The Phenom 100, a high-tech entry-level rocket ship, continues to find success five years after initial certification.
The Phenom 100 we flew for this report was the second one assembled in the United States, at Embraer’s impressive new Melbourne, Florida, facility.**The Prodigy flight deck in the Phenom 100 is based on the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit. It is enhanced with integrated electronic engine management, graphical real-time systems utilities, digital flight control and performance planning.
**The trailing link main landing gear of the 100 is beefy while helping provide consistently smooth touchdowns.Ice protection for the straight wing is via pneumatic boots. They are silver in color and from a distance appear to be leading-edge bleed air devices.The power levers for the Phenom 100’s fadec Pratt & Whitney PW617F-E engines have visual “detents” for idle though max power. The latter setting, for emergency settings only, gives you greater than 100 percent power for a limited period for when you really need to be able to climb.The Pratt & Whitney PW617F-E turbofans put out 1,695 pounds of thrust apiece and are remarkably fuel efficient. At 41,000 feet, the Phenom 100 burns less than 80 gallons of jet-A per hour, total.**The rear baggage compartment, the largest in its class, can be easily loaded and unloaded without a stepladder.
**Able to carry several pairs of skis, golf clubs and enough bags for a packed cabin, the Phenom 100’s baggage compartment is also low enough to be very easy to load. This shot shows just how much stuff the rear cargo hold can contain. Yes, it all fit.The windscreens of the Phenom 100 are affixed to the airplane via metal frames. The approach allows for relatively easy removal and replacement in the field, something that would normally be necessitated by a bird strike.The stately tail of the Phenom 100. With big airplane looks, systems and maintainability, the small jet looks to lure entry-level owners with high-end features. Unlike on many T-tail jets, trim on the Phenom 100 is via trim tabs, not a trimmable stabilizer. The result is a responsive mechanism that’s neither too fast nor too slow.The forward baggage hold of the Phenom 100. It is unpressurized. Note the placard admonishing operators not to put small pets in there. The compartment is the perfect place for the pilot’s and copilot’s bags, allowing the rear compartment to be used exclusively for passengers’ luggage, which is attractive to charter operators.Almost resembling a high-tech gaming mouse, the cool ram’s horn yoke of the Phenom 100 features numerous function buttons, including autopilot disconnect, control wheel steering (for manual steering with autopilot engaged), push to talk and trim.The aesthetic of the Phenom 100 is right-sized minimalism, a choice that for some pilots will make the 100 seem less like a serious jet and more like a smaller airplane, which is to misunderstand the nature of the product. The cockpit of the 100 is uncluttered, nicely arranged and pleasingly designed, a perfect approach for an entry-level single-pilot jet.
