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Quest for Performance: The Evolution
of Modern Aircraft
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- Part II: THE JET AGE
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- Chapter 14: Business Jet
Aircraft
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- Background
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- [463] The venerable
Curtiss Jenny may have been the first aircraft to be used for
business purposes. In the late 1920's and early 1930's, higher
performance aircraft were adapted to business use. Although
several Ford trimotor airliners were converted for corporate
operations, most business aircraft of this period had a single
engine and an open cockpit or small cabin. The long-lived
twin-engine Beech model 18, first flown in 1936, was probably the
first multiengine aircraft designed specifically for business use.
Following World War II, the Douglas DC-3 was extensively involved
in corporate flying, and in the 1950's a number of smaller
aircraft equipped with two reciprocating engines were offered for
this purpose. A large number and variety of such aircraft are
still on the market today. (See chapter 6.)
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- The first jet-powered aircraft designed
especially for business use began to appear in the late 1950's and
early 1960's. Presently, no fewer than 9 companies in 6 different
countries are offering 18 various models of jet-powered business
aircraft. The world fleet of such aircraft now totals more than
2900 (ref. 144). Some of the design features and characteristics
of business jet aircraft are discussed in the next section, after
which eight representative aircraft types are illustrated and
described. Physical and performance characteristics of these
aircraft are given in table VIII (appendix A), which contains the same quantities
presented in table
VII for jet transport aircraft.
Note, however, that the values of range given in table VIII are based on a reserve-fuel allowance sufficient
for 45 minutes of flying after the destination airport is reached.
This standard has been adopted by the National Business Aircraft
Association and is different from the rules described in
appendix
G for transport aircraft.
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