As NBAA opened the doors to its annual Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida, SyberJet unveiled the cockpit layout and design for the SJ30 business jet, a modernized version of Sino Swearingen’s SJ30.
Mark Fairchild, SyberJet’s general manager and director of sales and customer service, said the cockpit redesign took into consideration that many SJ30s are owner operated. As a result the cockpit is designed to be both functional and stylish. The layout was conceived by Jason Castriota, high-end automotive interior designer with more than 12 years of experience working with Italian design firms. Castriota used a blend of carbon fiber veneers, brushed aluminum, ultra suede and smooth leather materials combined with bright red thick stitching, creating a luxurious look. Fairchild said the cabin design will incorporate a similar blend of materials and will offer four or five color schemes.
In addition to the facelift, the cockpit layout has been redesigned for improved ergonomics. The throttle quadrant has been moved aft, eliminating the need for the pilot to reach forward to make power changes. Fairchild said 70 percent of the functionality for the SyberVision flight deck, a version of Honeywell’s Apex system, can be accessed from the center column through a cursor control device and MFD control buttons. While incorporating so much functionality in the center column makes for great ergonomics in flight, it makes the access to the pilot and copilot seats somewhat arduous.
SyberVision will incorporate synthetic vision, charts and maps, enhanced ground proximity warning, a vertical profile view, electronic checklists, systems diagrams and more. A systems failure triggers not only a CAS (crew-alerting system) message on the bottom MFD screen, but also displays the associated checklist automatically to expedite troubleshooting and managing the issue.
The side-facing seat/lav in the front section of the airplane has been reconfigured to a forward facing seat, which enabled SyberJet to take out about 25 pounds from the bulkhead, Fairchild said. He expects a reduction in the empty weight of around 200 pounds as a result of the redesign. Full fuel payload is expected to be around 800 pounds, Fairchild said.
SyberJet expects the first flight of the redesigned SJ30 by mid-2015 and certification sometime the following year. The top cruise speed of the airplane is expected to reach Mach 0.83 (486 ktas).
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