Friday, December 20

Author: Charles Yongzheng

Charles Yongzheng wrote his first aviation article, when he was just 12 years old. 20 years later, Charles is still following his passion!
27Apr By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
Executive

Bombardier Challenger 650: The Best Challenger Yet?

The latest in the Challenger 600 line of business jets, the Bombardier Challenger 650 may not be the most popular member of the family, but it could certainly be called the best. Background Development Operational History Private Jet Military Charter Fractional Ownership Air Ambulance Price Specifications Bombardier Challenger 650Length20.9 m (68 ft 5 in)Wingspan19.6 m (64 ft 4 in)Height6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)Crew2Passengers10Cruise Speed854 km/h (531 mph; 461 kn)Range7,408 km (4,603 mi; 4,000 nmi)Service Ceiling41,000 ft (12,497 m)MTOW48,200 lb (21,863 kg) How Safe is The Bombardier Challenger 650? With aviation safety becoming a priority now more than ever, the safety records of aircraft are now more widely published than ever before, partly thank...
Read More
Bombardier Challenger 604: A First Among Equals
9Apr By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
Executive

Bombardier Challenger 604: A First Among Equals

The Challenger 600 series is known for being one of the most popular family of business jets ever built. For the Bombardier Challenger 604, however, it holds a distinct honor: The most popular of the series. Indeed, of the 1,066 aircraft built in the Challenger 600 series to date, 365 have been the Challenger 604 variant. And this isn't for any other reason than it's the best on the market! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Background Having sold his stake in Learjet to the Gates Rubber Company of Denver, Colorado in 1967 and left its board in 1969, Bill Lear set about his next project: designing a longer range business jet better than those then on the market. By 1974, Lear had come up with a design he called the LearStar 600, a low-wing, tw...
Read More
Which Countries Don’t Have an Airport?
30Mar By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
Airports

Which Countries Don’t Have an Airport?

For most countries, having an airport is not just useful, but an economic necessity. Not only do they serve as a gateway for the transportation of people and goods, they are also huge job creators both directly and indirectly. Yet despite these benefits, a select few countries do not have a single airport within their borders, often for one of a multitude of reasons. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Liechtenstein Located between the Swiss Alps and Austria, Liechtenstein has no airport on account of its terrain and population. A country of barely 40,000 people, Liechtenstein simply doesn't have a population large enough to justify spending millions of dollars building an airport. It simply wouldn't be cost-effective. Secondly, the majority...
Read More
Inside The Interesting World of Aircraft Dealers
16Mar By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
Analysis

Inside The Interesting World of Aircraft Dealers

Like many avgeeks, I have spent countless hours scrolling the internet looking at aircraft for sale. Whilst many of these ads were placed by brokers or aircraft owners, a large minority were placed by so-called aircraft dealers. Unlike used car dealerships, whose role is remarkably similar albeit it with cars rather than aircraft, aircraft dealers are not as universally hated, with many in the aviation industry seeing them as vital to the industry. Just not in the way they like to think... (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); What Are Aircraft Dealers? An old joke in the industry is that aircraft dealers are kind of like a mixture of used car dealers and real estate agents, in the sense that they are unregulated (like car dealers) and are high ma...
Read More
Cessna Citation X+: Too Fast?
2Mar By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
Executive

Cessna Citation X+: Too Fast?

Playfully known as the "Lamborghini of the Skies" the Cessna Citation X+ was not only meant to be the world's fastest business jet in the skies, but also capture the same popularity its predecessor, the Citation X, had. But that wasn't the case. Instead of selling well over 300 times and having a 20 year-long production run like the Citation X did, the Citation X+ sold only 29 times over a period of just four years (2014-2018)! Background At the 1990 NBAA in New Orleans, Cessna unveiled what it called the Cessna 750, later marketed as the Cessna Citation X, a development of the popular Citation III jet. Intended to replace the company's existing lineup of Citation jets, including the Citation III, VI and VII, Cessna promised that the Citation X would be the fastest civ...
Read More
Why Did Pan Am Fail?
16Feb By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
Airlines

Why Did Pan Am Fail?

