NBAA Convention - Orlando, FL - September 10-12, 2002
Article By: Richard

I had a chance to spend two full days at the NBAA annual convention in Orlando last week (Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 11 & 12). NBAA, the National Business Aviation Association, is the largest organization representing business aviation interests in the US and their annual show is one of the largest trade shows produced each year.

This year's show, taking up nearly one million square feet of exhibit space, was at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The 1011 exhibits ranged from small booths for independent FBOs to massive and lavish multi-story, multi-media displays (complete with private dining areas and catering) for the Gulfstream, Bombardier and Cessna Citation lines. Essentially every business aircraft manufacturer, every fuel supplier, every avionics manufacturer, every overhaul facility, every flight planning service, every FBO chain, every accessory product manufacturer - everyone and everything having to do with business aviation - exhibits at NBAA.

In addition to the convention exhibits, the convention always includes a large static display, this time at Orlando Executive airport (ORL) with 151 aircraft shown. The static display brings together on one airport ramp the largest and latest (Boeing BBJ, Gulfstream G-VSP), the smallest in the business fleet (EADS Socata TBM-700, Piper Meridian) and everything between (all the Falcons, all the Lears, all the Citations) - plus the niche players (Piaggio Avanti). And, in addition to the certificated aircraft, a number of prototype test flight articles were shown (Adam Aircraft A-500). Also, many aircraft brokers bring used aircraft to the show for inspection by prospective buyers.

And, just as general aviation manufacturers and avionics suppliers use Oshkosh as a venue to announce major new products, business aircraft manufacturers and suppliers do the same at NBAA.

You might ask why they would hold this convention on September 11^th, especially when last year's conference, which was scheduled for mid-September 2001, had to be cancelled. The reason is simple: there are only three convention centers in the entire US large enough to host this show and it therefore has to be scheduled four-six years ahead of time - and the dates were set and unchangeable.

This is my fourth NBAA convention and it is always a feast for the eyes and an opportunity to touch and feel every business aircraft or business-aviation related item in which you have an interest - and talk to people with in-depth expertise.

I flew down with a friend, Russell, in his Baron Tuesday night. That evening I spoke with another friend who had been at the show on Tuesday who said the heat had been almost overwhelming at the airport (air temp was 96 degrees; who knows the ramp temp) and he suggested we spend the mornings at the static display, to beat the heat. Wednesday dawned cloudy and threatened rain - perfect (except for the rain) conditions for wandering an airport ramp. So, we went straight to ORL, got our passes and tried to figure out where to begin - as a light mist began to fall.

Our first stop, perhaps incongruously for a business aviation event, was at an exhibit by TAC Air, an FBO chain that is running a year-long promotion that will culminate in a drawing to give away a pristine, award-winning, totally rebuilt Piper J-3 Cub. It's hard to look at a bright yellow Cub and not smile - and that set a great tone for the rest of the day.

For the next eight hours we prowled the ramp. We toured the Boeing BBJ, with its queen-sized bed equipped stateroom, private office, conference table, etc. Perhaps most interesting, this 160,000 pound behemoth was sporting only a single pair of very small wooden chocks on one main - literally the same as what you'd find at your local FBO holding a C-150 in place. Boeing trusts their brakes!

Then, roaming from exhibitor to exhibitor (manufacturers and brokers), we toured Gulfstreams (G-V, several G-IVs, G-IV-SPs, G-III and a hush-kitted G-II), six or eight Citations (Citation X, Excel, CJ-2, CJ-1, CJ, II and two 1-SPs), a Gulfstream 200 (formerly Galaxy), Pilatus PC-12 with its yawning cargo door, a couple of Hawkers, several Learjets, two Challengers (but the Global Express was closed to visitors when we passed by), TBM-700, Piper Meridian, Falcon 900, Cheyenne 400LS, Cessna Conquest II, and more. We even checked out a turbine Maule on floats and stuck our heads into the instrumented Adam 500 test flight article. Folks, this was hard work!

