Operator Survey

Hawker
800XP

Paul Bowen Photography

By Fred George cording to operators. “This is the best of the Hawker family, continues to make
Hawker ever built. And it’s the best value the 800XP a favorite with business travel-
for the dollar in its size [range],” said one ers. “Our passengers just love it,” re-
operator, summing up the comments we marked one operator. “It has the best

T
he venerable Hawker 800XP isn’t heard from most others. cabin for the money,” another added.
the fastest or the highest flying These comments weren’t statistical “Go fly in one for more than a couple of
midsize business aircraft. It does- aberrations. B/CA was able to contact op- hours,” said a third operator explaining
n’t have the most range or the best fuel erators of 57 of the 85 Hawker 800XP the purchase decision rationale. “Pilots
economy. It can’t boast the shortest take- aircraft that had been delivered by early don’t buy aircraft . . . Passengers make
off distances or the most sporting climb December 1998, representing two-thirds those decisions.”
performance. of the fleet. Take out the four used for The Hawker legacy of robust airframe
Why, then, does it continue to be the special missions, and there are still opera- construction and proven systems reliabili-
best-selling midsize business aircraft? tors of 53 aircraft in corporate or charter ty (for most but not all systems) are big
Simple. It just does a blend of everything service that participated in our survey. assets for passengers, operators said. We
better than anything else in its class, ac- Cabin comfort and quiet, long a virtue heard comments such as “It’s as tough as

The benchmark of the midsize class earns plaudits for cabin comfort,
range/payload flexibility, short-field performance and reliability, but
operators say systems and product support need improvement.
FROM JANUARY 1999 BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL AVIATION.
© 1999, THE McGRAW-HILL COMPANIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Some operators report they occasionally encounter moderate to severe vi-
bration or oscillation in the main landing gear upon landing touchdown.
Raytheon has introduced a “rotational free play” maintenance inspection
procedure to check for excessive movement. The firm is permanently solv-
ing the malady by tightening manufacturing tolerances in the torque drag
link bushings and by fitting the aircraft with more rigid steel-construction,
torque links and beefed-up torque pins. The 800XP is fitted with the Hawk-
er 1000’s wing, featuring vortilons in place of full-span stall fences. The
new wing has slightly less drag in cruise and three knot lower stalling
speeds. Plenty of high-altitude thrust from the TFE731-5BR engines push-
es the 800XP’s wing aerodynamics close to the high-speed limit. Some op-
erators report an annoying flap buzz caused by high-speed flow separation,
apparently caused by an upper-surface shock wave. Raytheon offers a sup-
plemental vortex generator package that re-energizes the boundary layer
just ahead of the shock wave in
the vicinity of the flaps. The re-
sult? Less Mach-induced, flow
separation and flap buzz.

a Mack truck,” “It has 30

years of psychological well-
being” and “It has old-style
technology, but it works.”
One operator commented,
“We’ve operated Hawkers
for 14 years and we’ve only
had one AOG.” Another
echoed, “It’s a workhorse.
Put it on the line and it runs
every day.” Long-time Hawker operators it replaced. A 10-percent improvement in

Paul Brou (3)

