Hawker 900XP: Evolutionary improvements enhance a

long-time winner
Business Jet Traveler June 2008

by MARK HUBER

Sunday, June 1, 2008 - 5:00am

The old joke about Hawkers is that not only are they built like bricks-they fly like them,
too.
Hawkers have been around since 1962 and perhaps no business jet has a better history
of durability or a longer record of evolutionary performance improvement. The airplane is
built like a tank with simple mechanical systems that stand up to ham-handed pilots and
heavy use. This durability has helped to make Hawkers a mainstay in several charter
fleets as well as those of fractional providers NetJets and Flight Options.
Hawker Beechcraft now sells the aircraft, which British manufacturer de Havilland
originally launched as the Model 125. Major components are still made in the UK, but
final airframe assembly takes place at Hawker Beechcraft in Kansas. Then the airplane is
flown to the giant Hawker Beechcraft completion facility in Little Rock, Ark., which also
finishes out the larger and newer composite fuselage Hawker 4000.
Over the years, the 125-series aircraft has received significant upgrades in airfoils,
engines and systems. One of the most significant changes came during the 1970s with
the advent of more efficient engines. During the late 1960s, Garrett (now Honeywell)
developed the TFE731 turbofan engine. It was a quantum leap in efficiency and enabled
a slew of midsize six- to eight-passenger corporate jets such as the Sabreliner 65, Learjet
35 and Hawker 800 to come to the market in the 1970s and early 1980s. These airplanes
had near transcontinental range and formed the backbone of corporate aviation in their
time. Although they have long been out of production, almost all of these airplanes are
still around.

Major Improvements
The Hawker 800 first flew in 1983 and featured major performance improvements over

previous models. Between 1983 and 1995, the company produced 275 Model 800s.
Deliveries of the Hawker 800XP began in 1995 and a major block change occurred on the
model in 1999, when oval window frames, sidewall lighting, redesigned sidewall table
access and restyled seats were added to the cabin. The new lighting, window treatments
and seats resulted in a brighter, softer, more flowing look and were an immediate hit
with customers.
Today, the descendants of the Model 125 remain among the best-selling business aircraft
of all time, with more than 1,000 produced. Demand for the rugged and reliable eight- to
nine-passenger midsize business jet remains strong. Raytheon Aircraft delivered more
than 60 units annually in recent years and its successor company, Hawker Beechcraft,
should do equally well with two new derivatives, the 750 and 900XP. (In 2007, 25 new
850XPs and 32 900XPs were sold-making it one of the best years for Hawkers ever.)
The manufacturer introduced the $14.3 million, 28,000-pound 900XP last year. It sports
winglets and slightly more powerful engines than the model it replaces, the 850XP. The
new engines also have a longer recommended time between overhauls-6,000 hours. The
new engine/winglet combination boosts range by a modest 4 percent under most
circumstances, to 2,950 nautical miles. The winglets merely create the illusion of speed,
as the airplane is still one of the slowest midsize jets around, with a maximum longrange cruise speed of just 400 knots.
A cross-country excursion in the Hawker makes for a very long afternoon-almost seven
hours. From Tampa, a Citation X will beat a Hawker to Long Beach by over an hour-with
the same fuel burn. But the 900XP's tweaked engines give the airplane better hotweather performance and faster climb speeds-a main contributor to the modest range
gain. Simply put, the airplane climbs higher, faster; and the faster you get up there, the
less fuel you burn and the farther you go. Time to 41,000 feet in the 900 is 25 minutes.
Although comparatively slow, the Hawker packs a lot of utility. Operators rarely have to
choose between full seats or full fuel.
The cabin remains remarkably unchanged from the 850's. The cursed submarine-hatchsize airstair door has not been improved and the average guy still has to hunch over in
the 5-foot-9-inch-tall cabin. That headroom comes only when you stand in the trenched
center aisle. In-cabin storage is still notably absent. The standard layout features five
single executive seats and one three-place divan. The comfortable single seats, perhaps
the best in any airplane in this category, slide and swivel and have limited recline.
(Legend has it that de Havilland engineers measured the leather armchairs in private
clubs in London to use as the template for the original Hawker 125's seats.) The divan is
not really big enough for a six-footer to fully stretch out on, but it is nevertheless useful
for longer trips.
The belted potty in a lavatory, though a legal seat, is still best reserved for emergencies,

the very diminutive or the hapless passenger who draws the short straw. The lav
cabinetry is slightly improved, with more little drawers and niches for stowing personal
products and supplies. A new optional layout allows you to remove the two most aft
single seats and punch out the aft baggage compartment, adding a modest 10 cubic feet
of stowage. Bags must still be loaded internally (no external baggage door). However,
most of the luggage stowage-33 cubic feet-is in the forward cabin closet across from the
entry door and bags that must go in the aft baggage compartment have to be carried
through the cabin. In a tight aircraft with such a narrow aisle, this is not just
inconvenient; it leads to prematurely trashed interiors from bags being slapped on seat
edges and arms.
Up front, pilots benefit from a modern, four-display Collins Pro Line 21 digital avionics
suite, but the trademark ram-horn control yokes, onboard since the aircraft line's
inception almost 50 years ago, leave little doubt that this is still a Hawker.
Mark Huber welcomes comments and suggestions at: mhuber@bjtonline.com