COVER STORY

28 | Flight International | 5-11 June 2018 flightglobal.com

MICHAEL GERZANICS HARTFORD

Among super-midsize business jets, Bombardier’s early ability to offer the most aircraft

for the least money has been contested by several rivals – we fly its updated version

Challenger strives

to extend its lead

W

hen Bombardier launched its

super-midsize Challenger 300

in 1999 it provided trans-

continental range for up to

eight passengers. I was fortunate to fly the

then-new Challenger in December 2003, just

before its entry into service with Flexjet the fol-

lowing January. As I wrote at the time: “With

the Challenger 300 Bombardier has staked a

claim to providing the most jet for the least

money in the crowded super-midsize class.”

Since then, much has changed in the super-

midsize market. The Hawker 4000 has come

and gone. Gulfstream’s G200 has been upgrad-

ed to the G280, and the Dassault Falcon 2000

is now the 2000S. And two other manufactur-

ers have joined the fray: Embraer with its fly-

by-wire Legacy 500 and Cessna with the soon-

to-be-certificated Longitude. While the 300 is

the segment leader based on sales, more de-

manding customers and increased competi-

tion required Bombardier to hone its offering.

The improved Challenger 350 was unveiled

at EBACE in 2013. Canadian and US certifica-

tion for the new version was received in June

2014, with European Aviation Safety Agency

approval following that September.

The Challenger 300 was a very successful

aircraft, but its performance advantage had

been eroded. To address this Bombardier fol-

lowed a common product upgrade formula:

better engines, aerodynamic tweaks, im-

proved avionics and cabin enhancements.

The Challenger 350 retains Honeywell

HTF7000-series engines, the seeming stand-

ard for the super-midsize segment. For the

Challenger 350 Bombardier selected the

HTF7350 version, which offers 7,323lb

(33kN) of thrust, a 7.3% improvement over

the 6,826lb-thrust HTF7000s on the Challeng-

er 300. As with the earlier model, the 350’s

engines are flat-rated to ISA +15°C to improve

hot-and-high performance. The HTF7350

FLIGHT TEST