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STILL APHENOMEmbraer’s Entry-Level Marvel

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STILL A PHENOMHow Embraer transformed its entry-level Phenom 100 into a better version of itself > > > B Y R O B E R T G O Y E R

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THE PHENOM 100 sitting on the ramp at Clay Lacy Aviation in Van Nuys, California, looked for all

the world like a Brazilian airplane, but it wasn’t, at least not entirely. It was, in fact, the second Phenom 100 to be assembled in the United States, at Embraer’s impressive facility in Mel-bourne, Florida. The Melbourne site is testimony to Embraer’s commitment to jumping into the North American market with both feet, providing air-planes assembled here of components that are largely U.S. sourced.

It seems like longer than five years ago that Embraer earned certifica-tion for its Phenom 100 entry-level jet, which had been announced just a few years earlier. The launch of the pro-gram was done at the height of the very light jet (VLJ) craze, back when the energy of Eclipse was still power-ing great interest in the segment and before it became clear that the concept of the VLJ category was largely a prod-uct of hype. Two companies that were inspired to build new sub-10,000-pound airplanes, Embraer and Cessna, both rejected the VLJ label, claiming

their new entry-level jets, the Phenom 100 and Mustang, respectively, were simply new Part 23 models and not an attempt to create any kind of new category. It’s clear in hindsight their approach was conservative and largely conventional. Both airplanes are no-compromise jets that just happen to be at the light end of the spectrum. And despite a challenging market, both air-planes have enjoyed strong sales over their still short histories.

While Cessna was, at the launch of the Mustang, a longtime light jet man-ufacturer, the Phenom 100 broke new ground for Embraer. It was, indeed, a remarkable achievement. Even though it’s been only a few years since the 100’s entry into service, many peo-ple have forgotten that the jet was the Brazilian airline maker’s first foray into a purpose-built bizjet. The com-pany is no newcomer to turbines. It’s

been building airliners for decades and pioneered, along with Bombar-dier, the regional jet concept. Its first bizjets were derivatives of its airlin-ers. The large-cabin Legacy 600 was fast, roomy and priced right. Its luxu-rious Lineage 1000 was a bizjet spin-off of one of Embraer’s larger regional jets. But it had yet to build a bizjet from a clean sheet. The 100 would be its first try.

While there were the expected growing pains, the effort was a success. Embraer’s completion of the project on time and on performance signaled that Embraer was not just a new bizjet player but one that is not to be taken lightly either. At the same time, there were early maintenance issues with the Phenom 100 — problems with the brake-by-wire system, flap computer and air-conditioning system — caus-ing headaches for early owners. By all

>>> The company is no new-comer to turbines. It’s been building airliners for decades.

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appearances, those problems have been solved. Moreover, Embraer’s response to the issues highlighted the company’s intense commitment to making things right, to doing whatever was necessary to get their customers’ airplanes back in the air. It signaled clearly Embraer’s commitment to being a major player. And no one questioned the underlying quality of the Phenon 100, despite the teething pain. Owners love the airplane.

Following the 100, Embraer quickly earned certification for its Embraer 300 large-light model. And a remark-ably advanced midsize model, the Leg-acy 500, is closing in on first flight and a 2013 certification date. The 500 fea-tures fly-by-wire flight controls, indus-try leading projected performance and an enviably large cabin.

Enter 100The modus operandi for Embraer had been to compete with established biz-jet makers by offering more value — larger cabins, faster speeds and better

loads — for less money. The Legacy, for instance, was marketed as a super-midsize airplane but really competed against large-cabin models while cost-ing millions less.

The Phenom 100 did not seem to follow this strategy. Instead, it pushed the envelope of the entry-level concept, offering best-in-class performance while costing substantially more than its com-petitor. In reality, the 100 didn’t really compete against Cessna’s new Mustang but against the company’s long estab-lished CJ, in the form of the now dis-continued CJ1+. The emerging M2 model, a CJ offshoot (Model 525) but with upgraded avionics and interior, most closely matches the performance, cabin and amenities of the 100.

In addition to its performance, the 100 brought value to the equation through Embraer’s airline heritage. It’s not just talk either. This entry-level jet has integrated engine indicating and crew alerting system, fadec engines, electronic monitoring and control of all systems through its synoptics system. It does, of course, feature fully redun-dant flat-panel avionics, dual-channel digital flight control, dual batteries, maintenance-friendly design and brake-by-wire, all remarkable features for a jet of the Phenom 100’s class.

