For the very elite, a BBJ could be considered a personal jet. But for most owner-pilots, the term “personal jet” conjures up visions of something considerably smaller, perhaps even fighter-like. Interestingly, George Bye’s vision of a personal jet grew out of a course in advanced aerodynamics he taught to budding fighter pilots at Sheppard AFB in the 1980s. “The Javelin is the fighter we used in the course,” he told AIN. “It has elements of the T-38, F/A-18 and Advanced Tactical Fighter, which became the F-22. However, it included elements that are too complex for a commercial design, such as fly-by-wire controls and a small canard. It was also 50 percent larger than the design we’re developing now.” But while teaching the course, he had no thought of a commercial airplane.
Bye left the Air Force after Desert Storm. “I soon noticed two things,” he said, “emerging technologies, such as wide-sweep fan turbine engines and digital avionics; and the dearth of anything in the commercial market with the performance of the Javelin.” In 1996 he began talking with other aeronautical engineers and financial people about developing an executive sport jet, and in March 1997 the privately funded Aviation Technology Group, based in Englewood, Colo., was founded. Of financing, Bye, now ATG president, would say only that the company is “more than adequately funded for the current engineering work” and that an announcement of additional financing may be forthcoming soon. The company was incorporated in Delaware in June last year.
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