Turbine Pilot

A machine with appeal for jet jocks and backseaters

Now here's a hot rod. That may sound like an inappropriate moniker for a midsized business jet, but the new Astra SPX does, in fact, have a unique combination of attributes that makes it part Lamborghini, part limousine. In short, a sort of welcome oddity in the staid world of business jets, where we've all come to pigeonhole turbine aircraft into one rigid category or another. The SPX, with its 4,250-pounds-static- thrust Garrett TFE-731-40R engines, is a more powerful variant of its predecessor, the 3,700-lbst-per-side Astra SP. The SPX's wingspan is about 2 feet longer, beefed up to handle its 1,150-pound gross weight increase and fitted out with winglets for better fuel economy in high-altitude cruise.

SPXs have upgraded avionics and interiors, too. The airplane comes with a four- tube Collins Pro Line 4 avionics package that includes weather radar, a radio altimeter, dual glareshield-mounted radio tuning modules, and much more. The now- dated SPs came with two 6-inch Collins displays in front of each pilot station, a centrally mounted multifunction display (MFD), and a string of smallish radio and transponder heads across the glareshield.

When completed with options like a forward refreshment center, leather seats, and aft lavatory, the interior verges on the luxurious. All Astras have what parent company Israel Aircraft Industries calls its "square oval" interior cross section. Basically, this can be envisioned as an elongated rectangle stood on end. Passengers have greater headroom and more shoulder and elbow room, thanks to the near-vertical walls. When seated, passengers do enjoy more freedom of movement under this arrangement, although the trip from cabin door to plush comfort does require a Quasimodo-style, 30-degree bend at the waist for those of us taller than 5 feet, 10 inches or so. A dropped center aisle minimizes this minor inconvenience, and the interior design — the brainchild of famed design firm Henry Dreyfus Associates — makes the most of the SPX's interior space. The main thing to remember is that once you're ensconced in your seat, there's plenty of room and the impression is one of spaciousness — even in the full-cabin-width lavatory.

Hits:

• Detents for thrust lever settings. Set the levers at TO, CLB, CRZ, or Cut Off, and the DEECs do the rest.
• Nifty sunscreens slide out to keep your face from burning off during midday flights
• Pro Line 4 graphics make it easy to nail airspeed and altitude
• Fuel panel is right in front of your right knee
• Comm, Nav, ADF, and transponder tuning panel is in front of your face
• A pilot's airplane — lots of speed, power, and macho ramp appeal
• Cool video monitor
• Lots of shoulder room

Misses:

• APU is a $249,500 option. Standard airplanes have to plug into a ground cart to spare the ship's batteries.
• Small baggage capacity with fuel extension tank installed
• Not much extra headroom for very tall people when seated
• Electrically powered seats won't work unless the ship is powered up
• Limited network of service centers
• A pilot's airplane — CEOs like bigger, plusher cabins

But enough of this swaddled-inluxury talk. Let's go flying. Twin billows of vaporized rubber on Runway 5 announced the arrival of an Astra SPX demonstrator at the Frederick, Maryland, Municipal Airport, AOPA's home base. On board were demonstration pilots Duane Brown and Richard McNulty, there to give me and some of the Pilot writing staff a taste of this new bird.

The preflight walkaround emphasis was on the smoothness of the new wing surfaces, a product of advanced milling techniques used on single, solid billets of aluminum stock. The leading edge slats — high-lift devices that automatically deploy at high angles of attack/low airspeeds — were pointed out, as were the heavy-duty, double-wheel landing gear. The only incongruities in this high-tech feast were the SPX's leading edge deice boots. Turbofan airplanes usually employ hot engine bleed air to heat leading edge panels for protection from ice accretions. The SPX, and all Astras, for that matter, stick with boots — something common to turboprop and piston airplanes. Unlike other boot applications, though, to inflate their boots Astras use bleed air instead of dedicated pumps.

The flight plan called for departing Frederick, then flying to Westminster VOR, then Bustr intersection, Johnstown VOR, Morgantown VOR, Martinsburg VOR, and a return to Frederick. Although the SPX is certified to fly as high as FL450, we'd cruise at 390. It took about 10 minutes to plug all this information into the flight management system, plus add in our weights. Our takeoff weight would be around the 21,000-pound mark (maximum takeoff weight is 24,650 pounds), and our fuel load was about 6,000 pounds. In any event, futzing with the FMS was the only bothersome aspect of getting the SPX to actually move. Starting the engines is a matter of pushing two buttons and waiting for lightoffs, which were very cool, and ITTs never came anywhere near redline.

