Bombardier has relocated its first Challenger 605 to Wichita, Kansas to begin a 200h flight-test programme leading to certification of the updated large business jet in the fourth quarter.
Built on the same assembly line as the current Challenger 604, the aircraft completed a four-flight production test programme in Montreal, Canada before being flown to Bombardier’s flight-test centre in Wichita.
A second Challenger 605, with redesigned interior and new cabin management system, will join the flight-test programme in July. Scheduled to enter service in the third quarter of 2007, the aircraft will replace the 604 in production.
A major change from the 604 is the new Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 integrated flightdeck, developed from that in the super mid-size Challenger 300. “The basic idea was to model the cockpit on the 300, but to retain some of the 604 concepts so we can maintain a common type rating,†says Capt Frank Magnusson, senior engineering test pilot.
The aircraft is equipped with Collins’ integrated flight information system (IFIS), which provides electronic charts and graphical weather. “We used the electronic charts on the first flight,†says Magnusson. XM and Universal datalink weather was to be added last week.
Flight International
Built on the same assembly line as the current Challenger 604, the aircraft completed a four-flight production test programme in Montreal, Canada before being flown to Bombardier’s flight-test centre in Wichita.
A second Challenger 605, with redesigned interior and new cabin management system, will join the flight-test programme in July. Scheduled to enter service in the third quarter of 2007, the aircraft will replace the 604 in production.
A major change from the 604 is the new Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 integrated flightdeck, developed from that in the super mid-size Challenger 300. “The basic idea was to model the cockpit on the 300, but to retain some of the 604 concepts so we can maintain a common type rating,†says Capt Frank Magnusson, senior engineering test pilot.
The aircraft is equipped with Collins’ integrated flight information system (IFIS), which provides electronic charts and graphical weather. “We used the electronic charts on the first flight,†says Magnusson. XM and Universal datalink weather was to be added last week.
Flight International
