Delivery of the 1000th challenger 600 series aircraft
The Bombardier Challenger 600 series is a family of business jets. It was first produced by Canadair as an independent company and then produced from 1986 by Canadair as a division of Bombardier Aerospace. Including the Challenger 300 and Challenger 850, 1,600 Bombardier Challengers are in-service, the fleet has logged 7.3 million hours over 4.3 million flights.
The origin of the Challenger 600 lies in Canadair’s purchase of a concept for a business jet aircraft, the LearStar 600 from the American inventor and aircraft developer Bill Lear. However, Lear had practically no influence on the ensuing development and design of the aircraft. Even the name LearStar was not new to this concept, since Lear had long before used the name for his conversion of Lockheed Lodestars into business transports. Thus, Canadair quickly abandoned the name LearStar and adopted the name Challenger.
Canadair's top management was of the opinion that Lear’s concept was sketchy at best. Lear did not have an expert grasp of aeronautical engineering. He was also at a financial low point, with a skeleton staff. Thus, he had only been able to pay a California aeronautical consultant to do some very preliminary design explorations.
However, Canadair planned to use Lear’s name and skills at self-promotion to secure extensive financial guarantees for a business jet project from the Canadian Federal government. This proved an effective choice. In Challenger: An Industrial Romance , the 1980 The National Film Board of Canada documentary on the development of the aircraft, future Prime Minister Jean Chrétien specifically refers to the effect of personal contact with Lear (on Chrétien’s decision to direct financial support to Canadair’s program).
At the time of these events, Chrétien was successively President of the Treasury Board, Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce, and Minister of Finance, in the Canadian Federal government. Due to the use of letters of comfort, the extent of the Ministry's financial commitments for Canadair could be kept from parliament and the public for several years. These financial guarantees were later used as an academic example of insufficient monitoring and lax controls in government support of industry.
While the Challenger would be similar in general configuration to other aircraft of its type already on the market, certain of its features would stand out, for example, the use of a widened fuselage that allowed a "walk-about cabin". The Challenger was also one of the first bizjets designed with a supercritical wing.
On 8 November 1978, the prototype aircraft took off at Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The second and third prototypes flew in 1979. A test flight on 3 April 1980 in the Mojave Desert resulted in disaster, the aircraft crashing due to the failure of the release mechanism to detach the recovery chute after a deep stall, killing one of the test pilots (the other test pilot and the flight test engineer parachuted to safety).
Despite the crash, both Transport Canada and the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States certified the aircraft in 1980, albeit with restrictions to pilots including a limited maximum takeoff weight. A program to reduce the aircraft's weight was then implemented to improve the aircraft's range.
Challengers can be identified visually by their distinctive double slotted hinged flap design, where the fairings can be seen below the wings, a sight much more common on commercial airliners.
CL-600
CL-600
Original production version, powered by Avco Lycoming ALF 502L turbofans of 7500 lbf (33.6 kN) thrust each. Built from 1978 to 1982 (81 built)
CL-600S
Three CL-600s retrofitted with the winglets introduced on the CL-601-1A.
Three Electronic warfare / EW trainers converted to/from basic CC-144.
Canadair CX-144
Second prototype, a CL-600-1A11, c/n 1002, allocated to the RCAF after finishing test programme. Used at the Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment (AETE), CFB Cold Lake until retirement in 1993, now preserved at the CFB Winnipeg. Designated CC-144 in service.
CL-601
CL-601-1A
A refined version including winglets to decrease drag and more powerful General Electric CF34-1A (66 built, including six Canadian Forces CC-144B)
CL-601-1A/ER
601-1A retrofitted with an additional fuel tank in the tail
CL-601-3A
GE CF34-3A engines with a higher flat rating and a glass cockpit. This was the first version marketed by Bombardier, indeed.
CL-601-3A/ER
601-3A with an additional, optional fuel tank in the tail
CL-601-3R
The tail tank was made standard, CF34-3A1 Engines were introduced.
CL-601s
Version powered by GE CF34-3A2 engines
CL-604
CL-604
A major upgrade of the 601 design, incorporating more advanced GE CF34-3B engines; increased fuel capacity, including saddle tanks in the rear of the aircraft; new undercarriage for a higher takeoff and landing weight; structural improvements to wings and tail; and a new Rockwell Collins ProLine 4 avionics system.