say that these qualities boost customer high-altitude cruise thrust output is even
loyalty. more impressive. In addition, the XP is
Solid construction and steadfast relia- fitted with the Hawker 1000’s wing,
bility aren’t the 800XP’s only selling which has improved aerodynamics that
points. The XP in the 800’s model desig- result in a three-knot reduction in stall The pressurization and bleed-air sys-
nation is short for “extended perform- speed and less drag in cruise. tems also received a fair amount of criti-
ance.” Compared to all previous models, Pilots also praised the aircraft’s docile cism. Operators told B/CA that the
the 800XP’s climb, cruise speed and handling characteristics, the easy-to-use, manual pressurization controller makes it
cruise altitude capabilities are substantial- tabular data in the improved Flight Man- difficult to modulate cabin pressure
ly better, with the exception of the Hawk- ual and the AlliedSignal APU that is ap- changes, resulting in annoying pressuriza-
er 1000, 50 of which were produced proved for operation in flight. tion bumps for the passengers. Raytheon
between 1991 and 1997. The 800XP, however, isn’t without its agreed with the assessment, but said that
Pilots especially praised the 800XP for shortcomings, many of which are related “most experienced pilots are able to mini-
its range/payload flexibility. “You can fill to systems that operators perceive to be mize this problem.”
the tanks, put eight passengers on board outdated. No system collected as many Cabin pressure bumps also are caused
and still not exceed MTOW,” boasted complaints as the TKS anti-ice system. In by the mandatory engine bleed-air off
one operator. “It has good performance, addition to messy fluid residue on wings takeoff procedure, according to opera-
for a Hawker,” another commented, not- and hangar floors, operators said that the tors. The alternative is to use the Al-
ing that other aircraft in its class have fluid washes the lubricant out of the liedSignal APU as a source of cabin
faster cruise speeds and higher cruise spherical rod ends and bearings of control pressurization bleed air for takeoff and
altitudes. surface actuators, it causes corrosion and landing.
The 800XP’s short-field takeoff capa- that it’s difficult to find supplies at some Raytheon countered “Pressurization
bility, especially in hot and high condi- airports. In comparing TKS with ice pro- bumps are a common problem on busi-
tions, along with its climb and cruise tection systems on other aircraft, one op- ness aircraft. . . . Leaving the engine
performance, also were mentioned con- erator said “We had alcohol deice on our bleed-air off provides better aircraft per-
sistently by pilots as being favorite Twin Beech in the late 40s.” formance and reduces complexity in the
features. Raytheon countered that tab hinge pressurization control system.”
Compared to the Hawker 800, the XP’s bearings have been upgraded to stainless Although operators of some aircraft
standard day takeoff field length is 220 steel construction and that Molycoat III may opt to close bleed-air valves to im-
feet shorter. In hot and high conditions, grease is more resistant to TKS fluid di- prove takeoff performance, B/CA knows
the XP needs 1,830 feet less runway than lution. Raytheon admits TKS has some of virtually no other current production
the Model 800. limitations, but a spokesman for the firm business aircraft that expressly requires
Performance raves are to be expected, said TKS “is simple and reliable com- turning engine bleed-air off for all
considering that the XP has a six percent pared to bulky and heavy bleed-air sys- takeoffs.
better weight-to-thrust ratio than the 800 tems that are also prone to leakage.” The operators’ list of gripes wasn’t lim-

FROM JANUARY 1999 BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL AVIATION.

© 1999, THE McGRAW-HILL COMPANIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
 Operator Survey

The factory-standard Honeywell SPZ-8000 avion-

ics package, fitted to 83 per cent of new
800XPs, has had its share of growing pains
(upper left); however, upgrades solve the prob-
lems. Operators of Collins-equipped aircraft, most
of which are fitted with Universal UNS-1 FMSes,
have high praise for the avionics. Top right: Most
Paul Bowen Photography (4)

800XPs are configured with a forward, four-chair

club section and a single chair, plus three-seat
divan. Botton left: Many operators say the
800XP, while having Mack-truck-like reliability, is
too maintenance intensive. Raytheon is revising
the maintenance schedule to reduce the work-
load, resulting in a $30-per-flight-hour savings.
The new plan will be in place this year.

