfaces. On your way to the runway, you set the flaps to position 1 (10 degrees), read the pre-takeoff checks, check the automatic aural (voice) takeoff configuration warning, call for clearance and line up. Incidentally, flap 2 gives 28 degrees deflection, and is used for short and performance limiting takeoffs, while flap 3 is a dummy, corresponding with the Phenom 300’s flightdeck layout for commonality.

For takeoff, you merely push forward both thrust levers to the TO/GA detent and steer – the FADEC takes care of all your power setting and engine monitoring for you, so you don’t even have to glance in to the screens, because if there is something amiss the aeroplane will immediately tell you. As the engines quietly whine to a crescendo somewhere in the distance behind you, there is a steady and surprisingly strong push in the back because, after all, this is a jet. Get those heels on the floor and your toes off the brakes, go easy on the steering, and just follow the centreline as the Phenom romps along the runway and into the air in little more than a couple of hundred metres.

At your pre-calculated rotate speed (normally a little below 100kt), gently ease back on the yoke and you’re flying. Look at the artificial horizon, and follow the flight director V bar (or cross hairs if you prefer – there are two alternate display formats). The control forces are very light, it’s no fuss, lots of fun, and oh so easy. The director bars initially want about eleven degrees nose up so you squeeze back or forward on the yoke to place the little aeroplane over its bars. How hard can this be?

Dab the brakes and flip up the gear switch. At 1000ft, accelerate to the green bug and retract the flaps, then pull the thrust levers back one detent to CON/CLB and the power reduces to the MFD’s blue bugs at 91 per cent N1. Trim changes for both gear and flap retraction are imperceptible, and nothing happens too quickly because V2 is always less than 100kt, whatever the weight, giving normal initial climb speeds around 120 to 130kt. Once you are above the MSA and transition altitudes, you can accelerate to 200 or 250kt.

The most difficult aspect of operating this aeroplane is going to be dealing with ATC, but when you’re flying jet IFR that all becomes so much more straightforward than VFR flight in uncontrolled airspace. A couple of radar vectors, a cleared altitude or two, a frequency change maybe, then set standard 1013 (a single button push) and you’re cleared to FL350, or 410, or whatever you asked for, up with the jetliners, and you can expect direct routeing to your destination much of the time. Five seconds before a planned track change you get a flashing message that counts down to warn you, which is useful if you are hand flying.

Embraer recommend that you engage the autopilot as soon as the flaps are retracted. OK, you can do that if you want – it certainly makes overseeing the whole operation easier, but then, what is there to manage? The air conditioning? Pressurisation? Fuel? Electrics? They are all managing themselves quite nicely thank you, and don’t need any interference from you.

The navigation perhaps? Why? This aeroplane is automatically following your pre-planned route and selecting its own nav frequencies, and anyway it is primarily using GPS to navigate. Right in front of you there is the most detailed map I have ever seen in any jet. Not only the usual planned track with your airway, navaids, airports, and waypoints are depicted, but also terrain contours, coastlines, lakes, rivers, roads and railways, towns, and even state and national boundaries can be shown. Danger areas and controlled airspace are a given, with optional overlays of other traffic, weather radar and other airways. Also available on these screens are Jeppesen approach charts and plates, with your aeroplane depicted in its current position on the procedure or taxying around the airport.

Press the NRST button (one of twelve along the bottom of your PFD) and as usual the ten nearest airfields appear – but with another button push you get for each runway directions, lengths and surfaces, approach aids and a dozen other details, including all the ATIS and comms frequencies. Press that button once more, your VHF com frequency changes and you are actually talking to them. It is that simple!

The futuristic Synthetic Visual System (SVS) is available as an option. This presents a real time, synthetic, three dimensional forward view of the scenery and topography ahead on the PFDs and is claimed to enhance situational awareness, particularly in low visibility conditions.

Both PFDs display maximum and minimum speed limits and cleared altitudes plus trend vectors for airspeed, altitude, and heading, but I regard the wind vector as the most useful of all the available displays on modern EFIS screens. In this system, Garmin and Embraer have improved on the basic format of a moving arrow pointing into wind on your PFD with a numeral alongside for wind speed, by providing the very valuable additional readings of either or both the head and crosswind components with repeated button pushes.

The Phenom 100 can climb straight to flight level 410 (41,000 feet) from a max weight takeoff in ISA, and Embraer say it climbs to its initial cruise flight level in 32 minutes. You can choose to climb at 200 or 250kt IAS (although the latter gives a slightly reduced climb angle) until transitioning to Mach 0.55 at around FL 310, and our average climb rate below FL100 was easily manageable at around 2500ft per minute. At our fairly representative takeoff weight of 4,450kg, it took us 18 minutes to reach FL 300, 25 minutes to get to FL 370 and 32 minutes to achieve FL 410, which is very similar performance to most airliners.

