Phenom 100 stars in entry-level stakes

Embraer's recently released Phenom 100 is a major player in a new market niche, bringing light jet ownership to many who were previously excluded - and opening up another category of commercial operations.

Walking out to get acquainted with the Phenom 100 the first impression is one of solidity. This might be a small jet but it looks seriously competent.

In fact, on the ramp at Embraer’s Gaviao Peixoto facility in Brazil this particular Phenom 100 comes with a ground crew that would flatter a much larger aircraft. And our host for the ride we are about to take is Embraer test pilot Matias de Oliveira. The occasion is a celebration of the incredible success this entry-level jet has already enjoyed, with the first delivery taking place in December 2008 and another 20 or so now in operation. About 50 per cent of the Phenom 100 orders to date have come from the US, with 30 per cent from Europe, 12 per cent from Latin America and the remainder from elsewhere on the globe.

Embraer is currently ramping up its marketing effort in the Asia Pacific region – and has recently appointed Brett MacLachlan to its Sydney office to promote the full executive jet range in Australia. With the right exposure, the Phenoms (the bigger -300 is coming soon) should just about sell themselves.

Initially – and prematurely – categorized as a very light jet, amongst a host of VLJ contenders that promised to revolutionise the jet market, the Phenom 100 is clearly something else again – and the entry-level tag is far more appropriate, because this six-seater is accessible both in terms of price and flyability. This is a genuine single-pilot airplane, but with all the sophistication that modern technology can offer. It’s no wonder that the Phenom 100 assembly line is loaded with activity that contrasts with the production slump that has beset other business/private aircraft manufacturers.

The Phenom 100 has that ancestry of an eminently successful line of regional jets bearing the Embraer name, most recently the top of the line EMB190/195 – and a lot of the technology has found its way into this personal jet.

The walkaround confirms the solidity – this is a small jet, but it’s not a light one. The landing gear looks like it was built for carrier landings. The fuselage, wings and empennage are impressively dimensioned and presented. And the two dual FADEC controlled Pratt & Whitney PW617FE engines at the rear are each ready to deliver 1695 lbs of thrust.

There are two baggage compartments, a nose area that can take up to 30 kg and the main storage at the back which holds up to 160 kg.

Access to the cabin is via integrated airstairs complete with handrail. This in itself is an element of sophistication found in few small jets. The 282 cu ft cabin holds four pax seats in a club configuration – plus a fully enclosed chemical lavatory with flushing capability, that can be certified for takeoff and landing. (There’s an optional five-seat configuration that makes use of a storage area at the front of the pax cabin, but that will of course bring performance penalties with it.) The cabin height is 1.5 metres, so a little bending is required to negotiate the space but it’s never uncomfortable. And the fit out is the equal of anything regularly found in bigger private jets, having been designed in partnership with BMW Group Designworks USA.

The Phenom also features two distinct climate zones – and with the optional VIP Panel, pax can have direct control of the temperature in the cabin.

But today we will be conducting business up front, on the flight deck of the Phenom, to discover what it can do when it’s in its intended element and not sitting idly on the tarmac.

Sliding into position in the right hand seat takes a bit of agility, but once seated there’s a real sense of room to manoeuvre – and plenty of comfort for the 1178 nm ride this small jet is capable of. That range provides Brisbane-Hobart and Brisbane-Port Vila capability back home.

From the left-hand seat, Matias de Oliveira demonstrates just how accessible everything is for the single-pilot operations the Phenom 100 is approved for. The only stretch is across to the right side foot well for an array of circuit breakers. Everythingelse is readily to hand from the command seat.

Powering up the panel, we check functionality across the board and input the numbers for today’s flight.

What we are looking at is a three-screen display built around the Garmin G1000 avionics package. That includes FMS with graphical flight planning capabilities, coupled VNAV and datalink via SATCOM. All the operational data, such as engines function, fuel status, systems operation etc, are integrated into the displays and there’s a central maintenance computer in the mix, which enables detailed maintenance logs of all systems to be downloaded. The displays are interchangeable and the aircraft is certified to fly with one display out of service. And there’s a range of options, including HF comms, ADS-B and even synthetic vision, available on demand.

The Prodigy Flight Deck 100 also includes Cruise Speed Control which will keep a cruise speed for a given altitude, Automatic Back Course selection which decreases the workload during a localizer approach and synoptic views for the main aircraft systems, which enhances fault isolation capability.

For today’s flight we have a ramp weight of 4356 kg, including 1000 kg of fuel, well inside the max ramp weight of 4770 kg.

At startup, we ensure the park brake is applied and that the thrust levers are at idle. Connected to a ground power unit, we check that the engine ignition is at the auto setting, then select auto for fuel
pump 2, and rotate the start/stop knob for Engine 2 to ‘start’ and then to ‘run’, monitoring the oil pressure at it starts to climb. Then we repeat the sequence for Engine 1. Startup is that simple
With temperatures and pressures in the zone the park brake is released and we taxi out to what is the second longest runway on the globe (and a landing alternative for the US space shuttle). Hence an intersection departure is easily possible.