ited to the 800XP’s systems quirks. the high thirties at 0.78 to 0.79 IMN, re- nal volume is so small that only one per-
The lack of an external baggage com- sulting in occasional high-speed flap son can work inside at one time.
partment was mentioned by the large ma- buzz. They pointed out that, over several
jority of operators. Raytheon officials Apparently, the flap buzz is caused by generations of Hawkers, many new sys-
point out that the most frequently chosen shock-induced airflow separation, a quirk tems have been layered on top of old ones
interior configuration provides 48 cubic Raytheon says it addressed with a service in the aft equipment bay, thus requiring
feet of carryon luggage volume. If cus- bulletin for the installation of additional extra time for removal and replacement
tomers need more, Raytheon notes that vortex generators. The VGs are intended of components. In addition, exposed elec-
the 1,552-pound capacity ventral fuel to add energy to the boundary layer just trical terminals in the aft equipment bay
tank can be exchanged for a 28-cubic-foot ahead of the shock wave, thereby increas- create the potential for short circuits
baggage pannier. The reduction in fuel ing its resistance to shock-induced air- when working in the compartment.
capacity, though, drops the maximum flow separation. The blade containment enclosure
range by at least 441 miles. Some operators, though, said the vor- around the AlliedSignal APU makes an
Operators also remarked that the air- tex generators only lessen the flap buzz oil filter change a two-day job, according
craft’s 41,000-foot maximum altitude lim- problem. They don’t eliminate it. The to operators. Their conclusion? The
itation imposed by FAA certification is additional thrust of the AlliedSignal slang term “hell hole” is particularly ap-
too low and that the 0.80 MMO redline is TFE731-5BR engines apparently pushes propriate in the case of the 800XP’s aft
too slow. This wasn’t a problem with the 800XP’s wing aerodynamics close to equipment bay.
older models. They didn’t have the thrust its limits.
to push the upper and right side limits of Many operators also commented that Why They Opted
the envelope. the aft equipment compartment is too for the Hawker 800XP
Several operators said that the engines’ small and it has too many components Many Hawker 800XP operators initially
increased thrust allows them to cruise in jammed inside. The compartment’s inter- perceived the midsize market as having

FROM JANUARY 1999 BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL AVIATION.

© 1999, THE McGRAW-HILL COMPANIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
many competitors. Many looked at the
Citation VII, Learjet 60, Astra SPX, Fal-
con 20F5 (TFE731-5 reengine) or Falcon
200. Such offerings, though, didn’t have
the seats-full range, or they lacked suffi-
cient cabin volume, or the takeoff field
length (TOFL) was too long. A few folks
said that the lack of an APU on board
some contenders also was a deciding
factor.
“There’s really not a lot [of choices] out
there” and “We need a utility aircraft that
we can put to work every day,” operators
told B/CA.
Other operators looked at the Falcon
50EX, Falcon 2000, the Cessna Citation
X or Challenger 604. The Falcon 50EX
and 2000 offer more range, payload and

