Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Business and executive jet

Power Plant:

Two 2,300 lbst Williams-Rolls FJ-44-2A turbofans

Specifications:

History:

Raytheon in 1980 acquired the Beech Aircraft Corp and in 1994 merged Beech with its own company, Raytheon Corporate Jets, which at that time was building the Hawker 800 series of business jets. Subsequently the Beech King Air series continued to be produced under the Beechcraft name, similarly with the 400 XP which was known as the Beechjet, whereas the Premier I, or Model 390, was produced under the name Raytheon, production at one stage running at 60 aircraft a year.

The prototype of the Raytheon Premier I business jet was rolled out on 19 August 1998, making its first flight on 22 December that year, some 62 minutes being logged for the flight, checking out the aircraft’s flying qualities, engine operation and basic systems. At that time the Company had firm orders for 120 aircraft and three further aircraft were built for the test programme, FAA certification being obtained on 26 March 2001. Seating six passengers, it could be flown with a crew of one or two.

The Premier I had a composite construction fuselage and wings of conventional construction. It has been described as having ”an all-composite cabin, providing unprecedented passenger comfort, as well as a swept metal wing that assures exceptional high-speed performance and low-speed manoeuvrability. The clean-sheet design allowed Raytheon to apply the latest technological advantages in engineering, tooling and manufacturing. The result was an aircraft with exceptional performance, comfort and value. In designing the Premier I, Raytheon set out to produce the undisputed leader of the entry-level jet class.”

The Premier I was intended to be the first in a family of aircraft. The fuselage was produced in front and aft sections. The wing had a quarter-chord sweep of 20 degrees. It had 75% Fowler flaps to reduce take-off field length and hydraulically powered spoilers that augment the roll control provided by the ailerons, which acted as speed brakes and lift dampers. The engines were controlled digitally by a single-channel electronic fuel control unit with hydromechanical backup. All fuel was stored in the wing.

First of the type in this region was N488RC which arrived in Australia on 9 March 2005 on delivery for the distributor, Hawker Pacific, being shown at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon, VIC. In October 2005 the distributor announced the sale of an example to a Coolangatta, QLD operator, this new-build aircraft being delivered on 23 December that year as N6137U (c/n RB-137), and soon thereafter was re-registered N451MM to RP20 Pty Ltd of Broadbeach, QLD, this Company also operating a Pilatus PC-12 VH-ZMM.  It was followed by N34GN for CSG Services of Darwin, NT.

In mid 2007 two further examples were imported, N7088S and N71865 for Net Jet, the latter becoming VH-VHP to Sydney Jet Charter. Another example N34GN was operated by Connected Solutions Group in Darwin. A further example, a model 1A, became VH-TGQ (c/n RB-225 – ex N3205W, VT-BKG, N3205W) on 8 November 2011 to Easternwell Logistics of Brisbane, QLD the type by this time becoming known as the Beech Hawker 390 Premier.  In 2015 it was exported to the United States.

A further example became VH-TMA (c/n RB-137 – ex N6137U, N451MM) to GoJet (Pty) Ltd on 23 January 2008, being based at Albion Park, NSW.  VH-VHP was cancelled from the Australian Register on 8 December 2016, being flown to the United States where it became N59PA with Premier Air Transport of Wilmington, North Carolina.