VLJ Accident History

New wiki article: VLJ Accident History. Summary:

• Eclipse incidents have been primarily due to manufacturing and design issues.
  
• Mustang and Phenom incidents have been primarily due to operator error during landing, especially runway overruns.
  

Mustang Meets Phenom

I went to LWM yesterday to meet with Ron Gruner to discuss the Mustang Wiki and possible collaboration. Ron runs JetBrief, the current Phenom community site. There's a lot of potential information to share as there is more in common between a Mustang and a Phenom in terms of avionics, engines and procedures, than say between a Mustang and a Citation I. We'll see what comes of the discussions.

In the meantime, it was a spectacular fall day in New England, so we couldn't miss a chance at a photo op with the two planes next to each other. The Mustang is a little closer to the camera which is why it looks a little bigger.

Thanks to Mark Scott of Falcon Air for the picture and hospitality.

Flying the Embraer Phenom 100

It’s been about a year and a half since my factory visit to Embraer in Brazil. Since then, the Phenom 100 has been certified, about 40 have shipped, and I’ve taken delivery of my Cessna Citation Mustang.

Today I finally got the opportunity to fly the real plane, N73DB, the current East Coast demo plane.

Since I’ve flown the Mustang 30 hrs in the last 20 days, I was pretty comfortable with the flows required for a G1000 / P&WC 600 light jet.

Henry Yandle, the Embraer rep was very accommodating as usual. I flew with two Embraer demo pilots. As a last minute addition, my friend Philip, his wife and infant joined us to make a full cabin. With these additional passengers I didn’t attempt to exercise the stick pusher, but did try most of the other maneuvers I wanted although no climb to altitude and cruise.

Pre-flight

The P100 is an easier plane to pre-flight than the Mustang as there are fewer fluid gauges to check. The Mustang requires manually checking the hydraulic pressure, the nitrogen gauges, and the fire bottle gauge. All of this is done automatically for you in the P100. One Mustang annoyance is the oil filter bypass especially on the left engine as it is hard to see without bumping your head. Embraer solved this problem by a physical extension which can be easily determined by touch.

A downside of the P100 is the gear pins that must be added and removed manually. The tow point is also non-standard.

There are three independent pitot static systems, instead of just two on the Mustang.

The door stair is significantly sturdier (and more expensive) than the Mustang. It has a much better ramp presence, although I do imagine it will be hard to maintain.

Cockpit

The Mustang cockpit is more ergonomic and less cluttered than the P100. There are more switches in more places on the P100, like the side panels, and the light panel above the windshield. There is less storage space for cups or paper.

The P100 has the G1000 in a 3 x 12” configuration. The Mustang has the G1000 in a 2 x 10”, plus 15” MFD configuration. The P100 / Prodigy uses more screen real estate with less empty space. For example CAS messages appear on the PFDs. The MFD has gear position and synoptic views which take up more real estate. Between more information and a smaller MFD, I found myself squinting more than in the Mustang.

Embraer has not yet certified Synthetic Vision and Jeppesen Charts (ChartView), both of which have been used in every one of my Mustang flights so far.

Startup and Taxi

Since the P100 has two batteries, startup is typically done by battery, not GPU. The startup is much nicer than the Mustang for several reasons. The FADEC is newer and smarter than the one currently in the Mustang. It has better hot start prevention. There is only a single switch instead of a starter switch and then moving the throttles above the detent to idle. There is a nice schematic view showing actual real-time battery and generator loads, which is filtered on the Mustang.

Several common items on every flight are better automated on the P100. For example, if the Mustang pitot static heat is operated for more than two minutes on the ground, it could damage the AoA indicator. The P100 has an automatic pitot static switch. The beacon is automatic. All in all, as with the pre-flight, a few steps are saved every operation compared to the Mustang.

Taxiing is easy although not quite as easy as the Mustang. The forward view is better although it isn’t as easy to see either wing tip from either pilot location. It takes more power to start rolling, but the rest of taxiing is at ground idle.

The electric brakes were a bit of a disappointment. They are “grabby” with a short travel length. The brakes feel more like a binary on/off switch than a smooth pedal motion. While it is possible to use differential braking and power for a tight turn, the turn radius is not as tight as the Mustang.

