Spectrum Books Fleet Orders, Improves VLJ Performance, Flops TC Schedules

Starfish Aviation ordered a fleet of Spectrum Aeronautical Freedom S-40s and Indpendence S-33s. However, the details of the order for the Northbrook, Ill. company were not disclosed, although Spectrum President Austin Blue announced the value of the fleet orders were in the nine-digit range. Spectrum does not publish orderbook statistics.
Ken Ross, president of Starfish Aviation, LLC, said the Spectrum family of aircraft will revolutionize the way business travelers fly. “The S-40 is a truly amazing aircraft,” he said, “With capabilities and cabin comfort similar to a Citation XLS+, but with operating costs more comparable to a light jet, it will truly delight our customers.”
Based at Chicago Executive Airport (PWK), Starfish Aviation, LLC, is a new jet charter and aircraft management company, founded by Kenneth D. Ross, an aviation attorney and entrepreneur with over 25 years of industry experience. Ross is one of the founders of the North American Jet companies and is currently chair of the Personal Air Transport Alliance (PATA) a national alliance of air taxi operators, aircraft manufactures, contractors and vendors. Related Story

VLJ Performance Improved, TC Schedules Flopped
Spectrum is making the S-40 Freedom light jet its primary focus even as it delays certification of its S-33 Independence VLJ. The eight-place Independence’s speed will now increase to over 430 ktas, giving the S-33 the largest cabin, highest speed and longest range of any aircraft in the VLJ category, said the company.
Spectrum is enhancing the capabilities of the S-33 Independence through continued design refinement and the application of newly available technologies. The company recently decided to use the Williams International FJ33-4A-19 engine instead of the previously planned FJ33-4A-15, giving the jet a substantial step up in both thrust and efficiency.
“The Independence already had the highest thrust-to-weight ratio of any business jet, and now it’s even better,” said President Austin Blue. “Also, the -19 incorporates Williams’ latest technology, so with the additional thrust it has even better fuel specifics.”
The power plant upgrade has been joined with other design improvements that allow Spectrum to increase the speed, range and cabin size of the S-33, which goes to a 60-inch maximum diameter from its present 58-inches. It will also have about seven-inches of additional width in the aft section of the cabin.
Concurrently in development with the company’s S-33 Independence very light jet is the larger, nine-place, S-40 Freedom, powered by GE Honda HF120 engines, which provides a stand-up cabin with a maximum diameter of about six-feet and speeds up to Mach 0.77. Spectrum said it is taking full advantage of opportunities in the development of the Freedom, which has been gaining a great deal of momentum over the past year.
“We’ve made the decision to accelerate Freedom’s development and move its anticipated TC schedule up by about a year,” said Blue. “To do this requires a shift in priorities, making the Freedom our primary focus for the time being. Prior to this, the company had targeted type certification for the Independence in 2009, followed closely by the Freedom in 2010. In essence, We’re pulling the S-40 up to 2009 so an advanced version of the S-33 can follow shortly after it in 2010, rather than vice-versa.”
Director of Sales Gary Bushouse said response to moving the Freedom schedule forward as well as the enhancements to the speed, range and cabin size of the Independence are being met with enthusiastic approval. “The S-33 gains are well worth the wait of a few months in the schedule to obtain, as they further differentiate the Independence as far and away the best in the VLJ class,” he said. “And of course the Freedom S-40 remains in a class all its own with a mid-size cabin and DOCs that are better than some much smaller, slower, VLJs.”
Both aircraft feature the company’s proprietary fibeXTM composite material system, noted the company, which added their light weight, combined with ultra-efficient fanjet engines, result in extraordinary fuel efficiency and very low emission of green-house gasses.