Major interior components were recently checked for fitting in the cabin of the fourth Hawker Horizon (RC-4), planned for use in the super-midsize business jet’s certification program. “The rough fit of the interior components substantiated what we have been saying all along,” said Brad Hatt, president/general manager of Raytheon Aircraft’s Hawker Division. “The precision of the composite fuselage allows us to build components that can be installed in the airplane with virtually no trim-to-fit changes required. This reduces the amount of time required to install, provides great component interchangeability and enhances the overall interior.”

Each Horizon interior will be installed at the company’s Little Rock, Ark. facility, where Hawker 800XPs are now completed. The interior components used in the recent Horizon test will be returned to Little Rock for final installation in RC-4 this summer. After the complete interior is installed in RC-4, it will be validated as part of the certification process, expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, possibly early 2004. RC-4 is expected soon to join the three other Horizons currently in flight-test. To date, these airplanes have accumulated 370 hours on 265 flights since the type’s first flight on Aug. 11, 2001. The Horizon order book stands at 130.