Beechcraft Premier I

The Premier 1 light business jet is the first all-new business jet built by Raytheon Aircraft from an original design and is the first in a family of business jets, which features all-composite fuselage and swept aluminum wing design.

For its size, the Premier 1 is very light thanks to its composite fuselage for superior strength and low weight.

Swept metal wings also result in greater speed.

The composite fuselage also provides a larger cabin size, accommodating eight people including the pilot.

The Raytheon Aircraft Company based in Wichita, Kansas, started the design of the Premier 1 light business jet in 1994 and announced the launch of the new aircraft in 1995.

The aircraft completed its first flight in 1998.

Raytheon gained over 200 orders for the Premier 1 from customers in 26 countries by 1999, before the aircraft was submitted for FAA approval.

The Premier 1 received FAA certification, including single-pilot approval, in 2001. It received FAA RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) certification in May 2003.

Upgrade kits for RVSM capability are available for aircraft already delivered.

In December 2006, Raytheon announced the sale of Raytheon Aircraft to GS Capital Partners. The new company is called Hawker Beechcraft Inc and the sale was completed in March 2007.Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The aircraft has two Williams FJ44-2A turbofan engines each delivering 10.23kN. The engines are rear-mounted.

The aircraft has both gravity and pressure refueling. The aircraft carries a usable fuel load of 2,059 liters in integral wing tanks that fill the entire internal volume of the wings.

The electrical system consists of two starter generators, a lead-acid battery, and a standby battery. There is also an external power unit.

It has a range of 1,360nm and a cruise speed of 451 knots. Take-off and landing distances are 3795ft and 3170ft respectively.

The 4.11m-long, heated, and air-conditioned cabin can accommodate six passengers, with four club-style seats and two fixed seats at the rear of the cabin.

The door on the port side of the aircraft, just behind the flight deck, is fitted with airstairs.

The main 1.4m³ baggage compartment is accessible externally and is sufficiently large to accommodate skis and other large items.

A forward baggage compartment, with 0.28m³ capacity, is installed in the nose of the aircraft. A cabin noise reduction upgrade, installed from 2003, has reduced cabin noise by 3dBA to 5dBA.

The cockpit is fitted with dual controls. The aircraft can be flown by a pilot and co-pilot or by a single pilot.

The flight deck is equipped with a Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 Electronic Flight Information System (EFIS) and Rockwell Collins AHC-3000 Automatic Heading Reference System (AHRS).

The Rockwell Collins AFD-3010 unit has two 10in x 8in high-resolution liquid crystal displays for primary flight and multifunction displays.

The avionics include air data computers ADC–3000, an integrated avionics processing system IAPS-3000, flight management system FMS-3000, flight guidance system FGS-3000, automatic direction finder ADF-462, distance measuring equipment DME-442, a global positioning system GPS-4000, navigation receivers VIR-432 and a radio altimeter ALT-4000.

The color weather radar is the RTA-800 supplied by Rockwell Collins. A maintenance and diagnostics computer MDC-3000 is installed on the aircraft.

The cost to charter this jet starts at around $3,050 an hour.

Hourly charter rates do not include all taxes, fuel, and other fees. Charter costs will vary based on year of make/model, schedule, routing, passenger & baggage totals, and other factors.