Paul Bowen Photography

performance, but their acquisition and/or
operating costs are in the heavy-iron
league.
“We fell in love with the Falcon 2000,”
one operator told B/CA, and quickly
added, “But, there were about $10 mil-
lion of reasons why we didn’t buy it.”
The Citation X’s price tag is 50 percent Short-field performance is the 800XP’s strong suit, operators say. Fill the tanks, fill the seats and
higher and its TOFL is longer. A few op- there is still payload to spare. The standard day takeoff distance is 220 feet shorter than the Model
erators also looked at the $21.8 million 800. The XP needs 1,830 feet less runway when departing from a 5,000-foot elevation, ISA+20°C
Challenger 604, but decided it too was airport, compared to its predecessor.
more airplane than they needed.
In the end, the Hawker 800XP was the insurance and medical companies also fly Operations Profile
only aircraft that offered the right blend Hawker 800XPs. One XP is operated by B/CA’s 1998 Purchase Planning Handbook
of cabin volume, airport and mission per- the U.S. government and four are being reported that the average BOW of an
formance, operating economics and pur- converted to special missions aircraft by a 800XP is 16,270 pounds. This is consis-
chase price, according to operators. One defense contractor. tent with what operators reported during
operator commented, “All you have to do In fractional ownership programs, Ex- the survey. The average weight of their
is punch the performance of all the other ecutive Jet International operates six aircraft is 16,362 pounds, but it includes
aircraft [in class] and the choice is pretty 800XPs and eight aircraft are assigned to plenty of optional avionics, equipment
obvious.” Raytheon Travel Air. In the interest of and supplemental insulation. The most
Many 800XP operators had years of ex- arm’s length objectivity, B/CA did not in- heavily equipped Hawker 800XP in our
perience with one, two or even three gen- vite Raytheon Travel Air to participate in survey still can carry eight people with
erations of earlier Hawkers. Said one this Operator Survey. full fuel.
operator about his confidence in the air- Outside of the United States, Euro- Operators report that Raytheon Air-
plane, “I have 4,000 hours in Hawkers, pean, Middle East, Asian and Latin craft’s flight planning data for the 800XP
and I’m not going to change now.” An- American companies mainly use the is accurate, if not a little conservative.
other operator added, “We’ve had good 800XP for air charter. Three XPs are op- Most say they can fly 2,500 miles com-
success with Hawkers since 1972.” erated by the Japanese Air Self Defense fortably in no wind conditions. “Seven
Indeed, the majority of 800XP opera- Force as U-125A transports. [hours], 47 [minutes] to silence” is the
tors with whom we spoke are previous We encountered some interesting indi- way one operator expressed the aircraft’s
Hawker operators that traded in older vidual 800XP case studies. One large maximum endurance.
aircraft to upgrade to the newest model corporation spun off a new subsidiary As a result, the 800XP can fly from
or added the XP to their existing fleet mix and purchased an 800XP to serve all its most airports on the East Coast of the
of Hawkers and other business aircraft. business travel needs. Another operator United States to most airports on the
The next largest group of XP operators sold both its Challenger 600 and Citation West Coast, but not with winter head-
traded up from smaller business jets or IIIs and acquired three 800XPs as re- winds. Under ideal wind and temperature
turboprops in order to gain cabin size, placement aircraft. conditions, the 800XP also can fly from
range and operational flexibility. A third operator bought a twin Bonan- California to Hawaii. Operators told
In mixed fleets, the 800XP typically is za, four decades ago, as its first business B/CA that they won’t guarantee west-
one of the smallest aircraft. The list of aircraft and it’s operated Beech or bound transcontinental or trans-Pacific
owners resembles a “Who’s Who” in the Raytheon Aircraft ever since then, in- capabilities to passengers.
Fortune 500. Large manufacturing, trans- cluding the current 800XP. A fourth op- With very few exceptions, most
portation, building materials and oil com- erator has a fleet of two business jet 800XPs are configured with a forward,
panies operate 800XPs to transport aircraft: a Hawker 800XP and a Gulf- four-seat club section, a three-place divan
company employees. Financial services, stream V. on the right side and a single, forward

FROM JANUARY 1999 BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL AVIATION.

© 1999, THE McGRAW-HILL COMPANIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Operator Survey

