Light Jets

The jets we cover publish 1,464 NM (Hawker 400XP with four passengers), 1,539 NM (Citation XLS with every seat filled), 1,920 NM (Citation V maximum) and 2,010 NM (Phenom 300E with five occupants). Because the load behind each figure differs, the desk compares them on your actual party rather than the headline. The Citation V, for example, publishes about 1,220 NM with all seats occupied and NBAA IFR reserves.

Typical layouts are six in the Phenom 300E, seven in the Citation V and Hawker 400XP and eight in the Citation XLS. Certified maximums are higher, up to 12 in the Citation XLS, but a full cabin cuts into range and baggage room. The King Air 350i and the Navajo Chieftain each seat up to nine passengers.

Only in the Citation XLS, at 5 feet 8 inches. The Hawker 400XP is 4 feet 9 inches, the Citation V 4 feet 10 inches and the Phenom 300E 4 feet 11 inches, so passengers stoop to board those. The King Air B200 and 350i cabins are 4 feet 9 inches tall.

Published figures are 46.4 cubic feet in the Hawker 400XP, 80 in the Citation XLS, 84 of total stowage in the Phenom 300E and 71.3 in the King Air 350i. The Phenom's 66 cubic foot rear compartment is external and not reachable in flight, while the King Air 350i's internal baggage is heated, pressurised and accessible throughout. A Citation V figure is not confirmed by a primary source, so the desk checks the hold on the specific aircraft.

Because it carries the same sort of party. The King Air B200 and 350i are twin turboprops, labelled as such throughout the site: the 350i seats up to nine, publishes 1,535 NM with four passengers on NBAA IFR reserves and cruises at 312 knots. The B200 publishes 1,407 NM with four passengers and needs 2,600 feet of runway at maximum weight. Both are certified for single-pilot operation.

No. The Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain is a piston twin with two turbocharged, counter-rotating 350 hp Lycoming engines, built from 1973 to 1984, seating up to nine passengers and cruising at about 205 knots. Published range figures for it disagree, so we do not quote one. The desk plans each sector for the specific aircraft and its modifications.

Published takeoff distances for the jets run from 3,160 feet (Citation V balanced field length) through 3,209 feet (Phenom 300E) and 3,906 feet (Hawker 400XP) to 3,940 feet (Citation XLS). The King Air 350i needs 3,300 feet, the B200 2,600 feet and the Navajo Chieftain 1,780 feet over a 50 foot obstacle. The desk checks the airport, its elevation and the temperature for the specific aircraft before quoting.

The Phenom 300E and both King Air models are certified for single-pilot operation. The Citation V, Citation XLS and Hawker 400XP are certified with a minimum crew of two pilots. In charter service the operator's own procedures decide, and the operator is named on the quote.

When the party is eight or fewer, the sector sits inside the 1,464 to 2,010 NM these aircraft publish, and nobody needs to stand up. If you want a stand-up cabin with more baggage, or range beyond 2,010 NM, the midsize class starts at 2,405 NM and every model in it stands 5 feet 8 inches or taller.

It compares range on your real load first, because the published figures assume different party sizes, then baggage, then cabin height, then the runways at both ends. A long sector with five aboard points to the Phenom 300E, eight people who want to stand to the Citation XLS, and oversized items to a King Air 350i fitted with the optional cargo door.