The Federal Aviation Administration has given Textron Aviation the green light for its Hawker 400XPR program.
The Hawker XPR is a factory upgrade for the Beechjet 400A and Hawker 400XP that provides owners with a marked increase in performance and brings the older airframes up to more modern standards.
“We offer the best – and the only factory-approved – upgrade solution for Beechjet 400A/Hawker 400XP owners, significantly improving their aircraft’s performance, operating cost and resale value,” said Brad Thress, Senior VP – Customer Service.
“Our customers have been extremely impressed with the aircraft’s outstanding performance and we are eager to provide our 400A/400XP owners and operators with the confidence that comes only from an upgrade engineered and supported by the original manufacturer.”
The program includes fitting Hawker winglets and installing Williams International FJ44-4A-32 engines, which are expected to give a 33% increase in range and improve the hot/high performance. According to Textron, the XPR will climb to FL450 in only 19 minutes.
Customers are also being offered an avionics upgrade to Collins Pro Line 21 avionics from the original Pro Line 4.
Textron's factory program looks to be in direct competition to the Nextant Aerospace 400XTi, which also uses the older Beechjet and Hawker airframes to remanufacture to modern standards, using the Williams FJ44-3AP engine.