Levelling off at an intermediate FL 280 and leaving the thrust at maximum continuous had our airspeed creeping inexorably up to 245kt and 0.626 Indicated Mach, for a 378kt true air speed. The Phenom 100’s 8.30psi differential pressure hull means that cabin pressure will stay at sea level all the way up to 21,280ft, and it is still only at 8,000ft at the aeroplane’s FL 410 maximum operating altitude. Despite its high set engines, and presumably thanks to their aerodynamicists’ expertise, the Phenom exhibits only a small nose up pitch change with power reduction (and vice versa) – much less than experienced in some more familiar jets with high thrust lines.

For long term cruising you pull back the thrust levers once more to MAX CRZ. In cruising flight, this aeroplane gives its occupants a tidy ride as its short, stiff wing punches through light turbulence. The cruise flight segment is quiet in the cockpit and even quieter in the serenity of its restful cabin. You could easily fall asleep in here for the whole of the Phenom’s three and a half hour maximum safe endurance. Once you are in level flight, engine N1 rpm are controlled by the autopilot within up to five per cent by the Current Speed Control (CSC) to hold a steady cruise speed. This is a big improvement over most older business jets, in which you needed to monitor speed and make power reductions as your weight reduced to prevent over speeding.

At FL 410 and with a static air temperature of -61°C, maximum cruise power gave us 167kt IAS at 0.582 Mach, for a true airspeed of 327kt and a 234kg per hour total fuel burn. If only our 113kt headwind had been a tailwind we would have been covering the ground at over 500mph or 800kph. The Phenom’s 390kt high speed cruise is fully fifty knots faster than a Mustang’s. However, at the Mustang’s maximum cruise of 338kt both aircraft have virtually identical fuel flows and economy, despite the more substantial Phenom being bigger inside and half a ton heavier.

As with most smaller jets and many turboprops, the Phenom’s engine performance is inevitably affected by ambient temperature, although of course the computers and manuals do make allowance for this. Inevitably, it is also slightly payload/range limited in the top right hand corner of its graph, so taking off at its maximum zero fuel weight of 3,830kg it can only go 700nm, although it can nevertheless carry four occupants over 1,178 nautical miles at long range cruise speed. The optional Automatic Thrust Reserve system (briefly squeezing a few per cent more power from the live motor in the unlikely event of engine failure) allows a useful increase in maximum takeoff weight, and therefore range.

This lively little jet is very responsive in all axes, without being over sensitive. Its roll rate is more than adequate, and its control harmony is fine, although to me the elevators felt a little lighter than the ailerons. However, those required pitch forces increase markedly with change of airspeed, which is of course a good thing. I found the pitch trim to be powerful and fast acting, and best used in very short blips. This short coupled little jet needs its yaw damper, and displays a noticeably lively dancing tendency after you disengage it on final approach.

There is a minimum N1 requirement of 45 per cent for stalling, but in reality at our 15,000ft general handling altitude neither engine’s rpm fell below 47 per cent at idle. Reducing airspeed below the clean ‘green ring’ commanded speed of 124kt, the ASI numerals changed from white to amber at 106kt, and then to red at 103kt, coincident with the repeated aural warning ‘Stall! Stall!’ At 94kt the stick pusher shoved down our nose, and as I advanced the thrust levers to TO/GA, we quickly recovered in around 300ft with no sign of any wing drop. This was a real non-event.

As the flaps travel to position 1 there is a nose down pitch change, but this is much less noticeable with further flap extension. With the flaps set to 1, the stick push speed reduced by eight knots to 86 KIAS, again with no wing drop and a 300ft height loss. With the landing gear extended and flap 2, this speed dropped further to a lightplane like 79kt, although this time we lost 400ft in the recovery. Gear and full flap caused a much more rapid speed reduction and a final stick push speed of 75kt for another 400ft height loss – a remarkable 20kt improvement of the clean stall speed considering the Phenom 100 has no leading edge devices.

Normal descent is at 200kt, at which this aeroplane comes down gently at just a bit less than 1000ft per minute at lower altitudes (that high idle thrust again), although raising the airspeed can increase this significantly, especially at the higher flight levels. I am told there is a possibility that the Phenom 100 will acquire speedbrakes (spoilers) to assist this descent, which might be useful. From FL280 the FMS recommended we start our descent at 50 miles from destination, which is not greatly different from the normal jet rule of thumb of three miles per thousand feet above destination.

With a landing weight of 4,100kg, we set up the pre computed Vref of 101kt for a two engined landing with flaps 2. This would have been a little bit slower, at 96kt with full flap (and 99kt at the maximum landing weight of 4,430kg), but unfortunately we could not use full flap, because at the time I flew it, the Phenom 100 had a software glitch in its flap controller logic that required additional airspeed increments for full flap landings in icing conditions, so full flap was prohibited. By the time you read this, the upgraded software should have been installed, certified and implemented and full flap should be back in normal use for landings. Recommended speeds in the circuit were 160kt clean, reducing to 150kt with flap 1.

I flew both ILS and visual approaches, plus some normal circuits, and found them all remarkably straightforward thanks to the Phenom’s excellent controls, good stability and good cockpit visibility. Its low approach speed helps a lot too of course, as does the pitch up when you close the thrust levers, provided you do not overdo the flare as well. As always with a jet, if you have just flown down a three degree glideslope, then you only need to pitch up the nose by three degrees to arrest the descent and fly level for landing.

