The flight-test program is continuing apace for Nextant Aerospace’s Beechjet 400 conversion as it moves closer to certification. The Cleveland-based company paused the testing last month on its first Williams International FJ44-3AP powered 400XT to fly it nonstop from Mojave, Calif., to Atlanta, for an appearance in the static display at the NBAA Convention. It was shown alongside the company’s fully furnished technology demonstrator aircraft, still carrying its original Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5 engines.
The Williams-powered 400XT (the company was required to change the name from 400NXT due to a copyright issue in another industry) made its first flight on September 8. Thus far it has logged approximately 120 hours of flight time, including a September 26 nonstop positioning flight from the company’s headquarters at Cuyahoga County Airport in Cleveland to Mojave–where the testing program is based–which saw the nearly maximum-weight test aircraft reach a cruising altitude of 45,000 feet.
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