After a spotting trip to VNY on Saturday, I decided to return to an extremely fun aircraft to fly, the Bombardier Challenger 350. Business jets are a hobby of mine that I fly from time to time on Infinite Flight, though unfortunately, they’re few and far between and there’s only one that isn’t a version of a commercial airliner, due to a lack of demand and licensing issues with a certain Savannah-based company (my understanding is that they’ve eased up on the licensing to depict their products, like with GeminiJets and NG Models releasing G550 and G650 models, but are very secretive with the technical data for their airplanes, even making major Part 135 and Part 91 operators jump through several hoops to get ahold of it for maintenance). Anyway, after seeing a number of Challenger 350s of Flexjet at VNY on Saturday, I decided to do a cross-country trip with it to White Plains, New York.
Server: Solo
Operator: Flexjet
Aircraft: Bombardier Challenger 350
Origin: Van Nuys Airport, Van Nuys, California (VNY)
Destination: Westchester County Airport, White Plains, New York (HPN)
Callsign: LXJ571
Route: KVNY-KHPN
Seat: N/A
Time En Route: 4 Hours 47 Minutes
Walking to our aircraft out back of a couple of the many business jets hangars that line VNY’s runways. Due to congestion on the Flexjet ramp today, our and a company G450 are parked on Western Jet Aviation’s ramp. At least we didn’t have to walk over here, with the FBO generously having us driven to the jet.
Taxiing out between Western Jet Aviation and Syncro’s (an aircraft parts supplier) hangars. Immediately to our left is an ultra-rare McDonnell-Douglas MD-87, registered N411RE. Due to the scarcity of aircraft-specific parts, as well as the general cost of maintaining and operating an MD-80, she hasn’t flown in a few years. Hopefully that’ll change, but we’re not expecting it to be anytime soon.
Sitting at the hold short line and starting our starboard engine as a striking G550 registered N550NM lands from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport after a 4 and a half-hour flight. Something that’ll do Mach 0.9 at 51,000 feet takes no time at all to fly cross-country.
Takeoff from VNY’s Runway 16R. Except for the sound of the engines, which itself is pretty quiet, the cabin is as silent as a tomb. Our 7 fellow passengers seem to be engrossed in reading or, like us, watching the world go by out the windows.
Climbing over the edge of Angeles National Forest near Antelope Valley. Off in the distance, almost obscured by the winglet, is the town of Valencia and the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park.
Cruising on a clear day at 37,000 feet over Kansas. It’s an absolutely fantastic day to go flying, and there’s few better ways to do it than to fly on a Challenger 350.
In our final descent into the rolling hills of the Hudson Valley. Westchester County Airport is located in some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States. Perhaps the only places that see a lot of business jet traffic in the U.S. that beat it in beauty are Bozeman, Jackson Hole, or Aspen.
Late afternoon arrival on HPN’s Runway 34. Welcome to the Empire State!
Clearing the runway while taxiing to the ramp. Across Runway 16/34, there’s a bunch of Breeze metal in town, which isn’t surising, considering the scale of their operation. Seems slots at an airport that primarly sees private jets are cheaper than ones at JFK or LGA.
Deplaned at the Signature Aviation HPN West FBO in the Golden Hour. Flying private is always a fun experience, even if we have to share the jet with several other people. Depending on the distance and the aircraft used, it can be cheaper than first class on some ultra-long-haul routes before miles factor into the ticket cost. We’ll definitely be coming back to the Challenger 350 and Flexjet in the near future.