Page 8 - Volume 15 Number 10

These planes are still in service with some cargo operators in the United States. Throughout its history, Embraer has built agricultural aircraft and has even built more than 2,500 Pipers under license; Embraer is definitely not a newcomer to general aviation.Perhaps the company’s biggest catalyst to growth was the introduction of the EMB-120 Brasilia turboprop regional airliner in 1985. Despite the many orders that came in for the airplane, there were problems. Having been state-run since its inception, the company was poorly managed and was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1994 when a couple of entrepreneurs led the charge to privatize the company. Very soon thereafter, the ERJ 145 family was born, which was another huge winner, followed by the 170/190 series E-Jets, which came on the scene in the early 2000s.Embraer’s first executive jet was the Legacy, which is an executive version of the ERJ 135 regional jet. In 2004, the company announced its intentions to bring a very light jet (VLJ) and a light jet (LJ) to the market: the Phenom 100 and Phenom 300, both of which are in service today. In 2007, the company announced plans for a mid-light jet (MLJ) and mid-size jet (MSJ), now called the Legacy 450 and Legacy 500, both of which are in development.With a maximum takeoff weight of 17,968 pounds, the Phenom 300 is the biggest and heaviest of the single- pilot light jets. With a maximum cruise speed of Mach .78, or 453 knots, a service ceiling of 45,000 feet, and a range with six occupants of 1,971 nautical miles with NBAA IFR reserves, the Phenom 300 is a very capable airplane.Flight of the Phenom 300I am type rated in several single- pilot jets, including the classic CE-500 series Citations, the Citation Mustang, the Eclipse 500, and the Embraer Phenom 100 and 300. I’ve now had the opportunity to fly the Phenom 300 on missions varying in length from 175 nautical miles to more than 2,000 nautical miles (with a tailwind), and I’ve operated them in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Having had the airplane on big runways and small, low altitude and high altitude, and across the Atlantic Ocean, I’ve seen this airplane do it all.Preflight of the Phenom 300 is fairly straightforward. As you walk around the airplane, several nice features appear. For example, as you begin inspecting the nose area, you notice that traditional pitot6 • TWIN & TURBINEOCTOBER 2011