Having not flown many jet hours in recent years, and with a background of flying much larger aircraft, I initially found myself checking the Phenom’s descent a little too high and holding off for too long, plus over-controlling with the rudder and steering along the runway. However, these are not mistakes likely to be made by younger pilots more used to smaller aircraft, and I had beaten those bad habits after a couple of landings, so easy is the Phenom 100 to fly. Normal operations from 1000m runways should be possible in all but the highest density altitudes.

An engine failure at 100ft after takeoff on one of the touch and goes was quite easy to handle, although the rudder pedal pressure is fairly high and the yaw trim both runs at a slow rate and cuts out after three seconds to guard against runaways. Required power on our single engined approach was around 65 per cent as against 57 per cent on the two engined approach, so there was clearly plenty of power in hand for a go-around. Applying full power on that single motor and retracting the wheels, but leaving the flaps at position 2, resulted in a reasonable climb of 250 to 300ft per minute at 110kt. All in all the circuit flying was easy, uneventful and undemanding.

Certainly, there are cheaper VLJs out there, but they’re mostly single engined. And yes, I know turbine engines are more reliable than pistons, but even the pushiest salesman doesn’t claim that jets are totally faultless. So, how good are your jet forced landing skills? How do you fancy putting your slippery jet down into a paddock? Starting from a 500ft cloudbase? In the rain? I have no problem with single engined IFR, it’s single-engined IMC I don’t like. Sorry, but those VLJ singles are just not for me!

With a 35,000 cycle airframe life, a generous twelve month/600hr inspection cycle that is said to be unprecedented among business jets, and direct running costs comparable to a turboprop, the Phenom 100 should be very economical to operate. Embraer estimate a mere US$842 per flying hour.

Details like avionic display interchangeability, the wide use of LEDs for lighting, externally replaceable windshields, pitots, sensors and antennae, brushless fuel pumps and flight control actuators, and standardised fasteners and lubricants all combine to simplify maintenance and reduce costs. With all the main electronic equipment being housed inside the pressure hull, and engine replacement feasible by two mechanics in just four hours, for this aeroplane even major maintenance should be quick and easy.

Embraer had hoped to sell 110 Phenoms in 2009, their first year of production – no mean feat – although when I visited their factory, way back in May, airframe number 60 had already started its way along the production line, so it looked as though that target should be met. At that same time, Embraer had received no fewer than 800 firm orders from 44 different countries for its Phenom jets.

There are 22 Embraer service centres spread all around the world, from which they provide remote troubleshooting, maintenance tracking and a mobile recovery service. Engine support is direct from Pratt & Whitney, Canada. Ground crew training includes on line, computer based instruction, classroom sessions, an integrated procedures trainer, practical maintenance education and thorough testing. Pilot training will initially take place either at one of Embraer’s two simulator facilities in America or at CAE’s headquarters at Burgess Hill in Southern Britain, with a fourth training centre planned to open elsewhere in the world in 2012.

The Phenom 100’s single pilot operation could not be easier. Not one of the twenty-odd jet types I’ve flown provides its pilot with such a huge array of information, and yet you only need to glance at the appropriate place or press a couple of buttons to retrieve every detail. And despite (or more probably, because of) this high level of complexity, the Phenom 100 remains extremely straightforward to operate and an absolute delight to handle.

So, in a nutshell, it’s sophisticated but simple, complex but not complicated, and oh so sweet to fly.

ENDS © R J Grimstead 2010
5,506 words THE EMBRAER PHENOM 100
Dimensions
Wing span 12.30 m
Wing area sq m
Length 12.82 m
Height 4.35 m
Cabin length 3.35 m
width 1.55 m
height 1.50 m
Cabin volume 5.89 cu m
Seating 2+4-6
Weights & loadings
Equipped empty 3,175 kg
Max take off weight 4,750 kg
Max landing weight 4,430 kg
Max zero fuel weight 3,830 kg
Max baggage 160 kg + 30 kg
Standard fuel lit
Max fuel lit
Max wing loading kg/sq m
Max power loading kg/hp
Load factors g
Manufacturer’s quoted performance
Vmo/Mmo 275KIAS/0.70 Mach
Max cruise speed 390 kt
Average economy cruise speed 329 kt
Stall, full flap kt
Enhanced SL take-off dist 953 m
SL take off run m
SL landing dist 823 m
SL landing run m
SL climb rate 3,033 fpm
Single engine climb rate 844 fpm
Max operating altitude FL 410
Single engine ceiling ft
Max IFR range (NBAA reserves) 1,178nm
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney PW617FE turbofans, producing 1,695lb st @ ISA +10°C. TBO 3,500hrs.
Manufacturer: Embraer SA, Av Brig Faria Lima 2170, Caixa Postal 343, 12227-901 São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil. Tel: +55 12 3927 1000. Fax: +55 12 3921 2394.
www.embraerexecutivejets.com/english/content/aircraft/phenom100_home.asp
Price: Featured aircraft US$3.6 million