I I Leariet 60XR• TURBINEPI LOT The 60XR's Pro Line 21 suite has electronic charts and can portray flight plan routes in 3-D (second screen from right). Autopilot controls are on the glareshield panel, with warning annunciators immediately above them. Subpanel switches and controls are cleanly grouped by function, and well-organized. Learjet 60XR Average equipped price: $13.65 million Specifications Performance Powerplants Two Pratt & Whitney Takeoff distance 5,450 ft PW305A. 4.600 Ibst ea Climb to FL410 18.5 min Recommended TBO 6,000 hr High speed cruise .466 KTASjMach 0.81 Length 58 ft 8 in Typical cruise speed .. 453 KTASjMach 0.79 works out to 0.391 pounds of thrust for Height 14 ft 6 in Long range speed 426 KTASjMach 0.74 each pound of weight. (The original Wingspan 43 ft 9 in Max range 2,451 nm Lear Jet 23 had a 1:2.2 thrust-to-weight Wing area 264.5 sq ft Max operating altitude 51.000 ft ratio; Concorde had a 0.373 thrust-to• Wing loading 88.8 Ibjsq ft Single-engine service ceiling 24.300 ft weight ratio.) This kind of thrust is what Power loading 2.55 Ibjlb Sea-level cabin to 25.700 ft gives all Learjets their breathtaking Seats 2 + up to 8 Landing distance 3,420 ft acceleration and climb performance, Cabin length 17 ft 7 in which we'll see shortly. Cabin width 5 ft 11 in For more information. contact Bombardier Like so many other new business Cabin height 5 ft 8 in Aerospace. 400 Cote-Vertu Road West. aircraft, the 60XR uses the Rockwell Basic operating weight 15.180 Ib Dorval, Quebec. Canada H4S lY9; tele• Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite. Max ramp weight.. 23.750 Ib phone 800-268-0030; www.business That's saying a lot. This comprises, in Max takeoff weight. 23.500 Ib aircraft. bombardier. com. part: four 8-by-l0-inch LCD screens, Max zero fuel weight.. 17.000 Ib All specifications are based on manu• dual FMS-5000 flight management Payload wjfull fuel 660 Ib facturer's calculations. All performance systems, an integrated flight control Max landing weight 19.500 Ib figures are based on standard day. stan• system, dual AHRS units, RVSM cer• Fuel capacity 7.910 Ibjl.185 gal dard atmosphere, sea level. gross weight tification, plus Jeppesen electronic conditions unless otherwise noted. charts, engine indicating systems, and an Integrated Standby Indicator System (lSIS)-an emergency display showing airspeed, altitude, heading, sleeping, and there's a cabin entertain• Still a pilot's airplane and navigation guidance. ment system that comes with individu• The 60XR treats its passengers well, A few of the 60XR's other systems al three-inch LCD touchscreens at each but its performance can still set its pi• are worth a mention, too. The engines seat. The touchscreens let you control lots' hearts aflutter. With a max takeoff are FADEC-controlled, for more pre• cabin lighting, temperature, and audio/ weight of 23,500 pounds and engines cise power settings and lower pilot video volume and source. that put out a total of 9,200 lbst, that workload. An automatic power reserve AOPA PILOT· 82 • NOVEMBER 2008 --,i-------------------------------------------------------------------- (APR)feature kicks in should an engine For pilots and off V speeds worked out to a VI of 115 fail on takeoff; this boosts the operating KIAS,a rotation speed of 127 KIAS,and engine's power and permits single-en• a Vz of 134 KIAS. Our takeoff distance gine climb rates in the 2,OOO-plus-fpm passengers alike, this was calculated at 3,700 feet. range. The pressurization system has a Shove the thrust levers forward to whopping 9.4-psi maximum pressure latest Learjet has the the "TO" clicks top, and you'll sense differential, which means an 8,OOO-foot a slight lag from the engine spool• cabin at 51,000 feet. If you forget to set right combination of up. Then it's hang on, because soon the pressurization system, automatic comes a terrific acceleration. It's what bleed air switches close to pressurize performance and Learjets are famous for, and even with the cabin as you pass through 13,000 step-climbs it took us just 13 min• feet. Using the single-point refueling ergonomics. utes and 100 gallons to reach FL430. port, you can top off the 60XR's 1,180• On the way up, climb rates were phe• gallon fuel tanks in 40 minutes. The air• and after the pre-taxi checks we made nomenal: 6,200 fpm climbing at 250 plane has two methods for emergency our way to the runway. Surface