Lined up, with the first stage of flap selected, the brakes are released and the thrust levers are moved to the takeoff setting. The Phenom 100 moves swiftly off the mark, holding the centerline with some positive rudder work. The aircraft requires 3125 ft of runway for a normal takeoff with MTOW of 4750 kg.

  Lighter then MTOW today, decision speed (V1) is 100 kts, rotation (Vr) is at 100 kts and we retract the gear before accelerating to 113 kts to establish the climb. (Takeoff calculations allow for a climb gradient of two per cent should an engine fail after takeoff.)

Then the flaps are retracted and the pre-selected numbers for heading and altitude are released to the autopilot. This is an aeroplane where a lot of preparation is required at the flight planning stage, but once the on-board computer is loaded with the numbers the in-flight workload is minimal. It’s time to take in the scenery as the Phenom 100 settles smoothly into its mission, which is to fly us to the other
Embraer facility in the region at Botucatu.

The P100 can manage 390 kts (TAS) in high-speed cruise and has a ceiling of 41,000 ft, so it can truly mix it with the mainstream traffic out there. And the TCAS integrated into the display makes flying in crowded airspace even more comfortable. The P100 will take 32 minutes to reach max altitude with MTOW at ISA.

Botucatu  is an uncontrolled airstrip, so we join on a tight downwind, select two stages of flap, reduce power and lower the gear. Then, via a military constant-turn descent we line up on final, observing a maximum descent rate of 480 fpm. The airplane requires 823 metres to land with a MLW of 4430 kg at sea level in ISA conditions, but again we don’t need all of that today.

As the Phenom 100 eases towards the piano keys the only disruptive note is the GPWS, which insists on calling the alerts despite the three greens confirming gear down and locked.

The jet settles first on one leg then both main gear and the nose wheel follows closely, at which point we apply light braking, which is applied via a brake-by-wire technology that means less maintenance and better control. That short fuselage renders the aircraft a tad skittish on the runway, but it’s neither threatening nor even uncomfortable, and as the speed drops off the Phenom is as docile as at rest.

This is an Embraer airport and it’s lunchtime for a multitude of plant workers, so there’s an enthusiastic audience for the taxi in to the ramp, despite the fact that the Phenom 100 can be no stranger. When we exit the aircraft and look back to see what attracted the lunchers, it’s obvious. The Phenom is indeed eyecatching in its proprietary livery.

This facility is where the Phenom metal work is handled, from raw material through to finished sections. It’s also where Embraer builds its Ipanema agricultural planes and does contract work for the Brazilian Airforce. The continuing investment in this plant is immediately obvious, with work on a new fabrication capability, including chemical milling, well advanced.

The Phenom 100 is of all-metal construction, except for the empennage and other carbon-fibre components that represent about 20 per cent of its weight and are also produced by Embraer. The extensive riveting involved in production of component parts of the Phenom 100 are handled by robotic machines. 

On the return trip we detour to test flight airspace at 30,000 ft adjacent to Gaviao Peixoto, to investigate stall and steep turn characteristics.

With a clean configuration we ease the power back and trim the airplane to shed one knot per second. The ASI display clearly signals the approach of the stall and at 98 kts indicated we get the aural stall warning followed immediately by the stick shaker at 93 kts. But there is no need for pilot input because this incredible little aeroplane even has a pusher installed and it lowers the nose of its own accord to initiate recovery. Stable flight is recovered with the loss of around 500 ft, but this would have been less if
either pilot had intervened.

With the landing configuration, including three stages of flap, the stall is just as friendly.

Steep turns are entered readily and level flight easily maintained with power and back-stick. Just to prove the point, Matias increases the angle of bank beyond the 60 degree mark and at around 70 degrees we are pulling 2.9G. The airplane switches smoothly into steep opposite bank and back again.

Then, all too soon, it’s time for an accelerated descent and a demonstration of the Phenom 100’s short field landing performance – but with a simulated failure of one engine. The asymmetric configuration requires a good 80 lbs of pressure on the opposite rudder pedal, because despite the small distance between the two engines back there, that 12.83 metre fuselage provides limited leverage. With full flap, riding the power down to the pavement and flaring nimbly, the Phenom settles on to the ground and gives that now familiar little stutter as it finds its feet. Then it’s a rapid taxi into the flight line where the ground crew are waiting.

While we shut down, one is conscious of a rampant desire to get to know this aeroplane much better. To spend some more time aloft going… well, just about anywhere. Even at rest there’s a strong sense of communion with the Phenom, a sense of wearing the aeroplane, rather than just sitting in it.

Embraer has invested around US$250 million in the Phenom project, and employed something like one thousand engineers, but the return on investment has already surpassed the break-even point.

At the time of writing, the manufacturer held over 800 firm orders for the two Phenom models – and that’s with the big-brother -300 yet to conclude its certification program.

When we visited Gaviao Peixoto, the Phenom 300 was about to undergo the critical (and high-risk) flutter tests, which involve minimum crew wearing parachutes. But Matias de Oliveira has got to know the ‘big brother’ well enough in the test program to date to assert that “This is the one”. That’s a professional test pilot letting his heart do the talking, succumbing to the seduction of that extra thrust. But the smaller P100 will win (indeed, has won) the hearts of a host of genuine entry level aviators, for whom personal jet travel was until very recently merely a dream.