Raisbeck Engineering’s latest projects build on the company’s tradition of offering aircraft owners more capability, flexibility, and versatility. The company announced at NBAA 2010 that it is moving quickly in the development of its Learjet 60 aft fuselage locker program. The external locker will provide an additional 25 cubic feet of storage and 300 pounds of capacity in two external compartments faired into the aft fuselage.
A secondary benefit is the elimination of a Lear 60 center-of-gravity restriction because the weight of the locker moves the empty aircraft’s CG aft. The change enables Lear 60 operators to fully utilize the range capability of the aircraft. The locker design has no adverse drag effect on the aircraft’s performance.
The next phase of development is flight test. Once the project is completed, the lockers will be available through retrofit to the existing Lear 60 fleet and will also be available as an option from the Bombardier factory on new Lear 60 XRs.
For European King Air C90 operators, Raisbeck announced EASA certification of its C90GTi Epic performance enhancement kit. European operators of Epic-equipped C90GTi aircraft are now able to take off at higher gross weights (10,560 lbs ramp and 10,500 lbs takeoff) from hot/high airports and use shorter runways, expanding operational flexibility. The weights are 460 and 400 pounds higher, respectively, than stock airplanes. At the higher weights, the airplane is quieter on takeoff, takes off in a shorter distance, climbs faster, cruises at a lower rpm, and lands shorter. The kit includes new four-blade props optimized by Raisbeck, dual aft body strakes, increased gross weight, and revised flight manual supplement. Optional wing lockers increase cargo capacity by nearly 17 cubic feet.
The Epic performance mod is applicable to all C90 models. According to Raisbeck, nearly 40 percent of new production C90GTi and B200GT customers have opted for Raisbeck performance enhancement upgrades prior to delivery.