As with the Mustang, V speeds must be calculated manually or looked up in a book. With six souls on board, and moderate fuel we were over 10,000 lbs so V1 and Vr were about 10-15 kts more than the Mustang.

Takeoff, Climb and Maneuvers

We departed KBED in rain, ceilings to near minimums and light cross-wind gusts. The plane felt solid and a bit stiffer than the Mustang. The workload was near identical: gear up, autopilot on, reduce from T/O thrust and hope ATC clears you up fast enough. We quickly broke out at 6,000’ and asked for a block of airspace for some airwork.

Northwest of the CON VOR at 8,000’, we did steep turns and slow flight. Since the demo schedule was a bit behind and I would not be immediately trading my Mustang for a P100, we didn’t have as long as I would have liked in the P100.

Steep turns were more challenging than the Mustang but not especially difficult. It was tricky to find just the right pitch until well until into the second turn. In slow flight, the plane was quite stable and responsive, even with 30 degrees of bank. The power needed some adjustments as it was quick to drop below the “donut”.

All in all, the plane was solid, sturdy and a little heavier than the Mustang. The Mustang feels a little more responsive, especially in turns.

As I mentioned earlier, with a very young passenger in the back, I did not attempt the stick pusher and imminent stall. Doing full gentle stalls in the Mustang, without a pusher or shaker, was a major selling point to a low time jet pilot like me.

I tried out the silver painted boots. As you may recall, Embraer painted the boots silver so it would give a “hot wing” look, even though these are really boots not bleed air. Since silver does not contrast as well with ice, a certification engineer had them put this funny looking black circle near the wing tip in order to see icing more easily. The whole thing is silly – the boots should be all black.

Return and approach

ATC gracefully gave us vectors back to KBED for the ILS 11 approach to near minimums. Slowing the plane takes a bit longer than the Mustang. There is no current option for speed brakes. Gear deployment speed is lower so they cannot be easily extended as drag either (Mustang gear can be extended at Vmo). ATC asked to slow first to 190 kts, and then again to 170 kts for spacing and each time required reducing power to idle and then waiting, whereas in the Mustang more options are available.

Adding drag is not purely academic. In the case of an emergency descent, it’s very easy to add drag to the Mustang via gear and speed brakes and get down in a hurry, at more than 8,000’/min. It would be very interesting to see how quickly the P100 can descend in an emergency. Also many large airports require keeping the speed up as late as possible. It would be equally interesting to see how much distance is required to slow from say 160 kt to 100 kt Vref in both aircraft.

When we received our final vector and were cleared for the approach, the P100 in combination with the G1000 and GFC 700 autopilot, did a terrific job to stay stabilized while we were bounced around in shifting winds and light turbulence. We stayed at flaps 2 as flaps 3 and full are not yet available due to a software issue. Apparently, when this software issue is resolved, Embraer recommends adding flaps full after the Final Approach Fix, which is very unusual. Typically, a jet is fully configured for landing at the FAF and then stable all the way down to the Missed Approach Point. When I disconnected the autopilot 100’ above minimums, there was a bit of jumping around but things stabilized quickly.

There is very little flair in the P100 – it lands even flatter than the Mustang. Again, there were no speed brakes to slow us down. With the grabby brakes, I agreed with the demo pilot’s suggestion to hold off on the brakes and roll out using more runway. When I did finally use the brakes, we were too close to the last taxiway (G) and ended up using the full runway length of 7,000’ even though I was right on Vref over the numbers. While we could have braked more aggressively, there’s no doubt the P100 soaks up more runway than the Mustang.

Taxiing back was easy. On the crowded and chaotic Jet Aviation ramp, we were able to fully utilize the minimum turn radius of the P100.

Conclusion

The P100 is a solid competitor to the Mustang. It has better automation and synoptic views making life a little easier for the pilot. It’s faster, harder to slow and less forgiving than the Mustang so a more experienced pilot or crew of two is a better fit. The cabin is better appointed and comfortable than the Mustang, especially with the door stair and rear lav. If you pay more, you get more.

I was not able to evaluate many other aspects of the P100 such as high altitude climb performance, fuel burn in cruise, emergency descent and many other critical aspects, so I feel this is an incomplete picture of a fine aircraft.

