Story ID: 670
Nextant Sees First G90XT Delivery at Year-end
By: Thierry Dubois
Caption: Single lever still requires certification amendment.
Word Count: 364
Nextant Aerospace is in the middle of a post-certification effort on the G90XT remanufactured turboprop before delivering the first example to a customer at the end of this year. The Cleveland, Ohio-based company is here exhibiting a Nextant 400XTi, a type for which it is announcing further sales in Europe.

Nextant’s G90XT is an updated and remanufactured version of the Beechcraft King Air 90 with GE’s H75 engines replacing the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6As. Nextant is also upgrading the avionics with Garmin’s G1000 suite and has redesigned the cabin and cockpit, as well as upgrading other systems.

“Our G90XT was FAA certified last November–with one exception, the single-lever power control,” executive v-p Jay Heublein told AIN. The company expects the FAA to issue an amendment in August. To that end, initial flight testing was completed four weeks ago. In Europe, EASA is expected to issue type validation 90-120 days after FAA full certification.

Nextant sees single-lever power control as a key feature, and as it is not retrofittable, deliveries of the remanufactured and re-engined King Air 90 have been postponed. Apart from that piece of equipment, the twin turboprop is said to be on specification. “The airplane has done everything we said it would do,” Heublein said. Specific fuel consumption and high-altitude performance are even slightly better than expected, he added.

The company will be ready to announce its next project by the NBAA show in November, Heublein said. This is expected to involve a re-engining and avionics upgrade for a larger business jet.

Here at EBACE, Flexjet announced on Monday the selection of the Nextant 400XTi as the light jet for its newly announced European operation. With its 2,003-nautical-mile (3,710-kilometer) range, the 400XTi could make a trip from London to Moscow, Moscow to Nice, and Nice back to London.

The fleet will feature a custom designed interior, including a refreshment center, fully enclosed aft lavatory, a three-place divan and Wi-Fi.

Nextant also announced here that Prague-based executive air charter operator TimeAir has added a fourth Nextant 400XTi to its fleet.