10 Things You Didn’t Know about the Bombardier Challenger
Bombardier produces a lot of business jets that are both classy and functional. One of their more notable varieties is the Challenger 300, a jet that looks wicked fast and seems to incorporate all of the best features from other business jets as well. As a matter of fact, when you first look at it you might think that it looks just a little bit like a smaller version of the once famous Concorde, the supersonic jetliner that made history for itself for so many years. While it definitely isn’t the Concorde, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see the resemblance between the two as far as the design itself goes, especially if you’re looking at the nose of the aircraft. If you want to know more about it, check out these 10 things listed below.
1. It’s been in production for more than a decade
In fact, this aircraft first flew back in 2001. Since the time it was tested and then further developed in order to be delivered to customers, it has been a flying faithfully, logging hour after hour without experiencing very many problems that were serious enough for people to take note of. This is a relatively rare thing, as most jets are plagued with problems during testing. These issues typically have to be worked out before the aircraft can move on to production. This project went surprisingly well, so the testing phase moved into the production phase very quickly.
2. There are more than 600 of these jets flying today
To be more precise, there are about 650 Challenger 300s in the air. That’s a respectable number for a business jet, to say the least. In fact, there are a lot of business jets that have been flying twice as long as this one has been in the air that don’t have near as many aircraft flying as this one does. This is another thing that only serves to attest to its overall popularity.
3. People first saw it at the Paris Air Show
This has long been known as the premier place to display a new aircraft. It’s usually reserved for military jets and jetliners. The fact that a business jet was allowed to debut there is something that obviously got the attention of people in the know.
4. It’s manufactured in Kansas
For people that are involved in aviation, Wichita, Kansas is something of a mecca. A lot of aircraft manufacturers have their factories based there, and this particular jet is assembled right there in the same area.
5. Like every other business jet, it costs a lot of money
If you’re planning on buying a business jet in the near future, you might want to know that the cost for this one is a little over 17 million dollars per aircraft. That sounds utterly ridiculous, but it’s really not that much different from the price tag on virtually every other jet of its type.
6. It has an upscale interior
As far as the passenger compartment goes, you can expect to be able to tailor it to fit your needs. Many examples even feature leather seating and upscale carpet that runs the length of the passenger compartment.
7. The cockpit has all the latest gadgets
It would be strange if the aircraft didn’t feature a glass cockpit, especially in this day and age. The thing that sets this jet apart is that it has all of the latest instrumentation and Avionics that it needs to fly safely around the world.
8. It has an excellent performance record
Since it started flying back in 2001, this aircraft has a safety and performance record that is almost flawless. If you want to attach numbers to it, it performs as expected more than 99.8 percent of the time.
9. It’s big enough to carry plenty of people
This jet can carry up to nine passengers with a crew of two. For most business jet applications, that’s more than enough space to get the job done.
10. It’s relatively fast
This jet is capable of flying at Mach 0.82, which is just slightly below the speed of sound. To put it another way, it can travel at speeds up to 870 km/hour. That’s enough speed to get you wherever you’re going without taking up too much of your time. In fact, this speed rivals many jets out there that are perceived as being bigger and more powerful.
