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The Legacy 500 was the first jet in its category with fly-by-wire flight controls.
Residing in a niche of Embraer’s making, the midsize Legacy 500 is a value proposition in today’s pre-owned marketspace, Embraer specialists say.
Embraer impressed the market when it introduced the Legacy 500 and the smaller Legacy 450 in 2014 and 2015, respectively. They featured fly-by-wire (FBW) flight controls with full envelope protection and pilots’ sidestick controllers—the first jets in their category so equipped.
Within four years, Embraer unveiled the Praetor 500 midsize and Praetor 600 super-midsize derivatives. The Praetor 500 is based on the Legacy 450 and the 600 on the Legacy 500, improved with new swept winglets, increased fuel capacity and more powerful Honeywell HTF 7500E turbofans for better performance and range. The Praetors were certified in 2019.
The 2,900 nm-range Legacy 450 (EMB-545 type) can be converted into a 3,340-nm range Praetor 500. The process involves replacing level-sensing wiring in the fuel tanks, moving over-wing gravity fueling ports, relocating the fuel-measurement system, and reinforcing the wing ribs to hold additional weight. The adjustments require updating the flight-control system and Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics. New swept winglets are installed.
Embraer completed the first Legacy 450/Praetor 500 conversion at its Executive Jets Service Center at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and delivered the jet in June 2020.
EMB-550 airframes built as Legacy 500s, however, cannot similarly be upgraded to Praetor 600s because of system changes in the newer model.
Ryan Scott, president of New Century, Kansas-based aircraft dealer JetAviva, well remembers Embraer’s transition from building Legacys to Praetors. Prior to joining JetAviva in 2021, having led sales for startup Boom Supersonic, Scott worked 29 years for Embraer and helped found its Executive Jets division.
“We knew that when we were building the Praetors, we unfortunately would have to bastardize the Legacy 500 because there was no financial way to take that airplane and make it into the Praetor 600,” says Scott. “[The Legacy 500] is a standalone airplane.”
Typically seating eight passengers, the Legacy 500 is powered by two Honeywell HTF 7500Es, each producing 6,540 lb. of thrust at takeoff, and fitted with Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics. At max takeoff weight (38,360 lb.), it requires 4,084 ft. of runway to depart on a standard day at sea level and 2,122 ft. to land.
Legacy 500 max cruise speed is 466 ktas. Max range with four passengers, two pilots and NBAA IFR reserves is 3,125 nm, Embraer says, enabling nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Honolulu or from Teterboro, New Jersey, to London. JetAviva executives say they have seen max range of 3,200-3,400 nm.
The Aviation Week Fleet Discovery Database counted 83 in-service Legacy 500s in October, of which 46 were based in North America and 16 each in Latin America and western Europe. One aircraft was in the possession of a third party.
‘A Lot of Airplane’
There were nine pre-owned Legacy 500s for sale on and off the market in early October, with an average sales price this year of $13,875,000, said Scott and Egan Rzonca, JetAviva sales operations specialist. Other types that compete for sales with the Legacy 500 are Bombardier Challenger 300/350, the Gulfstream G280, and the Cessna Citation Longitude.
“With what you get in a Legacy 500 for $13.8 million, that’s a lot of airplane for the money,” says Rzonca. “A $14-million airplane with fly-by-wire, low cabin altitude, a big cabin and all the technology. That airplane is probably underpriced in today’s market.”
Sales of the Legacy 500 were slow last year, and they stay on the market longer than some other aircraft, says Rzonca. Buyer interest picked up in late July and August, mainly due to price reductions, he reports.
The Legacy 500 also competes within its own family. Flying to 4,018 nm, the Praetor 600 outclasses the Legacy 500 on range and has an average retail price (the average price for a mid-time, average aircraft at the end of the previous quarter) of $23.3 million, according to the Aircraft Bluebook. The smaller Praetor 500 (ex-Legacy 450), is a closer comparison on range, flying to 3,340 nm with four passengers, but retails for $19.9 million.
Says Scott: “We have customers asking us, why don’t I just go get a Legacy 500? I get a bigger cabin; I get the same range and it’s actually less expensive than the few Praetor 500s that are out there now. [The Legacy 500] sits in an interesting spot. We think that airplane is one of the few value airplanes out there right now.”
Cabin Accommodations
The Legacy 500 has a flat-floor, stand-up cabin measuring 6-ft. high, 6-ft., 10-in. wide, and 68-ft. in length. The most popular cabin layout has double club seating in the front and single club seating aft with a three-place divan on the right side and a belted lavatory.
There is ample internal baggage space behind the lavatory—enough to fit “99% of everything you need for every trip,” Scott says. The cabin altitude of 6,000 ft. compares favorably with competing types.
Legacy 500s have inspections every 12 months with major inspections at 60 and 120 months. Engines inspections are on condition.
Total fixed costs of operating a Legacy 500 average $900,000 with variable costs of $1.85 million, for a total annual budget of $2.75 million or $6,111 per hour (assuming 450 hours per year), JetAviva executives say.
BCA welcomes comment and insight from aircraft dealers and brokers for its monthly 20/Twenty pre-owned aircraft market feature. The focus aircraft for November is the Cessna Citation Latitude and for December, the Daher Kodiak 100. To participate, contact [email protected].
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