facing chair on the left side of the aft using ATA codes and that the new CD-
cabin section. The divan isn’t the most
comfortable spot for passengers, opera-
Operators’ com- ROM manual system cleans up errors and
omissions found in previous hard copy
tors claim. “You can tell a lot about the editions.
corporate pecking order by who gets [as-
ments about the Maintenance staffs also told B/CA that
signed] those seats.” commented one the 800XP is labor intensive. Raytheon’s
operator. 800XP being a work Service Tracking and Reliability System
Alternatively, some operators have (STARS), requires time consuming in-
foregone the divan for a single forward- horse are credible, spections at least every 150 flight hours.
facing chair on the right side, for a total Help is on the way, though. Raytheon
of six seats. This makes room for addi-
tional luggage storage closets in the aft
considering utiliza- is reorganizing the scheduled mainte-
nance program. Forty-seven tasks have
cabin ahead of the lavatory. Operators been eliminated and the intervals for 43
told B/CA that, because of limited lug- tion patterns. others have been increased. Other
gage room, the 800XP is better suited as changes include the deletion of 150-hour,
a briefcase mission aircraft in the eight The average 800XP six-month, 600-hour/12-month and
passenger configuration. The six chair 1,200-hour/24-month inspections. The
configuration is preferable for extended-
range missions.
flies 589 hours per inspection program is being divided into
more-convenient, 50-flight-hour proce-
Operators like the ability to fill the dure blocks, most of which can be accom-
tanks and fill all eight seats, but that’s not year, according plished in a single shift.
how most operators use the aircraft on an A new Flexible Maintenance Schedule
everyday basis. The average load factor to respondents. will replace the old labor-intensive system
for our respondents was 3.8 passengers, in March. The net result? A $30 per
thereby providing each passenger with flight hour savings to operators in the
one of the five single chairs in a typically port block-to-block fuel burns. form of reduced maintenance expense.
configured cabin. This allows the three- Direct operating costs are harder to
place divan to be used as a lounge or rest track from the survey data. Fuel price Report Card
area. The average mission is 1.9 hours in varies from $0.85 to more than $2.00 per Operators generally gave the Hawker
duration and the mean stage length is 753 gallon. Internal engine reserves or one 800XP’s airframe high marks for robust
miles, according to our respondents. of three AlliedSignal Maintenance Ser- construction and rock-solid reliability.
Operators’ comments about the 800XP vice Plans cost operators from $62.50 The availability of increased high-alti-
being a work horse are credible, consider- per engine per hour (internal) to tude thrust from the AlliedSignal
ing utilization patterns. The average XP $125.60 per engine, per hour for MSP. TFE731-5BR engines, however, pushes
flies 589 hours per year, according to re- In-house, contract, or service center the XP’s aerodynamic design limits.
spondents. Some single aircraft or small maintenance has a large scale impact on The XP’s engines provide enough
fleet operators report flying only 250 to the cost of inspections. thrust to climb directly to FL 390 to FL
350 hours per year. But some large cor- Raytheon’s substantial warranty cover- 410 and accelerate to 0.78 Mach—just
porations and fleet operators fly the air- age for the 800XP takes a big chunk out 0.02 Mach below the 0.80 Mmo. This
craft 800 to 900 hours per year. Few of operating cost for the first five years. pushes the XP close to its high-speed
business aircraft fly more cycles per year The avionics and engines also are war- buffet limit and leaves little margin for
than the Hawker 800XP, which is an acid ranted for five years. Completion and extra g-load imposed by turbulence or
test of dispatch reliability. vendor items are covered for two years. bank angle.
If ATC doesn’t limit the cruise altitude, Most operators report direct operating The previously mentioned VG kit in-
operators say they climb their 800XPs di- costs of $850 to $1,100, which is consis- creases the high-speed buffet margins,
rectly to FL 370 or 390 on short missions tent with projections in the B/CA’s Oper- according to operators, but it doesn’t
and cruise at 0.77 Mach, equivalent to ations Planning Guide (August 1998). completely eliminate the flap buzz or oc-
442 knots on a standard day. The majori- Living with a Hawker 800XP is a labor- casional rumble caused by high-speed
ty of operators routinely push the XP to intensive relationship, according to pilots separation.
0.78 Mach on shorter missions. and mechanics. Pilots say that the Ap- Exterior paint needs improvement, ac-
Operators report that the aircraft burns proved Flight Manual, while improved cording to operators of many older and a
2,000 pounds of fuel for the first hour, with some tabular data, still is onerous to few newer 800XP aircraft. They claim it
1,600 pounds for the second, and 1,500 use because of its many intermediate cal- flakes and peels due to improper surface
pph for the third and subsequent hours. culations. Many operators have purchased preparation. Some also said the paint
For average 1.9-hour flights, operators UltraNav computers to streamline the loses its gloss after a few years. Raytheon
report an average fuel burn of 1,750 to flight planning process. The computer responded that “paint quality is an ongo-
1,800 pph. also automatically computes V speeds and ing problem in the industry” and that the
The reported fuel burn is considerably takeoff field lengths. firm has “invested heavily” in upgrading
greater than what is shown in the 1998 Maintenance personnel say the mainte- its paint processes. Hawkers have a two-
Purchase Planning Handbook. On a 600- nance manuals have errors and omissions, year paint warranty.
mile mission, the 800XP should burn an plus they’re not organized around con- The standard Honeywell SPZ-8000
average of 1,455 pph. However, the PPH ventional ATA systems codes. avionics package, fitted to 83 percent of
numbers are calculated from takeoff to Raytheon quickly responded that all the 800XPs, came in for its share of re-
touchdown. Operators, in contrast, re- current manuals have been reorganized marks. Most operators lauded the state-