Flying PhenomAs advanced as it is, the Phenom 100 was designed to be a single-pilot jet — Embraer’s 450-knot Phenom 300 shares this trait. The concept of building a single-pilot light bizjet isn’t new: Cessna has been doing it and doing it well for 40 years. But the Phenom 100 has established itself in that same class. The 100 is a single-pilot-friendly airplane.

There are three main reasons for this: the avionics, the engines and the layout, the first two of which represent recent technology breakthroughs that Embraer has smartly leveraged into single-pilot goodness.

By now everyone is likely aware that the Prodigy cockpit in the 100 is an off-shoot of the Garmin G1000 avionics suite. The Mustang has a G1000-based avionics installation too. Prodigy is a great fit for the 100, and for pilots like me who have some experience flying

>>> The rear baggage compartment, the largest in its class, can be easily loaded and unloaded without a stepladder. Above: The Phenom 100 we flew for this report was the second one assembled in the United States, at Embraer’s impressive new Melbourne, Florida, facility.

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behind G1000, the transition to the jet world is pretty straightforward. Prodigy improves upon the basic G1000 func-tionality (though “basic” is not an apt description for it in any way) by add-ing checklists (a huge help for the single pilot), synoptics (when there’s an abnor-mal condition, these make it a cinch to find the issue), and digital flight con-trol. I’d like to see an in-machine util-ity for calculating V-speeds, something other entry-level jets have, and weight and balance, though Embraer does offer a remarkably capable preflight iPad app, iPreflight by APG, that does these chores and much more. The bottom line for Prodigy, though, is that it is a remarkably powerful integrated avionics system that gives the pilot a wealth of tools for managing and controlling the flight.

On the ramp the 100 is in my opin-ion one of the coolest-looking small jets on the planet. It is strong, power-ful and mean-looking. It’s a Maserati that seats up to eight and goes bet-ter than 400 mph. The airstair door is the best in its class, and with one-handed operation, no particular loading

restrictions (a couple of people can be climbing on it at the same time) and a gorgeous high-tech look and feel, the door says “big jet” and not “VLJ.”

The straight wing of the 100 sepa-rates it from its larger light jet sibling, the Phenom 300, though its tall T-tail, fuselage-mounted engines and appar-ent heated wing all look like the stuff of midsize jets.

The hot wing is, of course, a nicely

executed illusion. The Phenom 100 makes use of deicing boots. Embraer has gone with silver-color boots, how-ever, to give the airplane the look of a bleed-air heated leading edge. In my book, it’s a total affectation, one that I can’t help but love with just a twinge of guilt. The electrically heated windscreen is bordered by a metal frame affixed by numerous screws. In addition to look-ing cool, the frame can be removed in short order, allowing mechanics to replace the windscreen in the course of a couple of hours, since no panels need to be removed to do the job. It’s just one of the many service-first design features of the 100.

>>> The Prodigy flight deck in the Phenom 100 is based on the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit. It is enhanced with integrated electronic engine management, graphical real-time systems utilities, digital flight control and performance planning. Below: Ice protection for the straight wing is via pneumatic boots. They are silver in color and from a distance appear to be leading-edge bleed air devices.

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Another noteworthy feature of the Phenom 100 is the trailing link main landing gear, designed to be tough and to make touchdowns predictably smooth even for new jet flyers.

Embraer didn’t build the Phenom 100 to be a commercial machine, but it soon discovered that if you build something airline tough and cost effec-tive to operate, the commercial opera-tors will beat a path to your ramp.

The one thing these operators have been asking for is more seating, a tall order on a small jet. Embraer, how-ever, figured out a way to do it, add-ing one side-facing seat in place of the wardrobe that you see when you first enter the airplane and another by mak-ing the potty a belted seat approved for takeoff and landing. The lavatory is the best in its class as well. With a hard-side pocket door, the lav, again, is something that you wouldn’t have found on an entry-level airplane.

The result of the additional seat-ing is, remarkably, an eight-seat entry-level jet. Eight is a lot of occupants to have in the 100, to be sure, but the charter operators who asked for the upgrade say that it’s rare for all of the folks in back to be adults. Embraer did increase the zero fuel weight substan-tially, by 1,320 pounds, to allow the jet to dispatch when all the seats are full.

Another change sure to be popular is an option to upgrade the seats in the club seating area with more comfortable and more configurable seats based very closely on those in the Phenom 300. The replacement option is for all four seats — you can’t do just two of them — with a weight increase of 60 pounds. Something tells me that many owners will be willing to take that hit even if they’re not the ones sitting in the back.