Using the nosewheel tiller takes some acclimation, but soon I had the hang of it. It doesn't take much of a twist to turn the nosewheel, so the danger is in moving the tiller knob too much, too quickly, causing the ship to lurch one way or the other.

DEECs — digital electronic engine controllers, that is — automatically compute takeoff N1 thrust settings, so SPX pilots are somewhat relieved of the multiple tasks of setting and fine-tuning takeoff power while racing down the runway. Just slam the thrust levers all the way forward to the stops, then wait for the glorious Garrett shove.

It doesn't take long for things to get very exciting. In a matter of a few seconds the ship surges forward mightily. For a short while, steering is by tiller. But soon, aerodynamic steering by rudder kicks in (pun intended), you're past V1 (102 knots for us that day), it's time to rotate (108), and you're off the ground and climbing like a bat out of hell.

Seconds after liftoff, we're pushing the 250-below-10,000 speed limit, so the thrust levers have to be pulled back to flight idle almost immediately.

"This ain't your father's Oldsmobile," Brown deadpans.

The SPX just loves to fly fast, as Brown had cautioned earlier, and now he's gabbing away from the right seat, saying things like, "sort of like a Learjet, isn't it, but only faster." At flight idle we're still doing something like 230 knots, and Westminster is fast approaching. My notepad has long since fallen into the crack between the seat and the sidewall, and I am far too busy hanging on to this runaway speed demon to take the time to dig it out. Not that it would matter. From now on I'm too much in the moment to step back and take notes.

ATC clears us to progressively higher altitudes, and by the time we're halfway to Johnstown — that's only about 40 miles — we're at FL390 and hitting a cruise speed of 0.82 Mach. Pretty heady stuff. Now Brown is talking about range, and once more he can't resist kicking the competition. "This airplane can go coast to coast — westbound — nonstop at 0.82 Mach, and that beats a Hawker, Lear, or any Citation. A Lear's fast, all right; but the problem is, it can't take you very far very fast." I'm presuming that he's not including in his sales pitch Cessna's newest Citation, the continent-leaping, Mach 0.92 Citation X.

The Pro Line display lays down our flight-planned route on one of its two MFD tubes, and it's plain to see that we'll soon have to hang a healthy left turn after Johnstown. On my primary flight display, the flight director's command bars show the way to intercepting the next leg, and altitude and airspeed information is presented on vertical tapes on either side of the electronic attitude indicator. Control forces seem about right for an airplane of this size, meaning not light but not super- ponderous, either. It takes a modicum of effort to roll in and out of turns — the steeper the bank, the more the force, naturally — but this work is not in the least unpleasant.

Speaking of bank, the SPX uses hydraulically boosted mechanical control rods to operate its ailerons. The ship's two separate hydraulic systems run dual servo actuators on each aileron for redundancy. In case a mechanical linkage somehow jams, a breakout device shears a link pin and isolates the defective control run. This leaves just one pilot with aileron control. The elevators, too, are mechanically actuated — but aren't hydraulically boosted. Primary and secondary electric pitch trim is provided, and in case of an elevator jam or disconnect, an emergency pitch trim feature can be used to help control elevator movements. The emergency pitch trim switch is beneath a huge red plastic switch cover on the upper left horn of the pilot's control yoke. Of course, the SPX also has rudder trim and a yaw damper. The yaw damper is not a no-go item, by the way.

Between Johnstown and Morgantown I'm struck by a realization — I'd been hand flying the SPX the whole time. Best of all, I was doing a fairly good job at it, considering that I'd had zip Astra time and zip Astra simulator time. I had jumped into the thing cold turkey, and now here I was holding altitude within 20 feet and airspeed within a few knots. Sure, there was a little overcontrolling at first, but with a few minutes' experience and the help of the Pro Line's flight information display, it doesn't take long to get with the program.

A lot of this facility has to do with the SPX's superior flying manners, traits that extend even to the stall regime. An angle-of-attack indicator and a slow-fast, glareshield-mounted indicator — along with all the other cues we learned in primary training — give plenty of notice when the SPX approaches the stall. Conventional pre- stall buffeting serves as such an adequate warning that the SPX (or any Astra) does not require any stick-shakers or pushers to meet FAR Part 25's stall requirements. Brown and I performed stalls at slow and fast deceleration, and with varying degrees of bank. Each time, the airplane broke straight ahead after considerable shaking, and each time, a gob of power brought an acceptably swift recovery.