FROM JANUARY 1999 BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL AVIATION.

© 1999, THE McGRAW-HILL COMPANIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
of-the-art avionics, especially the full- on touchdown. Raytheon claims that the
feature NZ-2000 FMS and five-tube problem has been almost eliminated
EFIS. Honeywell earned good to excel- with the introduction of tighter toler-
lent marks for avionics technology. But ance torque link bushings, more rigid
poor reliability has been an issue with steel-construction, torque links and
many flight departments. FMS CDU beefed up torque pins. A “rotational
power supplies have been short-lived, freeplay” inspection procedure has been
plus the autopilot and/or FMS has incorporated in the maintenance manu-
caused a wing walk-like roll oscillation. als. Early this year, a torque link system
Compounding those problems, opera- retrofit kit will be made available to op-
tors say replacement parts provided by erators of older 800XP aircraft.
Honeywell’s SPEX system proved to be With the above exceptions, most oper-
no more reliable than ones they re- ators gave the 800XP’s systems good or
placed. The overall perception expressed excellent grades. The fit and finish of the
by operators was that Honeywell didn’t cabin received high praise from new op-
address reliability problems soon enough erators who had upgraded from smaller
and was slow to engineer permanent aircraft or older Hawkers. Heavy-iron
solutions. operators had different expectations.
Honeywell now has addressed many of They said the interior was average or
those concerns. The FMS CDU power good, but it’s likely they were using
supply has been upgraded with Mod E Challengers, Falcon Jets or Gulfstreams
improvements, standard with 800XP se- as the benchmark against which they
rial number 258349 and subsequent air- gauged the 800XP.