Up front there are a few enhance-ments as well, though they’re not plainly visible. The TCAS II software has been upgraded to revision 7.1, a European requirement that allows the system to

change its mind after it has issued a res-olution advisory to climb or descend if the conflicting airplane accidentally mirrors the move of the host airplane and climbs or descends toward it.

Another new feature is SMS text messaging through Garmin’s Iridium-connected satellite link, the GSR 56. The new utility, which is han-dled through the Prodigy MFD, does text messaging and an SMS version of

including an easy up and down adjust-ment. There’s no eye-height sighting aid to help you determine the right height to set the seat, which I’d like to see. There’s also limited recline in the seats if they are pushed back to the stops. The rud-der pedals are easily adjustable, though, and you can move them forward or aft to suit your body dimensions.

One system that Embraer is work-ing on to upgrade soon is the brake

e-mail as well. More functions and cabin access to the system will likely come soon and will possibly include global weather. These functions are available in other, select G1000 installations.

The cockpit of the 100 is a com-fortable and efficient place to do the business of flying the airplane. The seats are just right, with a lot of adjustability,

by wire, which today requires a very smooth touch. A software/hardware update is in the works to make brak-ing smoother and more efficient and to help keep the airplane braking in a straight line. There will even be new rudder pedal geometry to help the pilot get maximum pedal throw for better stopping power. The book val-ues for runway length will not change, though the actual performance will be markedly better than the already impressive stopping power.

Starting up the 100 is remarkably easy. There are no “gates” in the throttle throw. You simply turn a rotary knob to

>>> The trailing link main landing gear of the 100 is beefy while helping provide consistently smooth touchdowns.

>>>The 100 is in my opinion one of the coolest-looking small jets on the planet.

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Just as I’d remembered, the Phenom 100 hand-flies great, with smooth, solid and nicely harmonized responses. The implementation of the trim is just about right, fast enough to reassure you that something is happening without being so fast that you can accidentally overtrim.

The power lever on this fadec air-plane is set up with visual presets, from idle up to max cruise, then max con-tinuous/climb power, then takeoff go-around power and, finally, maximum power, which is essentially an emer-gency setting that gives you more than 100 percent rated power. There’s a bit of a detent before you can push the throttles there.

The Pratt & Whitney PW617F-E turbofans put out 1,695 pounds of thrust apiece, and they are remarkably quiet and efficient. They seem a smart choice for the 100, giving it a combi-nation of good climbing ability, excel-lent fuel economy (rivaling turboprop twins), decent range and best-in-class high-speed cruise of 390 knots.

Eventually ATC cleared us up to 41,000 feet, though only after giving us an unpublished hold on an inter-section off of the Avenal VOR. We were OK with that because it was an absolutely smooth day at every alti-tude. The only bumps we felt on the hold were when we flew through our own wake on one lap. Then there was the view: the Sierras, snow-capped and blue in the distant haze, and the far Pacific coast, shrouded in a late spring marine layer. It was vintage southern California scenery.

For long-range flights, Phenom 100 pilots usually fly their airplanes up high, and you can see why. At the air-plane’s ceiling of 41,000 feet, we were indicating Mach 0.60 on a total of around 520 pounds per hour (less than 80 gph). Nice. For faster speeds you’ll want to drop down a lot and plan for

“start” and let the system do the work while you monitor. If there were to be a hot or hung start, the system would automatically take care of the engine shutdown. It’s the way that engine management should be: foolproof.

On a crystal clear southern Cali-fornia day, we headed out to give me some stick time in the 100, an airplane I’ve flown a couple of times before though not recently. In the cock-pit with me was Embraer’s chief pilot, Alex Theodoro, who briefed me on the airplane and our trip from Van Nuys, up to 41,000 feet, north along the air-ways and then, eventually, back to Van Nuys. It was a gorgeous day. The flight promised to be a fun one.

We were pretty heavy, with three and bags aboard and a lot of fuel. With a maximum takeoff weight of 10,470 pounds available, we were right at 10,050 pounds, giving us the ability to have taken a couple more adults with

us at 200 pounds apiece plus their light bags while still having the range that day, based on the Prodigy’s very handy range ring, to fly to Texas.

On the takeoff roll from 16R at KVNY with a single notch of flaps, the Phenom 100 accelerated quickly. Our calculated takeoff distance that day out of Van Nuys was right around 3,000 feet, and the rotation speed was just over 100 knots. The 100 feels quick on the runway, though it’s not hard to keep it within a foot or so of the centerline. Rotation is smooth and positive, with no tendency to overrotate.

