Welcome to the Challenger 350 Guide
The Bombardier Challenger 350… one of the best, if not, THE best selling business jet in the world today. With stellar performance both on the field and in the air, this aircraft is sure to keep you on your toes and looking for that next adventure. The Challenger’s capabilities will allow you to depart from runways as short as 4000ft to a destination over 3000nm away thus providing you with endless routes and opportunities to explore.
Powered by two Honeywell engines, the thrust you will experience with the CL35 will amaze you with its climb performance as well as cruise speeds. You will often find yourself passing your fellow narrow-bodies while cruising at M.82. Venture in into the upper levels of the stratosphere where the rides are smoother, all the way up to FL450 and view the earth from another perspective.
Prepare yourself for what it feels like to fly in luxury with a beautifully crafted cockpit and cabin interior. Let’s dive in!
For the official Infinite Flight video tutorial please visit How to fly the Challenger 350 . I will also include the link of the tutorial below for quick access as you read through this topic.
This detailed guide, should get you into the air as well as on your way to a successful landing in just a few minutes. Please read through the notes sections throughout the topic as well as at the end of this tutorial for further clarification on some of the items found within the table.
Bonus: There is a Quick Reference Guide in this tutorial. You’re more than welcome to download and save the PDF for imminent and future use. Found under “Challenger 350 QRG”.
Purpose
What’s the point of this topic? Find out here…
The purpose of this guide is to provide you with ball park speeds, flap settings, and power settings to get you in the air and onto the runway in one piece. These values are not 100% accurate as each flight is different. Weather, airport elevation, weight, runway length and other factors will affect these values.
Takeoff & Landing Conditions
View the conditions in which this guide was built upon. Also included are the weather & location of this test.
Tests were conducted at Honolulu International Airport (PHNL) /// Airport Elev. 13ft \\\
- Winds Calm
- Runway 08R
- Temperature Standard (15˚C)
- All initial pitch angles were 12.5˚ - 15˚ nose up until 1000ft AGL
- Heavy Departure/Landing conducted at 100% load. Adjust as necessary.
Aircraft Performance
Takeoff & Landing Table
This is the information you’re looking for. Flying these numbers under the various loads will ensure your safe operations of getting off/on the ground. You may need to interpolate some for aircraft loads that don’t match up exactly.
Load % Takeoff Power Takeoff Flaps Rotate Landing Flaps Vapp Vref Weight(lbs) 25% See Table Flaps 10 120kts (120kts) Flaps 30 123kts 113kts 28,000 37% See Table Flaps 10 120kts (120kts) Flaps 30 127kts 117kts 30,000 50% See Table Flaps 10 120kts (120kts) Flaps 30 131kts 121kts 32,000 63% See Table Flaps 10 123kts (120kts) Flaps 30 135kts 125kts 34,000 75% See Table Flaps 10 127kts (120kts) Flaps 30 139kts 129kts 36,000 88% See Table Flaps 10 132kts (123kts) Flaps 30 142kts 132kts 38,000 100%*** See Table Flaps 10 137kts (128kts) Flaps 30 146kts 136kts 40,600 Notes:
- Bold Approach and REF speeds indicate overweight landing conditions. MLW is 34,150lbs
- Second rotate speeds within the ( ) indicate Flaps 20 departure speeds.
- APPR is available on this aircraft under 61% aircraft load
Takeoff N1% Setting
What power setting do I use?
I tried making it the least confusing possible, but I have added in N1 power settings. Power settings for the Challenger are a bit different than what we’re use to. They’re dependent as much on aircraft weight and runway length but more so the ambient temperature. Runway length is taken into consideration for shorter runways but for the purpose of this guide short runways are not considered when presenting values.
Instructions: Refer to your OAT readout to determine what power setting below to use for departure. Set your throttle position % to target the N1 ±0.5%
Temperature(C˚) Takeoff Power @ SL (N1%) Throttle Position % -30 81.4% 80% -25 82.3% 81% -20 83.2% 82% -15 84.0% 83% -10 84.7% 84% -5 85.5% 85% 0 86.3% 87% 5 87.0% 87% 10 87.8% 88% 15 88.7% 90% 20 89.5% 91% 25 90.3% 92% 30 91.1% 93% 35 90.3 % 92% 40 88.7% 90% Note 1: Increase N1 setting by 1% per 1000ft of airport elevation until reaching a maximum of 94.8%.
Note 2: Maximum N1 for the Honeywell HTF7350 engines is 96.8%. 100% throttle in IF will stop the N1 at 96.8% per its real life counterpart.
Max Recommended Cruise Altitudes
Can I go straight to FL450? It depends…
Below are the maximum altitudes under a given flight weight and associated cruise speed. Often we’re able to get up to FL450 after the 2nd hour. By that point we will have burned off roughly 4,000lbs (1,814kgs) of fuel. I’ve also bolded the aircraft service ceiling which will indicate to you that you have reached as high as the aircraft is certified to go for that weight & speed.