Paul Brou
craft. The wing walk has been
eliminated with Mod EE for the FZ-800 Raytheon Aircraft Product Support
flight guidance computer and Version The manual pressurization controller makes it Operators’ views on Raytheon Aircraft’s
4.1F software for the NZ-2000 FMS. difficult to avoid bumps in the pressurization, product support were mixed, at best.
The three service bulletins will be pro- according to operators. The mandatory, engine Some operators, especially Fortune 500
vided at no cost to customers. bleed-air of f takeof f procedure aggravates firms, along with EJI, praised Raytheon
A Version 5.0 FMS upgrade package, the problem. for quick response and excellent factory
available for $8,000 per unit, will be support. These firms have the financial
made available this year for retrofit to 1997), which the firm claims is a perma- clout to stockpile spare parts for immedi-
NZ-2000 boxes. Version 5.0 upgrades nent fix. ate replacement if and when they are
the FMS processor to an aviation-grade Miscellaneous gripes? The 800XP’s needed. Virtually all operators gave
Pentium chip, quadruples the amount of Lucas starter/generators are prone to Raytheon’s field technical representatives
database memory and provides software premature bearing and brush wear. high marks for product knowledge and
enhancements. It will be standard in all Lucas and Raytheon actively are work- customer advocacy.
1999 production 800XPs. ing on an upgrade. Operators told B/CA One operator beamed that product
The remaining 17 percent of opera- that the cockpit has too many lighting support has been “nothing but excellent”
tors with airplanes equipped with op- controls, switches and rheostats scat- from Raytheon Aircraft Services (RAS) in
tional Collins avionics, in contrast, said tered about various panels. Raytheon Little Rock and Garrett Aviation in Au-
their avionics are reliable and that agrees. If a block change is planned in gusta, Ga. “Product support is greatly
the Universal UNS-1 FMS performed the future, the lighting controls may be improved. They’re really tryin’.” drawled
perfectly. modernized. another operator. The RAS centers in
Both Honeywell- and Collins- The hydraulic system is prone to over- Houston, Little Rock, Tampa and Wichi-
equipped aircraft now have RVSM certi- heating. A temporary fix calls for a by- ta earned high marks from several large
fication for North Atlantic operations, pass line to be installed in the return operators. “I’d give Raytheon Aircraft
effective December 1997. RVSM certifi- plumbing. However, the bypass bleeds product support an ‘A’,” a third operator
cation is standard for serial numbers down system pressure after engine shut- said.
258304 and beyond. On older aircraft, down, thereby requiring the system to Smaller operators, especially single air-
it’s available as a $19,900 service bulletin. be pumped up manually by line person- plane and firms with smaller fleets, were
Enhanced GPWS now is certificated nel in order to set the brakes. Raytheon not as sanguine. When asked about the
for Collins-equipped aircraft. EGPWS is engineering a change to be introduced five worst features of the 800XP, a num-
certification on Honeywell-equipped this year that will alleviate the problem. ber of them put Raytheon Aircraft prod-
aircraft is due early this year. A few operators thought that the nu- uct support at the top of the list of
The AlliedSignal TFE731-5BR turbo- merous, manually controlled low-pres- shortcomings.
fan engines, rated at 4,660 pounds of sure and high-pressure fuel shutoff Poor spare parts availability, lack of co-
thrust for takeoff, generally received valves were old fashioned. Raytheon, ordination between various RAS centers,
good to excellent marks. A few operators however, says manual valves have “none and a general lack of urgency were fre-
complained about oil seal leaks, which of the complexity or reliability problems quent complaints. They haven’t realized
have been a recurring problem with the of electrically controlled, motor operat- that the attitude toward product support
TFE731 engine family. AlliedSignal says ed valves found on other aircraft.” will affect future sales of aircraft, such as
the oil seal problem has been cured by Some aircraft have suffered a mild to the Horizon,” griped one operator.
service bulletin 72-3613 Rev. 2 (August severe landing gear oscillation problem Operators said paperwork requirements

FROM JANUARY 1999 BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL AVIATION.

© 1999, THE McGRAW-HILL COMPANIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Operator Survey