Overall, I’m happy with the Mustang for business and personal use and feel that it was the appropriate choice for a first time jet pilot. If I were more experienced, or had paying passengers, and wanted a little extra luxury, the P100 would have been the more appropriate choice.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a toy

All my spare time has been devoted to preparing for the Boston Marathon this coming Monday, so updates to the blog have been sparse. Now, it is taper time so I can catch up a bit.

Got the attached photo from a friend at Embraer. This is Phenom 100 s/n 003, which has the full, final interior. It is getting cold tested in a big fridge down in Florida. Pretty amazing ramp presence, especially compared to the Eclipse. The Eclipse looks like a toy next to the P100. You get what you pay for...

Mustang vs. Phenom 100 Comparison

Here is the definitive Cessna Citation Mustang vs. Embraer Phenom 100 Comparison. There's probably way too much detail. Want a one minute answer? From the first page:

The Mustang is right for you if:

• It will be owner-flown, often single pilot, with part-time, short distance revenue rides.
  
• You are stepping up from something smaller.
  
• Passengers are typically 3 F’s: family, friends, and free-loaders.
  
• Cabin comfort and convenience is not that important. You are willing to spend $3M on a jet yet would be ok with using a bag in a bucket as an emergency lav and having only half the passenger seats able to recline.
  
• Minimal operating expense is important.
  
• You need the comfort of an established, reputable service organization.
  

The P100 is the right for you if:

• It will be mostly professionally flown, with maybe an occasional owner/operator.
  
• You are stepping down from something bigger.
  
• You will get paid to carry people.
  
• Your wife won’t let you buy a jet unless she’s happy – cabin comfort, color/style, and variety of options are very important. You must have a fully enclosed lav even if it is dry chemical.
  
• 5-10% higher acquisition and operating cost won’t break your budget.
  
• You rarely use runways less than 4,000’ long.
  
• You are confident and willing to bet that Embraer will figure out how to service these planes including AOG issues. Once the factory maintenance is in place, you need a high dispatch rate, say greater than 1000 hrs per year.
  

Now read the gory details.

Embraer Phenom 100 Review

I've received permission from Embraer to make available the public version of my Embraer Phenom 100 Review. A detailed comparison with the Mustang and part 2 of my Brazil trip report will coming by the end of the week.

Visit to Embraer Phenom Plant in Brazil - Part 1

I strongly considered the Embraer Phenom 100 (P100) before committing to purchasing two Mustangs, but the delay was too long and there were more unknowns.

One friend is an early P100 position holder and gave design input and feedback to Embraer while still in concept stage. Two other friends have agreed to purchase four P100s with an option for an additional four.

I personally needed to learn more about P100 – to touch it, speak to the engineers, to visit the factory – before making a purchase decision.

To visit the Phenom plant, you must have a visa, vaccinations for yellow fever, and plan at least 4 working days including travel. You must also meet at least two of the following three criteria:

• be a complete aviation nut
  
• have a strong sense of adventure, like flying in a Seneca with visible lightning in all quadrants
  
• be forced to by your employer (but at least you may be able to expense the Brazil’s seedy side – no details on that – there are some aspects I wasn’t interested in experiencing).
  

From the time I left my office at 3pm on Monday Feb. 11, it took 45 hours of travel to meet my first Brazilian Embraer employee. There was a short hop from Boston to JFK, where I met Henry Yandle, the Embraer sales rep and my host on this trip. We woke at 4am on Tue to catch the 7:30am departure for Sao Paulo. Of course the departure was delayed, but we did finagle an upgrade to First Class and lay flat seats for the 10 hour flight. Brazil is a sea of green blanketed by towering cumulus convection, stretching from the equator to the Tropic of Capricorn. The summertime bulging of the troposphere pushed many clouds above our cruising 41,000’ altitude. We circled for an hour over Sao Paulo waiting for the latest thunderstorm to dissipate. Getting low on fuel, we diverted for a 45 minute flight to Rio de Janeiro along with at least 5 other jets.

