Just curious: The Stage 3 Noise abatement ruling just went into effect 12/31/15.

Now a number of older Jets that are non-compliant are up for sale.

I noticed a few Lear 20 series and was wondering what the cost of a Hush Kit would cost??

Anyone know or have a reasonable guess? Im pretty sure the really invasive kits (engine tear-down, component replacement, etc.) are very expensive. Not sure about the less invasive add-on types.

I'm told that hush-kitting a Gulfstream III is ~$780k and it weighs ~370#.

The less invasive hushkits, like the ones for the GE CJ610 engines on the Lear 20 series, well guess you would have to spend in the vincinity of 60 K - 100 K per engine. Those kits basically are new "tailpipes" and very easy to install..could not tell whether any performance changes on the 20 Lears with the different versions…?

also a very elegant solution had already been certified a long time ago for the GE CF700 powered Falcon 20s and Sabreliners, basically just a different aft-fan exit guide van assy. The original exit vanes had the same number of Stators as the aft-fan blades thereby creating a siren effect..the "new" exit vanes just consist of double the number of exit vanes ( and I think slightly smaller in size) and that made the Falcon 20s and Sabreliners Stage III compliant. No weight change, no performance change, works fine, a company I was with at that time, late 80s early 90's in Europe, we had our F20 mod'ed and if I can remember well at that time it was about 80K or 100K per engine..installation time a day max…

naturally nowadays also these comparatively low cost solutions ( at that time) in most cases match the market value of the airplanes in today's market..but the kits work and do their job..

whether the market for the "big" solutions on G-IIs and G-IIIs and others, for those birds that are not yet mod'ed, will stay intact is another matter..I doubt it…hard to imagine anybody spending 1 Mio USD min on a hushkit plus maybe another 1 Mio on avionics on birds that do not have a real market value anymore...

I think you can get a Lear 20 series hush kit installed for about $100K. At least that is what it was a few years ago when I was poking around. RVSM is also about 100K.

I would be shocked if many would invest this kind of money in this airframe

http://www.controller.com/listings/airc ... earjet-35a

Why hush kit a 20 series when you can get a 35 with plenty of life left in it for this kind of money?

I have no connection to this 35, just using the ad as an example.

Is the lear 35 compliant? If so, then thats a good option.

If there is a list of aircraft that already meet the Stage 3 requiremens, that would be interesting.

Thanks.

you can go here, and download a .pdf from the FAA web-site..

it's huge because it contains all jets ( i.e. transport cat)..have yet to find a list just limited to aircraft below 75K lbs MTOW

http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/advisory_circulars/index.cfm/go/document.information/documentID/22942

guess it is fair to say, that from the earlier generation smaller jets most if not all 731 powered airplanes will meet Stage III noise level certs.

Quite a number of these will also meet ( future…in Europe already present ICAO Stage IV levels..) without any performance limits..

on the hush kits for a lot of the old "straight pipe" models, we seem to have an interesting situation..most of these kits already had been available once when we had the non noise cert cut-off in Europe a long time ago..then it seems some hush kit manufactuerers either dropped out of the biz or suspended production because there was not such an urgent need on the US market because of the ( Stage II) <75K lbs exemptions you had in the US..

some though are still available…or will be available again..

all in all though the older non-hushed birds will go for the scrap yard..even parting out may make no sense, because there will be no market for such airplanes anymore woroldwide in the near future and therefore no need for parts anymore..

I fly Lear 35 and 60; both are compliant. We occasionally borrow a 25 (non-compliant) and the owner is considering hush kits and is expecting to spend $125K. Seems silly as the aircraft is only worth $100-200K.

Klick & Klack: "If I never spent more money on a car, than what it was worth; I'd never put gas in it. "

So, what you're saying is, if you owned a LJ25, with a new interior, new to mid-time engines and all inspections current, you wouldnt spend on a hush kit. Is the DOC that bad on these?

Im guessing there is a lower level of Jet ownership, where a good aircraft can be upgraded, including a hush kit, for around $300k out the door. I dont mean new engines or new avionics just good, solid, serviceable equipment.

Or I could be just nuts.

I think you are very right…

the LJ 25 may be a good example, better than an old non-hushed G-II

The older Learjets, in regards to structures, age very gracefully, if well maintained, much like King Airs and Falcons..

That CJ610 is a wonderful engine….high quality support from GE, they still have a longstanding support committment to the military…T-38s, F-5s etc etc for the J-85..you even can get a new tech compressor from GE by Service Bulletin, should you want to spend the bucks...

I guess a lot of King Air folks here in this forum will correctly agree, that it may make perfect sense, to, let us say, spend a full Blackhawk and Raisbeck treatment on an older C90A, that may approach it's second overhaul on the original motors…and that would be quite a lot more money than a 125K hushkit on a Lear 25..

now in regards to flight profiles, that is another matter…if a Lear 25 satisfies the range requirements of a US owner, that could be perfect…why?..because you in the US have a much more efficient ATC system, which will allow ballistic "stratospheric" jumps from A to B than we have in Europe…in Europe sometimes you simply cannot get those levels on shorter legs, much like in the North Eastern corridor in the US..but in the Mid-West or the West of the US…why not..?

so let's say if one owned a nice RVSM'ed Lear 25 in the US, and let's say it has mid time engines, to spend 125K on a hushkit to keep it in operation for another 5 years..? why not…?

P.S.: and sometimes being "fuel critical" already taxiing out for take-off on longer flights…..makes for sharpened senses, not a bad "state-of-mind" to be in, when operating high performance turbine equipment..keeps you from becoming complacent and keeps you on your toes..…hell, may save you a whole SMS organization...