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Showing that the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) is the best choice for long-range
executive travel, a recently delivered BBJ flew the farthest distance yet for a
BBJ: 6,854 nautical miles from Seattle to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 14 hours 12
minutes.
BBJ Chief Pilot Mike Hewett, along with customer pilots Doug Beckham
and Jeff Tolbert, departed Boeing Field on Sunday, April 7, at 7:37
a.m. under cloudy skies. The trio flew just south of the Great Circle
Route initially heading northeast toward Canada, traveling over the
southern tip of Greenland, northern Scotland, Italy, the Mediterranean
Sea, Egypt and the Red Sea en route to sunny Jeddah, where they arrived
at 7:49 a.m. local time on April 8.
"We were able to update the wind information through satellite data
link and the computer was right on, predicting we would land with 5,900
pounds or 1 hour 30 minutes hours of fuel remaining, and that’s exactly
what we did," Hewett said. "With Polar Navigation and 180-minute ETOPS
certification, the BBJ has the ability to fly the most time- and
fuel-efficient routes."
The customer pilot was also impressed. "The airplane performed beautifully,"
Beckham said. "It met all the performance expectations set out by Boeing.
We couldn’t be happier."
This is the first BBJ to be certified under Federal Aviation Regulations
(FAR) Part 135, allowing charter operations The airplane is owned by a
company called BBJ One and is operated by BBJ Charters, which specializes
in long-range passenger charters and air medical transports (air ambulance).
BBJ Charters is a subsidiary of Global AirMed, Inc., based in Birmingham, Ala.
Pilots Beckham and Tolbert, who work for BBJ One and BBJ Charters,
respectively, previously flew this Boeing Business Jet nonstop for 15
hours 10 minutes within the United States, landing with one hour of fuel
remaining. This "cold soak" flight was to check the condition of the
airplane’s interior at the coldest possible conditions.
Flight statistics for the Seattle-Jeddah mission include:
- Takeoff weight: 167,600 pounds (76,020 kilograms)
- Total fuel at takeoff: 73,600 pounds (33,385 kilograms)
- Average cruise speed for the flight: .78 Mach
- Average tailwind: 45 knots
- Amount of fuel used: 67,700 pounds (30,710 kilograms)
- Amount of fuel in reserve at landing: 5,900 pounds (2,676 kilograms)
- Completed interior weight: approx. 12,500 pounds (5,670 kilograms)
This BBJ, the 46th to enter service, was equipped with a nine-tank fuel
system, capable of holding an additional 3,846 U.S. gallons (14,555 liters)
of jet fuel, giving the BBJ a total fuel capacity of 10,721 U.S. gallons
(40,580 liters).
Boeing Business Jets was launched in 1996 as a joint venture between
Boeing and General Electric. Designed for corporate and VIP applications,
the Boeing Business Jet is a high-performance derivative of the Next-Generation
737-700.
The BBJ 2, announced in October 1999, is based on the 737-800 and has
25 percent more cabin space and twice the cargo space of the BBJ. Both provide
unsurpassed levels of space, comfort and utility and are backed by a global
support program with dedicated field service representatives. |