CL-604 MMA
(Multi-Mission Aircraft), militarized version, developed by Field Aviation, in Danish service. The aircraft are employed on maritime patrol and search and rescue missions.They are capable of landing on the short, rough, gravel airstrips common in the Arctic.
C-143A
A single Challenger 604 aircraft was acquired by the United States Coast Guard in December 2005 as its new Medium Range Command and Control Aircraft (MRC2A).
CL-605
CL-605
Introduced in early 2006 as an avionics and structural upgrade of the 604 design. Structural improvements include larger cabin windows. Cockpit instrumentation updated with the Collins Proline 21 avionics and "electronic flight bag" capability. It can be visually identified by a new, rounded tailcone.
CL-605 MSA
A maritime patrol aircraft design under development by Boeing. Boeing has proposed a repackaging of some of the Boeing P-8 Poseidon sensors but not weapons into a less expensive airframe, the Bombardier Challenger 605 business jet. This aircraft is named Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) and has been depicted with the AN/APY-10 radar, an electro-optical sensor in a retractable turret, and a magnetic anomaly detector. On February 28, 2014, a MSA demonstrator which is a modified CL-604 made its first flight, but the final aircraft will use the CL-605 airframe. The demonstrator currently has the external shapes for the sensors and communications systems which will be added later. The final MSA is expected to cost $55 million to $60 million per aircraft.
CL-650
CL-650
The CL-650 is a major upgrade of the CL-605. It includes a completely redesigned interior cabin, the new "Vision" flight Deck which is a Rockwell Collins Proline 21 Enhanced, and a 5% increase of takeoff thrust.
On October 10, 2000, at 1452 central daylight time, a Canadair Challenger CL-600-2B16 (CL-604) (Canadian registration C-FTBZ and operated by Bombardier Incorporated) was destroyed on impact with terrain and post impact fire during initial climb from runway 19R at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport (ICT), Wichita, Kansas. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as an experimental test flight. The pilot and flight test engineer were killed. The copilot was seriously injured and died 36 days later.
A Canadair Challenger CL-600-2B16 was destroyed on 5 January 2014 after crash-landing at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in Colorado during a positioning flight from Tucson, Arizona to Salt Lake City, Utah, where a bank which was repossessing the aircraft was to take formal custody. The aircraft attempted a tailwind landing in low-level windshear and gust conditions, then declared a missed approach and executed a go-around. Upon the second landing attempt, the aircraft touched down, bounced airborne again and slammed into the runway, coming to rest upside-down near the departure end, in flames and its right wing separated from the airframe. One crewmember was killed; another crewmember and a passenger sustained serious injuries.
CL-601-3A
Data from
General characteristics
Crew: two (pilot & co-pilot)
Capacity: Up to 19 passengers, depending on configuration
Payload: 1,814 kg (4,000 lb)
Length: 20.85 m (68 ft 5 in)
Wingspan: 19.61 m (64 ft 4 in)
Height: 6.30 m (20 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 48.3 m² (520 ft²)
Empty weight: 9,292 kg (20,485 lb)
Loaded weight: 19,618 kg (43,250 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 19,550 kg (43,100 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric CF34-3A turbofans, 40.7 kN (9,140 lbf) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 882 km/h (476 knots, 548 mph)
Cruise speed: 851 km/h, (459 knots, 529 mph)
Range: 6,236 km (3,366 nmi, 3,875 mi)
Service ceiling: 12,500 m (41,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 1,355 m/min (4,450 ft/min)
CL-604
Data from
General characteristics
Crew: Two (pilot & co-pilot)
Capacity: Up to 19 passengers, depending on configuration
Payload: 2,184 kg (4,815 lb)
Length: 20.85 m (68 ft 5 in)
Wingspan: 19.61 m (64 ft 4 in)
Height: 6.30 m (20 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 45.7 m² (492 ft²)
Empty weight: 12,331 kg (27,185 lb)
Loaded weight: 21,863 kg (48,200 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 21,863 kg (48,200 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric CF34-3B turbofans, 41.0 kN (9,220 lbf) each
