The Galaxy spawns a new market niche
Under a starry Middle East sky, the airplane that created its own market niche finally saw the light of day — well, actually, night — when it was rolled out of the Israel Aircraft Industries hangar on the evening of September 4. Amid colored lights, artificial fog, and thunderous music at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv, the Model 1126 Galaxy business jet emerged from its hangar before a crowd of IAI employees, media, and Israeli government officials.
The event marked the end of the initial development of the Galaxy, which was dubbed a "super-midsize" business jet when it was first announced in 1992. Since then, everything from the Falcon 2000 to the under-development Hawker Horizon have been slotted into the category, which designates an aircraft larger in price and size than a mid-size business jet, such as the Learjet 60 and Hawker 800, but smaller than a large jet, such as the Canadair Challenger or the Falcon 900B.
With funding in doubt for a number of years, the Galaxy struggled through development. Early this year a deal finally was struck between the Hyatt Corporation, owned by the Pritzker family, and IAI. Under the arrangement, Galaxy Aerospace was formed as a joint venture between the two. Galaxy basically contracts with IAI to build the airplanes in Israel. They will be delivered green to Galaxy at its soon-to-be completed headquarters at Alliance Airport outside Fort Worth, Texas. There, Galaxy employees will complete the airplanes. In addition, Galaxy will be responsible for sales and support of the aircraft throughout the world. Galaxy Aerospace will also take on the task of selling and supporting the Astra SPX, the mid-size business jet long built by IAI.
Although the Galaxy's all-new fuselage conceals much of its genealogy, the new airplane is a direct descendent of the SPX. The SPX's roots go back to the Jet Commander, which was certificated by Rockwell in 1964. IAI bought the design in 1967 and in 1971 developed the Commodore Jet. In 1978 the design became the Westwind I, and later the Westwind II. The next variant, the Astra, debuted in 1986. The Astra SP showed additional improvements in 1990. The Astra SPX — which topped the SP by offering more thrust, a greater wingspan, winglets, higher max gross weight, and an upgraded avionics suite — hit the ramps in 1995 (see " Turbine Pilot: Fast Track," November 1996 Pilot).
The Galaxy moves the design into quite literally a whole new category of airplane. Its round cabin provides 6 feet, 3 inches of headroom, compared to the SPX's 5 feet, 7 inches. At 24 feet, 5 inches, the Galaxy's passenger cabin stretches 3 feet, 4 inches longer than that of the smaller airplane. The Galaxy's round fuselage and elegant nose set it apart aesthetically from the SPX, which has an oval fuselage and Roman nose.
In the wings, systems, and other areas, the two have many parts in common. The Galaxy just has fewer of them — parts, that is. New manufacturing techniques allow the Galaxy to be built with some 20-percent fewer parts, simplifying production and support.
The wing is the same except that the Galaxy gets a two-foot plug at each wing root and some beefier internal structures. With a predicted max takeoff weight of 34,450 pounds, the Galaxy is asking a lot of that wing. The SPX lifts only 24,800 pounds. Even with the extra span, the Galaxy needed better runway performance. The IAI engineers found the solution in their own test data gathered a few years ago when they had flight tested a Krueger flap on the Astra. The Krueger flaps extend down from the inboard leading edges to provide greater lift at low speeds. The system was never implemented on the mid-size jet, but it will be used on the Galaxy. As a result, the new airplane will have a balanced field length of 6,040 feet.
Hustling all of those parts through the air are a pair of Pratt & Whitney PW306A turbofans, each generating 5,700 pounds of thrust — quite a departure from the 4,250-lbst AlliedSignal TFE731s on the SPX.
With a full 14,250 pounds of fuel, the Galaxy should be able to fly from Paris to New York City nonstop in about eight hours and 25 minutes. Maximum range with IFR reserves will be 3,620 nautical miles. Long-range cruise is Mach 0.75; typical cruise will nudge Mach 0.82. MMO is Mach 0.85. Full-fuel passenger payload should be about 800 pounds. The Galaxy will need about 3,400 feet of runway at its max landing weight of 27,500 pounds. The standard thrust reversers will further improve the performance.
The Galaxy cabin, which will be completed by Galaxy Aerospace in Texas, will seat eight comfortably, with an aft lavatory. The company is also marketing an 18-seat corporate commuter version. The 8.9-psi pressurization system promises a sea-level cabin to Flight Level 230 and an 8,000-foot cabin at FL450, the airplane's max operating altitude.
In the front, the pilots will manage a Collins Proline 4 avionics suite. The system is similar to that on the SPX, except that the new model has five 7.25-inch displays instead of four. The fifth display depicts the new engine instrument/crew advisory system (EICAS). A dual-channel full authority digital engine control (FADEC) manages the powerplant. Dual channel means that the system is redundant. Under a full-authority system, there are no mechanical connections between the cockpit and the engines. The auto load-shedding electrical system simplifies things for the pilot in the event of a power failure, which is unlikely. One of our concerns with the SPX when we flew it in 1996 was that the auxiliary power unit was a $250,000 option. Without it, a ground cart was necessary to start the airplane. IAI fixed that on the Galaxy by providing three batteries and making the APU standard. With the three batteries, the Galaxy can be started without firing up the APU.
Like all airplanes certificated under FAR Part 25, the Galaxy will have redundant flight control systems, including spoilers for backup roll control.
All of this comfort and sophistication carries about a $15.7 million price tag, some $5 million more than the smaller SPX. If Galaxy can hold those prices, the Model 1126 should be competitive with the Horizon and the Falcon 2000.
Galaxy and IAI have established an aggressive flight test program that promises first flight this month and anticipates certification by the end of 1998. First deliveries are scheduled for early 1999. As the only business jet manufacturer with its own wind tunnels and a large staff of experienced engineers, IAI believes it is up to the challenge.
But if they build it, will the customers come? The Astra series has been a steady seller over the decades, but not exactly a barnburner. The fact that it is built in Israel hurts its sales in some parts of the world. The airplane has never been marketed well, and service and support have been mediocre. There, says Galaxy President Brian Barents, is the challenge and the opportunity. Barents, former president of Learjet, vows that Galaxy Aerospace will resolve the service and support issues. "We have a commitment to be number one in service. It's been a problem in the past — usually, getting parts," admits Barents. A new FedEx hub at Galaxy's home airport, Alliance, will mean that parts can be anywhere in the world in one day. "The Galaxy board has committed to being number one — morally and financially. It will take some time, but we will get there."
And so, while Galaxy customers will get a new super-midsize business jet with world-class performance and comfort, customers of the older airplanes will be winners too.
For more information, contact Galaxy Aerospace at One Galaxy Way, Alliance Airport, Fort Worth, Texas 76177; telephone 817/837-3700; fax 817/837-3723. E-mail the author at [email protected].