winds, KIASright after takeoff; and 4,900 fpm landing gear extension: blow-down always rowdy at Wichita, were acting climbing from FL370 to FL430. Deep bottles and/or free-fall. up in grand fashion. Sustained winds into the flight levels, the 60XR still has were in the 30-knot range, with gusts plenty of excess thrust. The keys, please reaching 45 knots. Big crosswind com• Normal cruise speed is Mach 0.77 Strap into the Lear 60XR and you're ponents? You bet. to Mach 0.78, which at FL430 worked faced with wall-to-wall Pro Line glass There's no tiller, so the steer-by-wire out to 437 KTAS. This, under ISA mi• and well-organized sub panel switch nosewheel steering is via rudder ped• nus-7 -degree conditions, and burning groupings. My mentor on my 1.1-hour als. Below 90 knots, you have steering a total of 1.040 pph (155 gph). At long• flight, Bombardier Learjet's Christian authority within a 60-degree arc. Above range power settings, the numbers Barnard, programmed the FMS for our 90, that arc narrows to a mere one de• were Mach 0.74, 411 KTAS, and 840 flight out of Wichita's Mid-Continent gree. This helps prevent overcorrecting pph (125 gph). Airport, where Bombardier has its and swerving. Barnard says that there's still a bit flight test center. Engine starts were a Our weight was 18,600 pounds-of of "Lear fear" out there, the legacy matter of flipping two toggle switches, which 2,900 was fuel-and our take- of the early Lear Jets' reputation for ---- Sure, Learjets are known for speed, but the 60XR's cabin is nothing like the Lears of yore. With the Learjet 60, more attention was paid to expanding cabin dimensions and amenities. The 60XR took that concept a step further. This is a true mid-size cabin, with a galley, side-facing divan, and a flushing aft lavatory. AOPA PILOT' 83·NOVEMBER 2008 TURBINEPI LOT wicked stall behavior. The Learjet 60 on terra firm a was a challenge in all and 60xn have a new wing design that's that wind. But not that difficult, really. more docile at critical angles of at• For pilots and passengers alike, this tack. There are vortex generators, stall latest Learjet has the right combina• fences, and a new leading edge-all de• tion of performance and ergonomics. signed to energize the boundary layer The 60XR may be a transcontinental over the wing. mid-size luxury jet, but it still retains To see how the wing behaved in the plenty of leftover testosterone from thin air at altitude under an aerody• the blowtorch days. However, the 60XR namic load, I rolled the airplane into a will be the last of the breed. Next up is 45-degree bank at FL430 doing Mach the all-composite Learjet 85-a mid• 0.75 and felt only the hint of a stall size jet with a total of 12,200 pounds buffet. of thrust. It'll have the biggest cabin of As for the landing, we added some any Learjet, Bombardier says. And with extra speed to compensate for the all that thrust 1 think we're safe in as• gusts. We tooled down final at 140 suming it'll do a good job of preserv• KIAS, planted the gear, and went into ing Learjet's tradition of performance. reverse. Ground spoilers automatically Stay tuned. /alA deployed when the airplane's weight• on-wheels system activated. E-mail the author at tom.home@ For a rookie Lear driver, my arrival aopa.org TURBINETALK Swept-wing jet no-nos What not to do with that high-performance jet By Peter A. Bedell high-lift devices through the air. De• jet. Now you'll enjoy blister• scending the glides lope with flaps full, soingyou'vespeed, gotall-weatheryour mittscapabil•on a don't be surprised to see 70-percent ity, and power to spare. But when you power or more to maintain your target climb the ranks into jet aircraft, it's time speed descending on the glideslope. to put to rest some habits you may have Compounding the problem on the formed when flying light, straight-wing backside of the power curve is the slow airplanes. Swept-wing jets, especially spool-time of jet engines. With piston models with older wing designs, can engines and some turboprops, there's a behave quite differently from the air• lot of power available as fast as you can planes you've flown up to this point. advance it. It can take a jet several sec• The following is a list of no-no's in onds to spool up to its full power, slow• swept-wing jets. Some of these apply to ing recovery efforts. straight-wing turbine aircraft as well. 2. Don't be "unstabllized" on final below 1.