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Sunday, October 18, 2009 |
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Brazilian Adventure - Day 3
Captain Bill Minkoff already had 100+ hours of flight time in the Phenom 100 but
I think he was as enthusiastic as I to take the plane for a workout. And
a workout it was. The initial climb to 41,000 feet took about a half
hour. Once at a reduced speed, Bill put down the landing gear! At
18,000 feet he depressurized the cabin. Whooosh! I thought I would feel
my breathing get heavy but all returned to normal quickly. I don't know
all the maneuvers but Bill put the plane through it's paces and it passed with flying colors. Not a single
squawk with airframe, engines, or avionics. The only issue is that upon
descent when things warm up from 60 below to above freezing, the
emergency door handle defrosts and leaks water into the cabin. This is
a known problem and Embraer has a fix (some insulation) coming soon. The
landing at Gavião Peixoto was smooth as glass. The test flight could have gone anywhere but the advantage of going to Embraer Unidade Gavião Peixoto Airport is that the company owns it and has control of the airspace above it. It also has the distinction of being the longest runway in the Americas -- there are two in Russia and one in China that are a bit longer. Five thousand feet is more than enough for the Phenom -- Gavião Peixoto is 16,295 feet. The control towers -- and all air route traffic control -- in Brazil are operated by the FAB (Força Aérea Brasileira ), the largest Air Force in Latin America, with about 700 manned aircraft in service, and 73,000 personnel on active duty. Unfortunately, because of various military projects at Embraer Unidade Gavião Peixoto Airport,
it is not permissible to take any pictures. We were able to take a
short tour of the facilities and have some lunch in the employee
cafeteria (where all employees get free meals). Seeing the inside of a
Phenom during construction was impressive. The Phenom is a midget
compared to a Boeing 777 but both were designed with CATIA (Computer
Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application), software originally
developed by the French company Dassault Systemes to develop Dassault's Mirage
fighter jet. There were eight Phenom's on the assembly line and others
in various stages of painting and final trim. In all we counted 35
Phenom 100's (and three 300's), including the ones back at the delivery
hangar. Although visiting Gavião Peixoto
is not part of the normal delivery process, it would certainly convince
any doubters about the seriousness of the Phenom program. The wind was really howling when it was time to depart and since there was no tow bar handy on the tarmac (I am sure they had one close by), the gear pins were removed, Bill released the emergency brake, and a couple of people easily turned the Phenom ninety degrees so the wind was not blowing into the engines during startup. (See the guy on YouTube effortlessly spin a Phenom 180 degrees). Once back on the ground it was time for Mark Stear of JetQuik aka Inspector Clouseau to begin examining the interior and exterior for squawks. This is where the value of having delivery assistance comes in. Being an aeronautical engineer and with experience working at several aviation companies, Mark has seen it all. I may have found a few places where the paint wasn't perfect or a blemish in the interior but Mark found 103! None of these were safety related or structural in any way. They were cosmetic items -- a tiny scratch here, a rivet not painted just right, or a tiny spot on a seat. Mark went over every square inch of the plane - literally from top to bottom -- using his flashlight. He used a marker to literally put a circle around each item. Embraer documented every squawk in both English and Portuguese. We were assured a team would work during the night to correct all the minor defects. I saw them working as we left for the evening. By company policy, each person entering the plane removed their shoes, were not allowed to wear belts or rings, and placed hair covering on their heads and booties on their feet. They treated the airplane like it was their own baby. Dinner this evening was very special as it included Executive AirShare, JetQuik, and the Embraer team. Villa d'Aldeia Churrascuria has a Rozio de Carnes that is a real treat. People call it a barbecue
but the term does not do justice to the special service provided. I
have seen a lot of salad bars around the world but never one like this
(see pictures) and the flow of delicious food was continuous. If you are not a carnivore,
this is not your place. Brazilian people are very friendly, courteous
and professional and it was a great pleasure to get to know some of
them better. Day 4 would start with inspecting progress on the squawks and beginning the process of acquiring the Phenom. Stay tuned. |
