Five-Year Limit Not Enough Time For Composite Bizjet

Officials at Raytheon Aircraft Co. have asked the FAA for an extension in the time it is allowed to certify its new Hawker 4000 composite-bodied bizjet under Part 25 regulations, the Wichita Business Journal reported Monday.

Raytheon's request for an extension -- which the FAA is now mulling over -- comes as the current five-year limit for certification is due to expire on May 31. Raytheon filed the request so it would not have to start the certification battle over from scratch, according to FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory.

"It's very uncommon," she said. "We're exploring the options with them. We haven't made any decisions yet."

Raytheon spokesman Mike Turner declined to comment on why the Hawker 4000's certification could not be completed within the five-year limit; analysts have speculated, however, that the delays stem from the jet's use of an all-composite fuselage... common on new GA aircraft, but still a relative rarity for larger bizjets. (The 4000's wings are made from aluminum.)

"There are very little guidelines available for materials like advanced composites," said Yeow Ng with the National Center for Advanced Materials Performance, which is part of the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. "The guidelines are written for metallic structures. So the FAA is learning along with the applicant in that regard, like 'How should we certify composite materials?'"

As Aero-News reported earlier this year, the company announced in January that final FAA certification for the transport-category Hawker 4000 would be delayed until early February, as the company needed to install a lightning protection system on the test aircraft being used for final function and reliability testing.

The company originally announced the Hawker 4000 in 1996 -- with a projected certification date in 2001. Several delays have beset the project over the past 10 years.

"[The 4000] was supposed to help reinvent the company. Now it's the source of ongoing pain," said Richard Aboulafia, senior aerospace analyst with the Teal Group.

Fractional operator NetJets ordered 50 Hawker 4000s last December. That deal, worth $1 billion to Raytheon, hinges on deliveries scheduled to begin in 2007.

"These are complex projects that are expected to take time to do correctly," Cory says. "Our interest, obviously, is to make sure everything is done correctly and done safely and meets all the regulatory requirements for a type certification. There are a lot of t's to cross and i's to dot."

FMI: www.raytheonaircraft.com