On December 31, 2010 at about 8:00 AM, we departed Ft. Lauderdale for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After stopping in Bangor, Maine, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, France (which is a group of small islands near Newfoundland, Canada), we arrived for a night halt in Santa Maria, Azores, Portugal at 11:45 PM local, 15 minutes before they rang in the New Year on these islands about 700 miles west of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean. Over the next 10 days, we delivered the airplane to Saudi Arabia and made training flights to Morocco, Malta, Greece, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Dubai.
I can now really attest to the amazing capabilities of this very sexy jet. The world is very small at 450 knots. For example, Casablanca, Morocco to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is 2,880 nautical miles straight line, but with routings around relatively unfriendly airspace (like Libya and Israel), this quickly becomes a 3,100+ nautical mile flight. With only one stop, we made this trip in a total of eight hours (including refueling time), and it was very easy and comfortable.
The airplane climbs directly to FL450 with ease. Cruising at that altitude, you really can see the curvature of the Earth. Well above the all of the weather and in smooth air with a cabin altitude of only 6,600 feet, the flight is very comfortable. All of the amenities (useable lavatory, sink, cold drink drawer, hot water, etc.) make the passengers and crew very happy.
The airplane I flew was very well equipped. Some of the more important options for this kind of international flying include HF with SELCAL and Satphone. These "big airplane toys" options are very nicely integrated into the Phenom cockpit and make communication with air traffic control, handlers, etc. a breeze. I also got to make some calls back home to my fiance from 45,000 feet over the middle east, which means I can probably still marry her even though I was having all this fun without her.
It was a great adventure.
-Ben
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