NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The primary application for the Honeywell RE100 axillary power unit (APU) has long been light and light-medium business jets, including Cessna's Sovereign and XLS models, plus the now out-of-production Learjet 45 and its replacement, the Learjet 75. It is also used by the slow-selling Gulfstream G150.
The new Cessna Citation Latitude, certified in June 2015, also uses the RE100. It fills a gap between Cessna's XLS+ and larger Sovereign+ and directly competes against the Embraer Legacy 450.
The Latitude is proving to be a popular addition to Cessna's product line, and production of RE100 APUs for the jet will account for a big chunk of RE100 production during the forecast period.
Production of business jets in the light and light-medium jet segments will rise through 2020 and decline in 2021 and 2022 due to an anticipated cyclical downturn in the market. It will return to growth in 2023. A downturn could come a year earlier or a year later, but with the last recession now almost 10 years in the past, the chance of another recession in the near future grows ever more likely.
The RE100 has also been selected to serve on Bell's all-new Model 525 Relentless super-midsize helicopter. Bell launched the Model 525 Relentless at Heli-Expo in February 2012. The twin-engine design will be the largest helicopter in Bell's commercial product line when it is certified. It will be capable of carrying 16 passengers in a standard configuration, and Bell has promised a high-capacity configuration seating 20 passengers. The 525 is targeted at the oil and gas, search-and-rescue, and VIP/corporate transport markets.
The 525 program is currently in the middle of its flight test program. Bell once planned to certify the aircraft in 2017, but the fatal crash of a test aircraft led to a lengthy suspension of flight testing. While Bell has since restarted the test program, the 525 is unlikely to achieve certification until late in 2018 or perhaps early 2019.
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