Raytheon Premier Jets - Opinions?

[Heavy Set]

A friend of mine is being considered for an FO position on a Premier light jet (new Raytheon jet) on the West Coast. I have seen a few at SNA and VNY and I have read articles about them - nice flight deck. Any opinions of these aircraft from people who have flown or seen them? Very advanced but a bit odd looking if you ask me...

Any opinions out there?

Anyone know when Flight Options will start flying them and how many?

 

[2000flyer]

This is strictly second hand so take it for what it's worth. I talked to a guy several months ago and he said the plane is a performance PIG. Under powered to say the least.

I don't know this guys background. For all I know he used to fly G4s, which then by comparison, all things civilian are under powered.

It is an odd looking a/c. Personally I find nothing asthetically pleasing about it. Then again, thats just another opinion.

2000Flyer

 

[English]

I thought the Premier was a single pilot jet. If I'm mistaken, my apologies in advance.

 

[Publishers]

single pilot

It is a single pilot jet however a good many companies require two pilots. In some cases with owner flown aircraft, the insurance companies have required a second pilot.

I have two friends that have them, both almost new. They both like them. The only complaint that I have heard is the range issue. None of them complained about any lack of power but one was flying turbo props before he moved up to the Premier. The other is a former airline pilot and he loves it.

It looks a bit wierd but the access to components is great. The cockpit has the latest and greatest so they are all happy with that area. The first person took delivery and then took it to Europe right away, flew it all over there, then came back and has been going ever since/

 

[biplanepilot]

Anyone have any other opinions or experiences with the Premier. I may have an opportunity to fly one, but have some concerns with the aircraft. I have not heard a lot of good things about it, but the people I have talked to haven't exactly had a lot of experience with the plane.

Anyone....

 

[Kingairrick]

C&D puts the seats full range at 797 miles. OEI climb at 490 fpm. I have friend who flies one and he verifies the range number. Other than that he loves the airplane. He came out of a BE-200. Says it's very easy to fly and great flight deck.

 

[#1 FLAMED OUT]

I think its a Citation X on downsyndrone

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

Look very carefully at the performance #'s. Specifically the runway requirements, if you are in hot or high country they get ugly pretty fast.

We considered one but the performance was no where close to our other choices. It is fast though, if runway requirements are not a factor.

Having said that, I never flew one, the numbers didn't warrant a test flight for our needs.

 

[CaSyndrm]

I just flew with a guy that worked for Raytheon in VNY and didn't fly the Premier but, says be sure to be on salary not hourly pay because they are hangar queens and rarely fly.

 

[Valkyrie]

A UK based Premier, s/n RB-79, N200PR ran off runway yesterday at Blackbushe EGLK where RWY length is 1342 x 46m (4400'x 150')

The a/c flew from Farnborough and was single-flown.

 

[Snakum]

I think its a Citation X on downsyndrone

LMAO!

It is the absolute ugliest $@#&ing thing I've ever seen, personally.

Minh

 

[Canucit]

Aviation international news (rag) wrote about the priemer a couple months ago and also I had heard from a inspector at raytheon that if you fly it be sure to check the wiring aroud the flaps because he said that there was some wire chaffing and that raytheon said that it was acceptable chaffing
but.... that was told to me a few years back so they might have fixed that by now

 

[biplanepilot]

Thanks for all the posts everyone, and keep 'em coming. I need all the info I can get.

I know the Premier looks ugly, but at this point in my career I couldn't care less about looks. I need a decent flying job, and this Premier job pays better than the Lear I'm currently flying, plus it's a Part 91 deal as opposed to the 135 I'm doing right now.

The Premier's cockpit is obviously very nice, but I'm concerned about the fact that it's a new design and doesn't have a proven safety record yet. In fact it appears the first Premiers off the line had quite a few problems. Don't know much about composite structures and their longevity, but Raytheon's previous debacle with the Starship doesn't instill much confidence. The Lear on the other hand is a good strong airplane and has been around for a long time, and I have every confidence in it.

Would love to hear from someone who is actually flying one of these beasts!

Thanks to all.

 

[Kingairrick]

Misconceptions?

Cockpit is Pro Line 21. VERY proven and reliable system.

Raytheon has Lots of experience with composites. Starship was a great success as an aircraft. Crappy success as a financially viable product.

AND I don't think the Premier is ugly except the tail.

Check out the number of Lears that have had accidents. It is supposed to be a MUCH more challenging aircraft to fly. Plus, the tires are smaller than a shopping cart.

Just my .02, as always...(see below)

 

[pilotpair]

An associate of mine went to school for it and said it is "junk". 4 of them have run off the runway do to poor braking system.

He quit after two weeks. He applied the brakes and the entire interior slid forward making A/C exit impossible, it took :45 minutes to exit. If both mains are not on and remain on the runway with in 6 seconds of one main touching down the brakes release.

You have to wait 1 to 1.5 hours between landing and T/O due to brake energy problems.

Minimal support from Raytheon. Again this is second hand info. from a guy I fly with daily.

 

[hogdriver00]

Off the runway

It was mentioned that four have run off the end. Anyone have any details?

Also, anyone who operates one willing to discuss the pros and cons? Please PM me.

 

[rtmcfi]

make it five....

A Premier just went off the end of rwy 7 at KVGT......
It is pretty warm today, 33c. The wind has been shifting from 130-230 @ 15-20kt. I can't say for sure what the wind was when the pilot attempted to land. We are at 2205', and the rwy is 5000' long.

 

[THE Flying Ace]

They have been having problems with the lift dump system. The spoilers are not coming up on touchdown. Raytheon has provided a fix for this, and all aircraft coming off the line now have the fix and the ones flying are in the neighborhood of 60% done.

Without the fix, you have a supplemental performance chart for landing distances. They are simply longer distances.

 

[THE Flying Ace]

They have been having problems with the lift dump system. The spoilers are not coming up on touchdown. Raytheon has provided a fix for this, and all aircraft coming off the line now have the fix and the ones flying are in the neighborhood of 60% done.

Without the fix, you have a supplemental performance chart for landing distances. They are simply longer distances.

 

[THE Flying Ace]

They have been having problems with the lift dump system. The spoilers are not coming up on touchdown. Raytheon has provided a fix for this, and all aircraft coming off the line now have the fix and the ones flying are in the neighborhood of 60% done.

Without the fix, you have a supplemental performance chart for landing distances. They are simply longer distances.