Nextant Aerospace is a United States-based company specializing in the
remanufacturing
Remanufacturing is "the rebuilding of a product to specifications of the original manufactured product using a combination of reused, repaired and new parts". It requires the repair or replacement of worn out or obsolete components and modules. ...
of business jets.
[The Economist, “Business Jets for an Austere Age,” October 5, 201]
Founded in 2007, Nextant is the first company to introduce the concept of aircraft remanufacturing to the
business jet
A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pub ...
market.
Nextant 400XT
![Nextant 400XT Exterior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Nextant_400XT_Exterior.jpg)
The company's first product is the Nextant 400XT, a modified and modernized Beechjet
400A/XP that sells for approximately one-half the price of competing models with comparable features and specifications.
The 400XT is equipped with 3,050-pound-thrust
Williams FJ44-3AP Full Authority Digital Engine Controls (FADEC) turbofan engines and a
Rockwell Collins
Rockwell Collins was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radio Comp ...
Pro Line 21™ integrated avionics suite. It also has multiple aerodynamic and airframe enhancements including a streamlined, conically lofted engine cowling along with a newly designed engine beam and mounting system that is significantly stronger when compared to the original installation.
The aircraft offers options such as several alternative seating configurations, a Rockwell Collins Venue cabin management system, entertainment equipment, LED lighting and Internet and satellite phone access.
[AIN Online, “Action Aviation Becomes Nextant 400XT Sales Agent,” November 14, 2011, accessed January 30, 201]
The aircraft has a 460 knot (850 kilometers per hour) cruising speed and a National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) IFR range of 2,005 nautical miles (3,713 kilometers) with four passengers.
[Flight Global, “Nextant ready to deliver 400XT twinjets to Flight Options,” October 8, 2011, accessed January 30, 201]
Compared to the Beechcraft 400A, the upgrade increases range by 50 percent, improves fuel efficiency by 32 percent, reduces climb times by one-third and reduces operating costs by 29 percent.
[Business Jet Traveler, Nextant 400XT, June 2011, accessed January 30, 201]
Noise compliance exceeds Stage IV requirements.
The 400XT made its first test flight in March 2010.
Receipt of final certification from the
FAA, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was announced in October 2011. Deliveries of the Nextant 400XT began that same month, with initial deliveries of a 40-aircraft,
$150 million order to private aviation company Flight Options LLC.
An upgraded version of the aircraft, the Nextant 400XTi, was introduced in 2014. It now competes with an official modification called Hawker 400XPR, produced by
Textron
Textron Inc. is an American industrial conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft, and Cessna brands), and Lycoming Engines. ...
in collaboration with
Sierra Industries
Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin ''wikt:serra#Latin, serra'') may refer to the following:
Places Mountains and mountain ranges
* Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico
* Sierra de las Nieves, a ...
.
At the October 2018 NBAA convention, Nextant introduced a baseline, $4.5 million 400XTe version to be delivered from 2019 for charter and utility operators, with a three-screen rather than a four-screen layout flight deck and without the VIP interior of the $5.4 million XTi, but an optional high-density seating for up to nine passengers.
In 2017, Textron Aviation delivered first Hawker 400XPR, a factory-engineered and supported upgrade to 400XP which competes with
Nextant 400XT.
Remanufacturing process
![Nextant 400XT cockpit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Nextant_400XT_cockpit.jpg)
Nextant's aircraft remanufacturing program is distinguished from ones focused on the refurbishment or replacement of engines or other components by a factory-based, standardized process designed for serialized production.
The 6,000 man-hour remanufacturing process takes all life-limited components to zero-time status, either through replacement or overhaul, resulting in a plane that is 88 percent new. The
airframe
The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system.
Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...
itself, which is not life-limited, is the only significant remaining part.,
Consequently, the 400XT is considered to be a new type in the Aircraft Bluebook.
As a result of the remanufacturing process, Nextant offers buyers of the 400XT a two-year whole aircraft warranty, pilot training with a uniform training curriculum and Level D full-flight simulator and a service network that includes nine centers in the U.S. and a tenth facility in Milan Linate, Italy.
Operational history
![Nextant 400XT cabin interior facing aft](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Nextant_400XT_cabin_interior_facing_aft.jpg)
The 400XT can cruise at Mach 0.75-0.78 at FL430-450, pilots are comfortable flying it nearly five hours and typical missions are three hours.
It burns of fuel the first hour, dropping to for the second at high speed, /hr at
Mach 0.73.
Basic operating weights range from , full tanks payload is less than but the average passengers are three, it can fly six passengers more than .
In October 2013,
Travel Management Co. announced it would convert all its 50 jets, boosting the order book to more than 100.
By the end of 2014, Nextant had completed 50 aircraft and nearly 30 of 40 on order had been returned to
Flight Options Kenneth C. "Kenn" Ricci is an American aviation entrepreneur, the principal of Directional Aviation Capital, which owns or invests in various aviation enterprises including Flight Options and Flexjet, which he also serves as chairman. He is an oper ...