At its height, Pan American World Airways, more commonly known as simply Pan Am, was called "America's unofficial flag carrier" thanks to its position as the largest of the Big Four airlines and the only one with a major international presence. Yet by the early 1990's Pan Am was not just a shadow of its former self but gone all together, having entered bankruptcy on January 8 1991 and ceased operations on December 4 1991. So where exactly did it all go so wrong? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Background Pan American World Airways was formed on June 23 1928 as the result of a merger between Pan Am Airways, Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways and the Aviation Corporation of the Americas (ACA). The airline soon distinguished itself by estab...
Read More
Uncovering The Story of Marcel Dassault: France’s Greatest Aviator
2Feb By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
History

Uncovering The Story of Marcel Dassault: France’s Greatest Aviator

Today, Dassault Aviation stands as a titan of the aviation industry, having produced some of the most iconic aircraft the industry has yet produced. But few know the story of Marcel Dassault, the company’s founder and whose vision guides the company even to this day! One of France's wealthiest and most successful businessmen at the time of his death, Marcel Dassault's made lots of enemies, and ensured his aviation career was not as straightforward as you might think... (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Early Life The man who history would remember as Marcel Dassault was born as Marcel Ferdinand Bloch on January 22 1892 in Paris. Born into a French Jewish family, Marcel was the youngest of four children born to Adolphe Dassault, a doctor, and his w...
Read More
Who Are The World’s Largest Aircraft Manufacturers?
12Jan By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
Aircraft Digest

Who Are The World’s Largest Aircraft Manufacturers?

Though airlines get a bad rep for being somewhat of an oligopoly, when it comes to the supply of aircraft, there are remarkably few. Indeed, the two largest aircraft manufacturers - Airbus and Boeing - control nearly 90% of the market. So who are the other main players? For the purposes of this article, we are only looking at companies who physically produce aircraft - not engines, avionics and the like - and we're only talking about companies that are currently active, not ones that are defunct. Size is being determined on several factors, including the range of aircraft currently produced, number of employees, number of locations worldwide, revenue and brand recognition. Not to mention market share. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Airbus ...
Read More
Why is Oceanic Airlines Used in so Many Films?
4Dec By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
Airlines

Why is Oceanic Airlines Used in so Many Films?

What do Executive Decision, Marvel's Daredevil comics, and White Collar all have in common? Aside from being icons in their own right, all feature a particular fictional airline: Oceanic Airlines. All while none are part of the same universe... Indeed, it seems that whenever pop culture wants to depict a fictional airline, the name they go with is Oceanic Airlines, or sometimes the similar Oceanic Airways, but why exactly is this? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); History But before we can discuss exactly why Oceanic Airlines is used in so many films, TV shows, video games and more, we should probably look at how the fictional airline came to be... Origins As aviation became more accessible and more people were exposed to aviation thanks ...
Read More
Gulfstream G500: Gulfstream’s Most Promising Jet Yet?
20Nov By Charles YongzhengNo Comments
Executive

Gulfstream G500: Gulfstream’s Most Promising Jet Yet?

Unveiled in 2014 alongside the G600 it was developed in tandem with, the Gulfstream G500 entered service in September 2018 and has since been on the minds of seemingly everyone in the aviation community! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Background In 1967, the company that would eventually become Gulfstream Aerospace (then just a division of Grumman) released their first business jet, the Grumman Gulfstream II, as a successor to their turboprop-powered Grumman Gulfstream I. Against all expectations, the long-range G-II was a massive hit with large corporations as it could easily fly transatlantic routes and Gulfstream was inundated with orders. It was even the private jet of choice for a US Vice President (Nelson Rockefeller)! Having prove...
Read More