What was perhaps most striking about the static display was the relative lack of visitor traffic - despite the fact that there were 28,000 registrants for the convention. The weather probably scared away some people, but the occasional light showers were more than offset by the relatively (for Orlando in September) low temps - making for a very pleasant day and an almost crowd-free opportunity to tour these aircraft.

It was a grueling day but someone had to do it. Back to the hotel to "freshen up" then out to dinner to de-brief. Our conclusions, in summary: airplanes are great, there is incredible diversity of choice among the offerings available today, and the quality of engineering and interior workmanship, particularly on high-end products, is extraordinary.

Thursday dawned cloudy and rainy but our destination was the one million square feet of exhibit space and we intended to try to cover nearly every square foot. This year's convention had an incredible 1011 exhibitors. We managed to wander every aisle but were able to actually visit perhaps only 30-40 booths.

Among the new aircraft announcements at this NBAA were Cessna's formal announcement of the long-rumored Citation CJ-3, Bombardier's announcement of the expected Learjet 40, and several new models from Gulfstream. But the most buzz was reserved for the lower end of the jet market.

Eclipse was there with it's large and always busy booth, just a few weeks after the first flight of their closely watched Eclipse 500. Skeptics continue to abound, myself included, as to whether they can actually certificate and deliver the aircraft next year meeting its performance specs AND it's sub-$1 million price.

I had first climbed into their cabin mock-up at NBAA in New Orleans two years ago and had difficulty fitting into the left seat or, for that matter, the cabin seats. The airplane was just too small. Climbing into the mockup at Orlando was a pleasant surprise. For reasons relating to both customer feedback and some aerodynamic issues, the fuselage dimensions have increased and the airplane now boasts fairly comfortable interior space for four adults, though probably a bit tight for five.

It's exciting to watch this unique attempt to innovate. I hope they succeed. If the Eclipse meets its goals, it will be terrific for all sectors of aviation - except for the manufacturers of aircraft whose only material changes in the last thirty years have been price increases.

Totally unexpected - and perhaps the single hottest announcement of all at the show - was Cessna's announcement of its new Citation Mustang. This small, six-place 340 KTAS jet, to be powered by two new-generation fanjets of around 1300 pounds thrust each and equipped with an all new, all glass avionics suite, is priced at $2.295 million, more than $1.7 million less than Cessna's present "entry level" jet, the Citation CJ-1. Slated for certification and initial deliveries in 2006, Cessna took deposits from more than 215 purchasers in the three days of the show.

It will be interesting to see how the Mustang impacts other aircraft in the marketplace. For example, it is priced about $350,000 more than the Piper Meridian, nearly $600,000 less than the TBM-700, $1.2 million less than a Pilatus PC-12, $100,000 less than a King Air 90B, half the price of a King Air 200, etc. Some of these aircraft have unique competitive features, like the PC-12 with its large cabin, huge cargo door, and STOL capability. Others, like the King Air 200, have much larger cabins. But the Meridian, TBM-700 and, frankly, King Air 90B don't compare well with the Mustang's on either performance or price. Time will tell.

As the day wound down we tried to cover some additional exhibits. I spent some time at Winslow Liferafts (makers of my raft on the Cheyenne) discussing repacking and some equipment options. We looked at a demo of the Garmin 530 displaying Nexrad weather radar and traffic. We spent some time at the Honeywell/Bendix/King booth trying unsuccessfully to get some questions answered about their new MFDs. And much more. And quite a few more.

In a whirlwind 48 hours we covered the latest the industry had to offer: airframes, avionics, accessories, and services. They had to nearly push us out of the exhibit hall as they closed the convention. In deteriorating weather we got a cab to the airport, negotiated with ATC to let us depart earlier than our 2015 EDT slot time and departed for Atlanta. Climbout included some significant rain and moderate turbulence but happily no ice. We had to divert about 20 miles offshore to circumnavigate some significant weather beginning east of Daytona Beach and running north to Jacksonville. We came ashore just north of JAX and had a nice, dry and smooth ride back to a night landing at PDK. It was a great couple of days.

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