By Bill Stansbeary
Paul Woodard, AvantAir director of sales southeast, shows the new Piaggio Avanti II to prospective customers.
In Texas, everything is big, including the business aircraft shown Nov. 2 at the Airport Journals 2006 Dallas-Business Aircraft & Jet Preview. The Business Jet Center at Dallas Love Field (DAL) hosted the SAAB-sponsored event.
On display in a giant Business Jet Center hangar and on the ramp were 22 of the latest business aircraft, updated business jets and future aircraft mockups. More than 800 attendees took a close look at the best of business aircraft in today’s marketplace, and enjoyed food from Executive Catering.
The Embraer Legacy 600 showed the evolution of business travel, with the largest stand-up cabin in its class and three distinct privacy zones. Its airframe features two fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce AE 3007 jet engines, which provide a 3,250 nautical mile range, a Mach .80 maximum cruise speed and a 41,000-foot ceiling. Its interior accommodates 10 to 16 passengers, with high-quality finish, style and comfort, and offers a suite of productivity tools such as high-speed data, on-board Wi-Fi and Internet.
Shannon Caldwell, seated, and Shannon Sturdivant showcase a Saab 9-7X, along with the rest of the line of Saab automobiles.
Other planes displayed included an Embraer Lineage 1000 large, luxury jet and a Phenom 300 light jet, along with a Phenom 100 very light jet mockup. Dallas-based 4KS Aviation offered its $5.7 million updated Challenger 600, with its custom 12-passenger executive interior accented by gold plated hardware and inlay. Cessna Aircraft Company brought a Cessna Citation CJ-2+, from its business aircraft line.
Eclipse Aviation displayed an Eclipse 500, a very light jet recently FAA certified. OurPLANE and Jet-Alliance represented the fractional ownership programs for the jet.
AvantAir’s Piaggio Avanti II showcased its new Rockwell-Collins ProLine 21 electronic flight instrument system. Diamond Aircraft exhibited a Twin Star DA42, aDA20, a DA40 and its new D-Jet personal light jet mockup.
Best Jets’ offering included a 2006 Silver Edition 21st Century Lear 25 and an exhibit showing Stevens Aviation-installed Universal Avionics advanced flight displays. Cirrus presented several SR-22 and SR-20 airplanes, which featured the life-saving parachute recovery system. SAAB invited guests to test drive several of its exciting, new vehicles.
-
- Raymond Santa (second from right), Best Jets vice president, aircraft sales and marketing, with the company’s professional team, presented Best Jets’ Learjet 25.
-
- This D-Jet personal light jet by Diamond Aircraft was one of the featured aircraft mockups.
-
- Fred Ahles, president, Premier Aircraft Sales, shows a Diamond Aircraft D-Jet personal light jet, equipped with a Garmin 1000 glass cockpit.
-
- While visiting a Business Jet Center hangar, Simone and Tiano Barron take a close look at a GG Motorrad Technik sports vehicle, parked near a Cessna Conquest II and a Mooney Ovation.
-
- L to R: Million Air Dallas representatives Paula Fleming, Cara Smith and Melissa Thompson participated in the Saab Business Aircraft and Jet Preview.
-
- Cirrus Design is offering 50 limited edition signature models, such as the one above. Owners Dale and Alan Klapmeier are being honored for 2006 as Airport Journals’ Aviation Entrepreneurs of the Year.