Phenom 100 info

[mavrck]

I had this posted in the Charter forum, but didnt receive much response so im trying it here too.


Hey all,

I have a client looking into a purchase of a Phenom 100 and adding it to a 135 cert. Any Phenom 100 drivers out there have input on the Good?/ Bad?/ and Ugly on the operation of the aircraft?

I understand that CAE Simuflite Dallas is the only place that has an approved 135 training program put together and uses a sim. Anybody use them previously?

Thanks

 

[ksu_aviator]

There is so much information to give you, but I'll just give you the skinny. I've flown it for nearly 700 hours now. It is the single most limited aircraft I've ever flown.

You cannot fly out of West Texas, NM, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, or Montana in the summer. I just left Denver a few hours ago with no passengers and had just enough fuel to go 1.5 hours. That's it. I was 1 degree from making a fuel stop to the DFW area and 4 degrees from waiting for the sun to go down.

Any runway less than 7000 feet that is wet you can't land on under 135 That is not a typo.

There are a bunch of SB's, if you get one that is not complied with you will be overwhelmed with the amount of work that needs to be done.

The range is 1100 miles (realistic), subtract 150 miles for every occupant after 3. So 4 people (2 pilots 2 pax or 1 pilot 3 pax) means 950 mile range and so on.

The good is the avionics, baggage space and air-conditioner.

You will spend your days running numbers, picking fuel stops, and generally working your butt off trying to find ways to do what any turboprop or jet can do without much planning. And when the day is through, you'll have to pull out the world's hardest to service lav.

I've seen a lot of people buy and then abandon the airplane. Most don't keep it more than a year.

For the money/performance, you are better off with a Citation V or Ultra.

 

[mavrck]

GREAT info Ksu! This is exactly the type of info i was after. Hopefully this will seal the deal to this client that this isnt the airplane he had in mind.

 

[chriskcmo]

I flew it for a couple of years. Got about 600 hours in it. Four words: dangerous piece of crap. KSU is accurate on all accounts. Pax hated the seats. The don't recline more than a few degrees and the don't move laterally or fore/aft. Crapper is difficult to service at best. Performance is horrible, both takeoff and landing. I was a degree or two from having to fuel stop AMA to LNK once. Also the same situation on a 100ish mile leg in Wyoming once. Almost ran off the end of a wet runway in CRW one night. Good luck getting into ASE. there's not enough drag on the airplane to get down on speed.

As long as you stay east of the Rockies and within 700ish miles, it is okay. But for that, you could get a king air for less and have better capabilities.

 

[Heavy Set]

Flew into VNY a couple weeks ago and followed a JetSuite Phenom 100. ATC kept referring to it as the "Phenomenal" jet. Those guys didn't sound impressed either... :laugh:

That said, I hear the Phenom 300 is different animal...

 

[ksu_aviator]

Flew into VNY a couple weeks ago and followed a JetSuite Phenom 100. ATC kept referring to it as the "Phenomenal" jet. Those guys didn't sound impressed either... :laugh:

That said, I hear the Phenom 300 is different animal...

The 300 is the least limited aircraft I've ever flown. Damn near top off and carry 7 pax. Flew it from Aus to the Bahamas with 6 pax, tons of crap and still had enough fuel to use PBI as an alternate. Stops shorter than a 100, takes off shorter than a 100 and gets to 450 in 30 minutes in the summer and 20 in the winter.

But...I'd still get a used LJ45 or XLS. For less money you get the same capabilities.

 

[LJ45]

But...I'd still get a used LJ45 or XLS. For less money you get the same capabilities.

Yep, Just having an APU is worth getting a 45 or XLS

 

[ksu_aviator]

Yep, Just having an APU is worth getting a 45 or XLS

I'd rather have the AC. I'm not big on APUs.

 

[LJ45]

I'd rather have the AC. I'm not big on APUs.

hmmm... lets say you are in Teterboro waiting for a taxi clearance, you know one of those 1-2 hour days and no power carts left to use.... or you have a power cart and are waiting for them to come disconnect it...etc

Not big on APUs? have you never flown an airplane with a good Air Cond pack that works off the APU?

 

[ksu_aviator]

hmmm... lets say you are in Teterboro waiting for a taxi clearance, you know one of those 1-2 hour days and no power carts left to use.... or you have a power cart and are waiting for them to come disconnect it...etc

Not big on APUs? have you never flown an airplane with a good Air Cond pack that works off the APU?

There are days when the APU is nice. But there are a lot more days where the freon AC is better. I know the 45 didn't have a good pac back when I flew it. You had the option of the APU or the freon AC. The 300 AC is flipping fantastic. 105 the other day here in north Texas and I had the windows fogged over.