Meanwhile, while we had been doing the tough work of evaluation flying, our passengers were checking out the cabin. N800AJ has a posh six-seat (seven if you count the belted potty in the lavatory, but who wants to take off or land back there, even if it does have gold plating?) interior with refreshment and entertainment centers. It didn't take long for our virtual tycoons to learn that the cabin seats came with the optional electrically powered adjusters. Push a button under an armrest, scoot a little, and r-r-r-t, a small electric motor does your bidding. In this way you can rotate a seat or slide it to the center of the cabin for even more elbow room. The entertainment center had VCR and CD playback units; the refreshment center had an oven, ice bins, coolers for canned drinks, booze dispensers, and a cabinet for the crystal ware. Cabin wind noise was fairly prominent in any seat near the door but dropped off well by the aft club arrangement. In short, there was everything a passenger could want or need on a 3,025-nm trip, which is the SPX's advertised maximum NBAA IFR range — assuming four passengers and cruise altitudes from FL410 to FL450. To achieve this range, you must install a fuel extension tank in the aft baggage compartment. The tank holds an extra 100 gallons of fuel, comes as standard equipment, and can be installed or removed in as few as 10 minutes, company officials say.

If our lightly loaded SPX could peg its VSI at 6,000-fpm-plus in the climb to Johnstown, then its ability to descend in a hurry is equally profound, as we found in our descent after Morgantown. Thrust levers to flight idle, speed brakes out, and the airplane plunged earthward, VSI now pegged in the other direction. The speed brakes created a noticeable rumble and some slight airframe vibrations — products of the disturbed air flowing aft of the upraised speed brake panels on the wings.

Just for kicks, I stowed the speed brakes and pushed the nose over to see what things would be like at 0.87 Mach — the SPX's MMO between 25,000 and 45,000 feet. Again, no surprises. Except for the view outside, we might have felt as though we were sitting in a room somewhere.

As with all turbine equipment, the landing was by the numbers. With gear down and flaps fully extended to their 40-degree setting, power was adjusted to make good a VREF of 120 knots. Over the fence, power was gradually reduced and my first touchdown was acceptably smooth, thanks to the SPX's sturdy trailing-link gear. Ground spoilers are automatically deployed with wheel spinup, and this, along with reverse thrust, made for an uneventful landing roll.

While the SPX is fun to fly, it's very important to emphasize that it represents one of the most cost-efficient, capable midsized business jets in today's market. Astras have always been valued for their hot-and-high capabilities, and the SPX is certainly no exception. The SPX can take nine people and bags off a 6,000-foot-long runway at a 5,000-foot elevation in ISA-plus-20 conditions and cruise 2,000 nautical miles at 0.80 Mach, according to the specifications. That's a feat that the competition has a hard time matching at that speed, and a big reason why Astras have found favor with those who routinely operate from airports having high temperatures and elevations.

The SPX's speed and range/payload tradeoffs are other big draws. Its MMO of 0.87 Mach makes it faster than competing midsized jets — with the exception of the Citation X. Its range with its maximum payload of 3,300 pounds is advertised as 2,284 nm. That's a benchmark that the Citation VII (with a 2,800-pound max payload range of 2,414 nm), Lear 60 (2,360 pounds, 1,724 nm), and Raytheon Hawker 800XP (2,350 pounds, 2,295 nm) can't match, according to Astra spokesmen. And all this for a very competitive base price of $9,479,000. Average-equipped SPXs go for about $10.5 million, which is the list price of the demonstrator flown for this article.

In spite of this, a mystery remains. Why do Astras seem to live at the periphery of the market? In terms of value, the Astra, Astra SP, and Astra SPX symbolize some the best buys for the money, yet Astras trail the competition in sales. This makes them one of the best-kept secrets in the industry.

That, however, certainly appears to be changing. The SPX was only recently certified, in January 1996, and 10 airplanes had already been sold by September. IAI itself is feeling more positive than ever, what with its 1993 announcement of yet another new airplane — the $13.9 million, 3,620-nm, stand-up-cabin Galaxy. First flight of the Galaxy — at a projected max takeoff weight of 33,450 pounds, the biggest of the company's fleet — is expected by the end of 1996, and IAI reports that "more than 20" orders for the Galaxy have already been placed. The company also says that some 30 percent of SPX buyers will exercise their options to trade up to the Galaxy once it becomes available.

There are other blatant hints that IAI is determined to set a new agenda. Brian Barents, Learjet's former president, is reportedly in the midst of discussions with IAI. His appointment as Astra Jet's new head is widely anticipated, but at this writing the company will say only that his hiring is "looking promising."

This means that within the space of a mere three years, IAI will have transformed its entire product line as well as its management. If that's a hint, then the SPX and its stablemates may be secrets no more.