devine9driver
Victory
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2001
- Posts
- 65
Our company demoed both the 45XR and the XLS last January, and we ended up buying the 45XR. At the time we were operating a beechjet 400A, so both aircraft had advantages over the 400A. Our CEO flew on both aircraft, and had nothing but praise for the 45XR. I believe the XLS is a great aircraft as well, but for our mission profile the 45XR was a better fit. I can tell you our CEO's negative comments on the XLS were the drop down floor, the 2 place divan, and he said the XLS had a rougher ride in turbulence than the 45. This was explained to him by the demo pilots that it was due to the straight wing. I can also tell you that when it came time to talk turkey, Bombardier was more willing to wheel and deal with both the sticker price and trade in value of our 400A. We've been operating our 45XR for about 3 months now and have had both outstanding technical support and a flawless aircraft. We've flown the aircraft several times with full fuel and 7-8 pax. into 50kt headwinds on 1750NM legs landing with 1200lbs. The XR upgrade makes a huge impact in getting to the higher flight levels quickly. Typical burns at 450 doing M78 are around 550lbs per side per hour. We figure 1600lbs first hr. 1100lbs every hour after. The 45 has been a great acquisition for our flight department and the boss is already looking at bigger Bombardier equipment down the road. Hope this helps some.