.
Customers are achieving 95.8% dispatch reliability.
[
The first reconditioned aircraft sold for $4.2 million and 2013 400XTi aircraft sold for just under $5 million, commanding in 2014 between $3.2 million and $4.2 million second hand (80 to 84% resale value).
In 2014 its closest competitors used were the ]Embraer Phenom 300
The Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 is a single-pilot-certified light business jet developed by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. It can carry up to 11 occupants.
Development
Embraer began designing the Phenom 300 after finding that pot ...
with similar range but a longer cabin and a more maintenance friendly design, commanding $7 to $8.5 million second hand; the smaller cabin cross-sections Cessna CitationJet
The Cessna CitationJet/CJ/M2 (also known as the Model 525) are a series of light business jets built by Cessna, and are part of the Citation family.
Launched in October 1989, the first flight of the Model 525 was on April 29, 1991. Federal Av ...
: 10-year-old CJ3s are just over $4 million but are slower, CJ4 aircraft go for $6.7 million for 2010 models to more than $9 million for 2014 models; or the Learjet 40XR but its weight, runway performance and fuel consumption are worse.[
]
Nextant G90XT
The $2.8 million Nextant G90XT is a remanufactured Beech King Air
The Beechcraft King Air is a line of American utility aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The King Air line comprises a number of twin-turboprop models that have been divided into two families. The Model 90 and 100 series developed in the 1960s ...
with its PT6
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964 and has been continuously up ...
A-135s replaced by single levers Czech GE H75
The General Electric H-Series is a family of turboprop aircraft engines produced by GE BGA Turboprops. The initial H80 is an updated derivative of the Walter M601, while the H75 and H85 are later derivatives.
Development
The H80 was launched ...
s, a Garmin G1000
The Garmin G1000 is an electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) typically composed of two display units, one serving as a primary flight display, and one as a multi-function display. Manufactured by Garmin Aviation, it serves as a replaceme ...
cockpit and a new cabin.
Improved metals and 3D aero compressor enable a direct climb over FL250 and cruise, up to faster than a C90GT, while having 10% better fuel burn, 10% longer overhaul and lower maintenance costs.
It has a range at full fuel with a single pilot and three passengers, less for each additional passenger: below single-engine turboprops, like the Socata TBM
The SOCATA TBM (now Daher TBM) is a family of high-performance single-engine turboprop business and utility light aircraft manufactured by Daher. It was originally collaboratively developed between the American Mooney Airplane Company and Fre ...
and the Pilatus PC-12
The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in ad ...
, but with a FL220 single engine altitude.
The pre-production model max cruise is while burning /hr at FL240, ISA+2 °C and , lowering to /hr at a long-range cruise.
![Nextant 604XT Cockpit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Nextant_604XT_Cockpit_.jpg)
Nextant 604XT
The Bombardier Challenger 604
The Bombardier Challenger 600 series is a family of business jets developed by Canadair after a Bill Lear concept, and then produced from 1986 by its new owner, Bombardier Aerospace.
At the end of 1975, Canadair began funding the developmen ...
-based 604XT was launched in 2017 with a Rockwell Collins
Rockwell Collins was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radio Comp ...
ProLine Fusion flightdeck up from a ProLine 4.
In October 2018, 100 flight test hours were logged, for certification and introduction planned for the fourth quarter.
The second phase introduces a redesigned cabin and a wing extension boosting its range by up to 500nmi, for an 18- to 24-month certification timeframe.
By November, Nextant had secured the US STC for the avionics upgrade, before an early December first delivery.
Of the over 300 Challenger 604s, 25 installations were pre-sold.
The redesigned cabin and aerodynamic enhancements to increase range by 500nmi (925 km) to over 4,500nmi will follow.
As of October 29, 2019, Constant Aviation has delivered 23 Production 604XT's with the Nextant Next Gen Flight Deck. Constant Aviation expects to have completed 30 deliveries by the end of 2019 with significant backlog into 2020. Challenger 604 operators are seeing the advantage of improved low visibility operations and advanced features in the 604XT Flight Deck, such as integrated SXM Weather and the advanced Multiscan Weather Radar.
Nextant management
Nextant was founded in 2007 by aviation entrepreneur Kenneth C. “Kenn” Ricci, who serves as the company's chief executive officer. Ricci also is a principal of Directional Aviation Capital, a private investment firm which is solely focused on aviation investments. Ricci also serves as chairman of Flight Options, LLC, the second-largest private aviation company in the U.S.[AIN Online, “Flight Options Flying Higher,” February 16, 2012, accessed February 28, 201]
External links
Nextant Aerospace Web site
Flight Options Web site
Directional Aviation Capital Web site
References
{{reflist
Aerospace companies of the United States