Jason Unrau
Northern News Services
Friday, January 26, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Few were pleased with the frigid temperatures earlier this month, but those over at Adlair Aviation were, as aerospace giant Raytheon cold weather-tested its latest "business aircraft."

Called the Hawker 4000, the $29 million (US) jet was put through the paces recently to determine how it behaves in sub-zero temperatures.

"Had we not got this cold snap they would've gone somewhere else," said Ted Oliveira, Adlair's aviation manager. "The plane has just been certified but they are trying to expand the certification envelope."

Loosely translated, this means expanding the weather conditions the aircraft can safely operate in. For example, some tests are as simple as determining how much power the plane needs to open the door after it has sat on the tarmac in -30 C for several hours.

"The plane was left outside in the -35 C temperatures and started up without any external assistance each morning, demonstrating that this modern VIP transport can also be tough and independent," said Tim Miller, one of two test pilots in town with Raytheon's eight-person cold weather test crew.

Adlair owner Paul Laserich said Raytheon is not the first company to test its aircraft in Yellowknife.

Bombardier and Gulfstream have also hired Laserich's facilities for ground support in their own cold weather-testing programs.

"It's nice to have Yellowknife recognized as a cold weather-testing site," said Laserich, adding the NWT capital is in competition with Iqaluit and Alaskan locations in this capacity.

"It helps the local economy... eight guys came down (with the Hawker) and were in town for three days so it's a good spinoff."