>>> The power levers for the fadec Pratt & Whitney PW617F-E engines have visual “detents” for idle though max power. The latter setting, for emergency settings only, gives you greater than 100 percent power for a limited period for when you really need to be able to climb.

>>> Just as I’d remembered, the Phenom 100 hand-flies great, with smooth, solid and nicely harmonized responses.

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cruise speeds approaching 400 knots. On descent it was easy to keep it at

just under the barber pole, which is 275 knots, which is nice for the drive down to 10,000 feet since you can cover a lot of ground quickly. We used the ver-tical navigation utility in the Prodigy flight deck to plan our crossing alti-tude of 11,000 feet on the north arrival into Van Nuys, and the controller then stair-stepped us down on the arrival. On base, however, we were still at 5,000 feet, which is 2,000 feet higher than the published segment altitude. When we asked for lower, the controllers weren’t rude. They just ignored us.

Oh, well, the gear and flap speeds are high enough for it not to matter

the power to idle as you cross the num-bers raises the pointy end just a bit, put-ting the airplane into a near ideal flare attitude — Alex said that you might want to flare “imperceptibly.” It’s almost automatic. Despite my dive-bomber approach, my landing felt just right.

I braked as smoothly as I could, but we still wandered just a little. It’s hard not to relax pressure, but with brake by wire, you need to keep strong, steady pressure. The rollout was short and pretty straight. With a little practice, I’m sure I could get the feel for the brakes just fine, though it looks as though Embraer will, with its upgrades, be taking care of much of the hard work for me.

The Embraer 100 is no longer a

2012 Embraer Phenom 100

> The Phenom 100 flown for this report was the second example assembled in the United States at Embraer’s Melbourne, Florida, plant. The airplane is outfitted with the Prodigy by Garmin integrated flight deck with dual PFDs, synthetic vision (Garmin SVT) and a single central MFD, integrated EICAS and synoptics, WAAS, coupled VNAV, electronic checklists, georeferenced electronic terminal charts, weather radar, central maintenance comput-er, SMS-based satellite communica-tions and more.

Base price $4.08 million

Price as tested $4.3 million

Engine Pratt & Whitney PW617F-E

Thrust 1,695 apiece (ISA +10 degrees C)

TBO 3,500 hrs

Passenger seats 5-7

Cabin length 11 ft

Max cabin width 5.1 ft

Max cabin height 4.9 ft

Length 42.1 ft

Height 14.3 ft

Wingspan 40.3 ft

Wing area 202 sq ft

Wing loading 51.8 lbs/sq ft

Power loading 3.1 lbs/hp

Max ramp weight 10,516 lbs

Max takeoff weight 10,472 lbs

Basic empty weight 7,132 lbs (includes pilot)

Max payload 1,312 lbs

Max payload, full fuel 580 lbs

Max usable fuel 2,804 lbs

Max landing weight 9,766 lbs

Ceiling 41,000 ft

8,000 foot cabin @ 41,000 ft

Takeoff runway 3,125 ft

Max cruise 390 kts

Max range 1,178 nm w/ reserves (4 occupants)

Landing runway 2,699 ft

Vmo 275 kts

Mmo Mach 0.70

much, happily. The flap settings went from 10 degrees to two notches of 26 degrees (there’s a difference in stick pusher logic; there’s no shaker) and then full flaps at 36 degrees. The flaps are unusual in that they deploy sepa-rately on the left and right sides, a strat-egy that requires software monitoring to ensure they deploy symmetrically.

Landing the 100 is straightforward. As you descend on glideslope at Vref, you’re naturally slightly nose-high. The way the engines are positioned, pulling

brand-new or unknown airplane. It’s been a good seller for Embraer, and its dispatch reliability, which was, as I mentioned, spotty early on, is now simply very good and getting better.

The airplane is a wonder, a high-tech entry-level rocket ship with a large, light-filled and comfortable cabin along with plenty of range, good speed and a ramp presence that says in no uncer-tain terms that you’ve arrived … even before you’ve lit the fires for the first flight of the day.

>>> The Pratt & Whitney PW617F-E turbofans put out 1,695 pounds of thrust apiece and are remarkably fuel efficient. At 41,000 feet, the Phenom 100 burns less than 80 gallons of jet-A per hour, total.

Reprinted with permission from the June 2012 issue of Flying Magazine ® Bonnier Corporation. Copyright 2012, All rights reserved.For more information on use of this content, contact Wright’s Media at 877-652-5295.

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