Million Air Dallas in December took delivery of the newest jet to join its charter/management fleet, a fly-by-wire Embraer Legacy 500. The eight-passenger jet features a 6-foot, 10-inch-wide flat-floor, cabin with a 6-foot ceiling height; two seats equipped with massage/heating systems; a fully equipped wet galley; and an entertainment system with 17.5-inch and personal 9-inch monitors, Blu-ray player and Gogo Business Aviation Internet connectivity.

Captain Stephen Petit and pilot Rory Keul completed type-rating training on the Legacy 500 at FlightSafety International’s St. Louis learning center in time for delivery of the new jet. Petit also flies a Legacy 650 owned by the same buyer who purchased the Legacy 500, and both aircraft are on the Million Air charter certificate.

“This is the first experience with fly-by-wire, both for Rory and myself,” said Petit. “I was really kind of skeptical about no mechanical linkage of the controls. It was kind of unnerving to me, but once I got into it and saw the redundancy in the flight control system, that was gone really quick. The handling of the simulator and the airplane is almost identical. I didn’t see any differences.”

Although Petit and Keul were supposed to fly the delivery trip from Embraer’s São José dos Compos, Brazil, factory back to Addison Airport in Dallas, they were tied up in Legacy 650 recurrent training, so Embraer pilots did the delivery. By that time, they had completed the type rating training in the Legacy 500, then they flew several legs over two days with the Embraer pilots to get familiar with the airplane. “That’s all it took,” Petit said, although he admitted that he is still learning more details of the new jet’s systems and Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion flight deck. “It’s going to take a while to learn, window after window,” he said. “We’re learning new stuff every day.”

Petit enjoys the Legacy 500’s flight-path stable flight control philosophy and the protections that the fly-by-wire system offers. “It won’t let you stall, overspeed or underspeed. Steep turns, that’s like nothing. In every other airplane it’s work managing power and pitch. In this, the steep turn is like walking. There’s nothing to it.”

The Legacy 500’s handling, despite the electronic flight control system, “is another great aspect,” he said. “Whether you’re taking off at 26,000 pounds or 36,000 pounds, the flight computer compensates, and it feels exactly the same each time. Normally you can feel when an airplane is heavy, but this is the same each time. It’s really cool.” Petit also likes the Legacy’s autothrottles and autobrake system. “I’ve never flown with autothrottles, and that’s nice,” he said.

Fly-by-wire also helps dampen out rough rides for passengers. “The passengers love it,” Petit said, especially the 6,000-foot cabin altitude at the 45,000-foot maximum altitude and the low noise levels in the cabin. 

This Legacy 500 is scheduled to have the optional Rockwell Collins HGS-3500 compact head-up display and EVS-3000 enhanced vision system installed after they are certified, which should take place shortly. “I’m excited to get that,” Petit said. The Legacy 500 already is equipped with the necessary wiring to accommodate the upgrade.

“So far it’s amazing,” he concluded. “For this price range and category to have this technology, I’m very impressed. It is a pleasure to fly it.”