Weight LBS (KGS) M.80 M.82 40,000 (18143kg) FL430 FL400 39,000 (17690kg) FL430 FL410 38,000 (17236kg) FL440 FL410 37,000 (16783kg) FL440 FL420 36,000 (16329kg) FL450 FL420 35,000 (15876kg) FL450 FL420 34,000 (15422kg) FL450 FL430 33,000 (14968kg) FL450 FL430 32,000 (14515kg) FL450 FL440 31,000 (14061kg) FL450 FL450 30,000 (13608kg) FL450 FL450 29,000 (13154kg) FL450 FL450 Note: Due to RVSM airspace ending at FL410, we don’t utilize FL420 or FL440 for cruise despite the charts indicating service ceilings under various weight conditions. That said, ATC IRL may issue block altitudes which permits us to operate in a 2000ft high sector of the airspace which would allow us to cruise at one of these even altitudes. Typically associated with airspace saturation would permit something like this or lack thereof.
Challenger 350 Specific Notes
Note: *APPR is available on this aircraft under 61% aircraft load
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Landing flare pitch should be about 1-2˚ nose up.
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Minimal flare is required. If you approach at REF + 10kts, and close off power at about 50ft, ground effect will naturally cushion your landing with just the slightest flare. Don’t flare like an airliner.
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Descent rate should not exceed -1000ft/min on final approach. (-800ft/min is optimal)
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Add 10kts to Vref/Landing speed in gusty conditions or in situations where steeper bank angles may be required.
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No spool up is required. If desired to do a static/standing takeoff, do not exceed 60% N1
***Heavy Departures/Landings: Takeoffs over 75% may result in takeoff over Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW). This may also result in runway overruns. This could lead to overweight landings depending on your configuration and length of flight. Consider all factors and risks.
Flaps
The Challenger does not have any leading edge slats. Therefore, a negative, downward pitch is to be expected when introducing flaps near the limitation or suggested speeds included below. Aircraft attitude will be near flat or just above the horizon on the final approach segment.
Speeds & Limitations
Flaps Speed Limitation Suggested Extension Speed 10 210kts 205kts 20 210kts 190kts 30 175kts 170kts
General Notes
Various notes from testing in the making of this guide. Other helpful pointers to ensuring maximum realism.
Climb Profile: Above 10,000ft, pitch for 280kts/or M.80 until reaching cruise. Once level in cruise then speed up to cruise Mach#.
For all takeoffs, Flaps 10 was used for data
20% trim was used for takeoff. (30% trim was used for landings)
- (Trim is personal preference based on how you calibrate and hold your device. Adjust as necessary)
Note: Fuel flow, thrust and other aircraft performance factors may apply.
Challenger 350 QRG
A quick reference guide for you to view/save for your own personal needs. From taxi out to taxi in, everything all on one sheet can be found here.
If you would like a quick reference guide, you’re more than welcome to utilize this one that I’ve condensed into a 1 page sheet. It has just about everything you’ll want to know in terms of “What do I use for takeoff/cruise/landing?” and “When do I add/remove flaps or power?”. Below is a screenshot of what this document looks like as well as a PDF download link for that crisp picture and saving for future use.
Questions?
Feel free to add any questions or other helpful tips/pointers that you may find beneficial to others and myself or our helpful community members will gladly address those.
Please also check out other guides I have created for other recently new/reworked aircraft. I plan on making this series a regular thing as aircraft are reworked or new from the factory as a handful of folks seem to appreciate the quick start information.
Other Guides
Honorable Mentions
Huge thanks to Laura, Jarno and the rest of the team for another opportunity to assist with yet another Infinite Flight aircraft. I wish I could express the excitement that I had when I first found out that this aircraft was going to come to Infinite Flight. I was happy to help when they reached out looking for assistance with data and other reference materials. Really happy with the outcome of this product and hope all enjoy it as much as we all do ❤️
I hope you enjoy this aircraft as much as I did in making this guide! Now get out there and have fun! ✈️
Beta Testing Insight
Huge thanks to the Beta Testers! Lots of questions were asked which often prompted the need to fix an issue. There were two common phrases that was often mentioned on numerous occasions and it below is that phrase.
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“This plane is so much fun, I had no idea…”
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“I think this is my new favorite plane”
Curious to hear your feedback if you too can relate to any of the above statements. 😁
Editor Notes
Being fortunate to fly this plane as my full time job IRL and seeing the arguments from both sides or wanting something that has a longer range or that this plane is pointless, I’ve told folks,
- “This is the plane you never knew you wanted but will come to love”
Give it a chance, and explore. It can literally get in and out of any airport and will most certainly surprise you with its potential. You’ll thank me later… or not. 😋
~ DeerCrusher (Matt)