for maintenance procedures, warranty Operators also told B/CA that Ray-
claims and parts exchanges were too
long and too complex. Regarding the
Raytheon admitted theon needs to compile service and system
difficulty reports and make them available
Raytheon Aircraft Parts Inventory and online to customers by means of a secure
Distribution company, one operator
that moving the Internet Web site, similar to Gulfstream’s
said, “The only thing rapid about breakfast notes program. “This is an ex-
RAPID is your frustration level.” Hawker production cellent point, and [it] is already being re-
Raytheon responded that a new one- viewed,” Raytheon responded.
page parts warranty claim form was in- line from England to Overall, the negative comments about
troduced in May 1998 that reduces the parts availability, lack of coordination
paperwork burden. In addition, spare
parts from RAPID now can be ordered
Kansas caused between RAS facilities, red tape paper-
work and slow response outweighed the
directly by phone or fax without having kudos. Raytheon, though, intends to
to use a lengthy form, according to some early transi- overcome product support woes. “Quali-
Raytheon. One operator countered, ty of our products and our services is key
“The warranty claims form is improved. tion problems, but to our success,” company officials said.
But it surely isn’t [up to the standards of
Bombardier’s] Smart Parts.”
Some small firms said that their in-
the Would They Buy Another?
Most operators’ praise for the Hawker
house maintenance departments had to 800XP greatly overshadowed their gripes
run a gauntlet of competency challenges situation is greatly about product support. “Overall, yeah,
in order to qualify for warranty work re- there’s going to be some headaches, but
imbursement. Raytheon acknowledged improved. Parts Raytheon is working on fixing them,”
that, in lieu of taking an aircraft to an said one operator, expressing the senti-
authorized service center, in-house
maintenance departments must meet the
inventories have ments of several others.
About the aircraft, we heard comments
firm’s standards for technical training, such as, “The bugs have been worked out
spare stock and tooling to qualify for
been boosted by 25 of it,” “It has the biggest cabin for the
warranty labor reimbursement. price,” and “Look at your mission. I would
Delays in parts deliveries and lack of percent in the last highly recommend it.” Operators also said
an effective inventory locator system “It’s the best value for the money” and
often have been problems, say operators. port Hawkers with a Beech mentality. It “The XP is the only way to go.”
Many major components are not stocked might work for a doctor dropping his Several 800XP operators with whom
by local Raytheon Aircraft Service cen- Bonanza off at a service center, but it we spoke are on the Hawker Horizon
ters, and they must be shipped from doesn’t work for us.” customer advisory board. They’re looking
Raytheon’s spares depot in Salina, Kan. Raytheon responded that the parts de- forward to the next generation Hawker,
Operators said they thought that an air partment is open from 0800 to 1700 which promises to be roomier, faster and
freight hub, such as Memphis or local Monday through Friday. Mainte- higher flying, along with having even bet-
Louisville, would have been a better nance personnel, who also have access to ter dependability, upgraded systems and
choice for a central parts depot. the parts room, work until 2300 hours easier maintenance access, thus providing
“I’ve heard horror stories from my on weekdays. Raytheon says it has “in- a logical upgrade path for long-time
maintenance troops,” one operator said. vested hundreds of thousands of dollars Hawker loyalists.
“The parts supply is slow, we get the run to train technical personnel in the But lingering questions about product
around on the phone and the wrong Hawker product line” at the Van Nuys support expose Raytheon to potential de-
parts get shipped sometimes.” facility. Technicians also “work weekends fections among Hawker family operators.
Raytheon admitted that moving the and scheduled holidays to meet cus- We heard comments such as “The Hawk-
Hawker production line from England tomer needs,” says Raytheon. Customers er is a good airplane, but with Raytheon
to Kansas caused some early transition can drop by and pick up parts during involved, I’d be hard pressed to recom-
problems, but the situation is greatly im- those hours; however, there is no regular mend it,” “We’re looking at a Citation
proved. Parts inventories have been parts shipping and receiving function Excel, and maybe even a Falcon 50EX,”
boosted by 25 percent in the last 12 after 1700. “Nowadays, we’re looking at new aircraft,
months. Company officials claim that If an operator establishes credit with including the Galaxy, as well as the Hori-
“Our ability to ship the right part to the one RAS location, there is no reciprocity zon,” and “Raytheon bent over backwards
right place has improved” and that “We with other RAS facilities, say operators. . . . until the day they got our [purchase
recognize [that] there will be times RAS centers seemingly are independent price] check.”
where we fall short of expectations. As from each other and the home office in If Raytheon product support improves,
fill rates continue to improve, it will re- Wichita. There is no coordination or then compliments will smother com-
flect in our ability to deliver.” communication from center to center. plaints. Comments we heard such as “No
Smaller operators had a bone to pick “These issues are being addressed,” question about it. Anybody who is look-
with procedures and product knowledge Raytheon says. Since July 1998, a new ing for a midsize airplane just ought to go
at some local RAS centers. For example, procedure allows the exchange of credit out and get in line for one” and “Nothing
one operator said that the parts depart- references between various RAS centers. in its class competes with it for range,
ment at RAS at Van Nuys seems to keep RAPID provides one-stop calling for payload and comfort” will go a long way
banker’s hours. parts at (888) 727-4344. Technical sup- towards preserving the Hawker line as a
“They [Raytheon] are trying to sup- port is available at (800) 429-5372. bestseller in the next century. B/CA

FROM JANUARY 1999 BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL AVIATION.

© 1999, THE McGRAW-HILL COMPANIES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.