The plane refueled while we sat on the ground for 2 more hours. There was a clearly sick older Brazilian woman, who tried staying comfortable in business class only to be constantly disturbed by all the chatter around the exit door. I gave her my lay flat seat and gathered some pillows before an ambulance came to provide some care. Since Henry and I were going by private plane to the Phenom plant the next morning, we were happy to stay in Rio rather spend another hour flying back to Sao Paulo and waiting with the rest of the herd to clear customs. We asked two flight attendants who would not let us down the ramp to walk across the taxiway even though we fortunately had no checked luggage. In desperation, I even whipped out my FAA Pilot Certificate – "We’re both pilots – we know how to walk around planes". Finally, after discussing it directly with the Captain, we were set free by bus. The plane eventually made it back to Sao Paulo without us. Amazing that the crew didn’t time out.

We breezed through customs only to be flailed at by four young women each in a tiny booth offering cab services. There didn’t seem to be any differentiation of cabs or services and of course none spoke passable English or any other language besides Portuguese. By passing the Henry’s cell phone around with his contact on the ground at Embraer, we sorted out the destination and fixed price. En route to the Marriott in Copacabana, Henry’s phone rang with the second diversion of the night. We had to re-route to the Cesar hotel in Ipanema because the Marriot was now full. Finally, we dropped into a dumpy room, with a terrible view in the beautiful location of Ipanema. After all the hassles, Embraer picked up the hotel tab at the desperate sucker rate of $500 per night.

I started the next day with a training run along the beach. The only girls from Ipanema I saw running at 8am on a weekday morning were forty-somethings like me trying to stay in shape. The natural beauty of the place is clear once you peek through the overbuilt cement buildings and ignore the dense traffic. Twenty, maybe forty years ago, it must been have spectacular.

Getting from Rio (SBRJ) to the factory in Gaviao Peixoto, (SBGP, map) was by chartered, normally aspirated Seneca with two pilots and minimal avionics. Our passports were held for review by the pilot and we passed through normal security. Somehow, the metal detector failed to notice my bulky watch and digital camera. This GA airport had two uncommon aspects: the two parallel runways were less than one runway width apart, and a nasty gondola cable only 2 miles from and 1320’ above the departure. Take off and turn left.

We sat on the ground for 10 minutes with one engine running waiting for ATC. At 27 dC outside, of course the engine was cooking and the plugs were fouling. We received clearance, taxied into position, then did the run up on the single active runway, found the fouled plug, taxied back, ran up the poor engines to yellow RPM arc for a full minute, and then finally took off and turned left. We were erroneously told to expect a 1:20 flight, which turned out to be 2:20 in the noisy, uncomfortable Seneca. At least my GPS watch was accurate.

When we finally arrived at the factory, we were greeted by a lovely woman named Karen (or maybe it was Kathy – I’ll have to ask Henry). The factory is 30 minutes outside of the small town, surrounded by orange and sugar cane fields (and plenty of gnats and mosquitoes – bring high DEET bug repellent and don’t forget the vaccinations including yellow fever).

The field is owned exclusively by Embraer for Phenom production, Brazilian Military F5 maintenance and some other random maintenance. The Phenom painting and interior is done here as well. Amazingly, it has a staffed control tower even though during the hours I was there the only traffic was our transport Seneca.

On the ramp was s/n 001 getting ready for a test flight. I was allowed to take pictures from the ramp only at great distance, even though I had signed an NDA. S/n 001 taxied out to an intersection departure, which this case it would use only 3 km of the 5km long runway. It took the runway, spooled up, moved about 100', spooled down and then taxied back for maintenance. Oops! It did eventually make it out while we were touring the factory.

Since our arrival was again delayed, the cafeteria was already closed. Karen provided some boxed ham and cheese sandwiches. Can anyone explain why Brazilians eat so much ham and cheese? On the commercial flight down in first class, we were served an appetizer platter of ham and cheese slices followed by a main course choice of (surprise!) a ham and cheese sandwich. If I did eat ham, I would have had it available at every meal at every location including breakfast. Fortunately, there were fantastic, delicious other choices everywhere else.

The production plant can contain 4-6 planes in various stages of construction. With help from Toyota, a single line will be used for both the 100 and the 300. S/n 002 had already flown and was receiving further modifications. S/n 003 would be the first with the full interior was getting ready for first flight in a couple of weeks. S/n 004 was just a fuselage on the side. Phenom 300 s/n 000 was a fuselage waiting for wings while the Williams engines sat on the side.

I was given free reign to examine the airplanes currently in production.