Bombardier Business Aircraft has announced that a third Global 7000 flight test vehicle (FTV3) has successfully completed its maiden flight.
FTV3 joins a test program that launched in November of last year and which, five months into testing, saw the Global 7000 aircraft set a record as the largest business jet to operate with a top speed of Mach 0.995, the closest to the sound barrier for a jet of this size.
Known as ‘The Navigator’, the FTV3 will be used to test the jet’s advanced avionics and electrical system performance. Bombardier claims it is the first production aircraft to be equipped with a dual head-up display (HUD), which improves operational efficiency and safety in both good and poor visibility, while reducing pilot workload.
Michel Ouellette, senior vice president of the Global 7000 and Global 8000 program, said, “The Global 7000 business jet is a highly sophisticated, state-of-the-art aircraft, and we are pleased that our flight test vehicles have been showing a high degree of maturity.
“Our test program’s development and certification schedule is on track, and the addition of our third flight test vehicle is in line with our commitment for certification in 2018 as we accumulate more flight hours.”
During the 2017 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE), which is to be held on May 22-24 at the Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland, visitors can visit the Global 7000 mockup at Bombardier’s booth (Z110).
