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On January 8, 2004, a Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter operated by the US Army, one that was most probably being used for medical services, crashed near the Iraqi town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The accident resulted in the death of all nine on board. This day marked one of the worst air crashes in US aviation. However, that very day also marked the first flight of the Bombardier Challenger 300 series. The Challenger 300 was introduced to the aviation community at the Paris Air Show of 1999. Even from its outset, the aircraft was headed to champion the aviation industry: it received its full type approvals in record-breaking time; it broke records for flights between Boston to Le Bourget (a time of six hours, 8 minutes), and between Miami, Florida to Seattle, Washington (five hours and forty-eight minutes), between Carlsbad, California, to Bangor, Maine, in 4 hours and 41 minutes; and was it was the only super-midsize jet designed to meet the latest standards of:Reduced vertical separation minima (RVSM) regulations
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAR 25)
Transport Canada 525,
European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAR 25 regulations)This aircraft, which met the reduced vertical separation minima (RVSM) regulations before its commercial operations, has gone on to amass more than 800 orders already. In this article, we are going to have a look at the history and the development of the Challenger 300. The development of a super-midsized jet named ContinentalIn the 90s, Bombardier was looking to develop a super-midsized jet that was later to be known as Challenger 300. Initially, the aircraft was dubbed Bombardier Continental, and was set to "be positioned between Bombardier's Learjet 60 and the Challenger 604". Bombardier had projected that by 2012, there would be around a thousand mid sized jets. It was hoping to occupy a third of this market by the introduction of the Continental. Here is how the aircraft was initially expected to fare:wingspan of 65ft [20m] and a total single-piece wing section area of 522ft² [50m²]
A range of over 5,740km (3,100nm) at Mach 0.8
Passenger capacity: 8
Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system featuring four 300 x 250mm flat panel liquid crystal displays
AlliedSignal AS907 turbofans, flat-rated at 6,500lb- thrust (29kN) to ISA 15°CContinental was expected to fly non-stop between city pairs such as Washington-San Francisco, Miami-Seattle, or Bangor-San Diego in approximately five hours. By February 2000, the test-bed engines had already flown twice, and reports had it that:(12,500m) at Mach 0.80. A total of 7,500h of engine test time is expected on the three test engines and around 50,000 test cycles will be completed before certification…""Power settings as high as 93.6% (26,300 rpm) N2 were achieved and windmill data was collected during the descent after an intentional shut-down.On the second run, the engine reached full power at 41,000ft (12,500m) at Mach 0.80. A total of 7,500h of engine test time is expected on the three test engines and around 50,000 test cycles will be completed before certification…"Introduction of a clean-sheet design in the Continental, aka Challenger 300Development of any family of a particular aircraft comprises the (union of) following elements:baseline or "clean-sheet" aircraftvariant(s)*derivative(s)**Bombardier had embarked on a two-year research program to see where the Continental would fit in the market. Its characteristics, such as a cabin with stand-up headroom, were crystallized accordingly. Bombardier had introduced its suppliers*** in the early conceptual phase of the clean-sheet design Challenger 300, thereby reducing the development time - a strategy it had first implemented in the Global Express program. Packaging all of this into an aircraft topped with a competitive price would give the owner of a Challenger 300 excellent value for the money. RELATED STORIES:History of the Bombardier Challenger 600History of the Bombardier Challenger 850History of the Bombardier Challenger 300Introduction and initial reactionMerely two years after the Challenger was launched (launch date: June, 1999), the Challenger 300 took to the skies. Around 2007, 28 Challenger 300 were in operation. The aircraft was competing with the likes of Citation X, Gulfstream G200, Falcon 50EX, Hawker Horizon, among others, in the under 20 million marketplace. Back then, Bombardier's FlexJet Program operated eight Challenger 300s, each averaging a flight time of around 100 hours per month. The Challenger 300's simplicity and conventionality reminded a pilot who operated it of "the old days, which is somewhat of a surprise in this day of rapid advancements in aircraft design, i.e., fly by wire." The aircraft had fewer hydraulic components, leading to reduced maintenance costs. There were other changes too, reported Wings magazine:"Another major departure for Bombardier has been the change from General Electric engines to the Honeywell HTF 7000 engine based on the original TFE731 engine design. This new engine has a 4.2 high bypass ratio and develops 6826 pounds of thrust at ISA +15 degrees Centigrade. Bombardier has also incorporated Full Authority Digital Engine Controls (FADEC), allowing simplicity of engine controls by pilots. Cost of engine operation is being advertised as 40 percent lower than competitors!"Needless to say, the aircraft was expected to do well, and "cause fits for other manufacturers - much like the original Challenger did more than 20 plus years ago." In 2018, Bombardier reported that the Challenger 300 aircraft series had been "the best-selling business jets of the last decade" and fulfilled all the initial promises it had shown. Developing the variants: The Challenger 350 and The Challenger 3500Bombardier developed the Challenger 350 "to access challenging airfields, climb faster, and cruise efficiently while providing a smooth ride". This variant of the Challenger 300 entered service in 2014, the year when there were 448 Challenger 300s in operation, clocking nearly one million hours in operation, with Netjets being their launch customer. The Challenger 350 could accommodate more passengers than the 300, offer a greater normal range, and a higher payload, though the variant necessitated a greater takeoff and landing distance.The Bombardier Challenger 3500 is a successor to the Challenger 350, and the latest aircraft of the Challenger 300 family. This aircraft entered service in the second half of 2022. It has a dispatch reliability of 99.8% and the following distinctions:The lowest direct operating costs in its class
industry's first voice-controlled cabin
the widest flat floor design in its class
the lowest cabin altitude
The fastest air circulation system at 4,850 feet.With the Challenger 3500 earning the "Red Dot" and "Grand Prix du Design" awards in 2022, it might as well follow its predecessors and bag a plethora of orders. Whether the addition of this aircraft will lead to the Challenger 300 being "the best-selling business jets of the next decade" is something all aviation professionals will have an eye for.*a variant being defined as "a new aircraft product via the increase (or decrease) of gross weight or the incorporation of enhancements through any equipment/amenities upgrade/improvement". When a variant is introduced, no changes to the baseline aircraft external lines are made.** a derivate being defined as "the creation of a new aircraft product that incorporates any or all of the attributes that constitute an aircraft variant, but generates alterations to the baseline aircraft external lines through a fuselage stretch/shrink, any wing or empennage planform modifications or a power plant system change. *** Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was already set to supply the Challenger 300's wing section and Rockwell Collins was to equip the aircraft's avionics system and introduce displays that were then the largest in business aviation.