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Global Express is on schedule for its first flight this month.
Bombardier executives arrived in Farnborough yesterday flushed with the success of last week's roll-out of what they claim is the world's most advanced business aircraft.
Bombardier Aerospace president Robert Brown will be heading a press conference at 10am today where he is expected to pay tribute again to the partnership approach which has seen nine partners from six countries participating in a risk and technology sharing project.
Monday's roll-out at Bombardier's de Havilland plant in Toronto, Ontario marked the "culmination of a great deal of hard work, determination, skill and leadership over the past years", says Brown.
"When we decided to proceed with this project we took a major leap forward in business aviation," he says. "The Global Express is a clean-slate design based on proven state-of-the-art technology which we have successfully transferred and merged to achieve superiority on all fronts."
More than 2,100 guests including Canada's prime minister Jean Chrétien attended the unveiling of the new aircraft and were welcomed by a 1,000-voice choir made up of employees from the partnership companies and 300 singers from various Ontario choirs. The theme of the day's event was "The Power of Global Vision" and in keeping with the concept the aircraft was unveiled to the accompaniment of an original score by composer Réné Dupére.
Many of the partners are here at Farnborough showing their graphics and videos featuring their involvement in the project.
They include:
BMW Rolls-Royce with the BR710 powerplant;
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan for the wing;
Messier-Dowty International of Canada for the nose and main landing gear systems;
Sextant Avionique of France for the flight control systems and optional head-up flight display system;
Parker Bertea Aerospace of the USA for the fuel and hydraulic systems;
Honeywell of the USA for the avionics;
Lucas Aerospace of the UK for electrical systems;
AlliedSignal Aerospace of the USA for auxiliary power;
Liebherr of France for the environmental control systems.
Chairman Laurent Beaudoin, who will be the first of 52 customers for the aircraft, says: "The Global Express is an aircraft for our times and it is an aircraft for the future.
"It will provide forward-looking corporations and governments with a powerful asset to cope with the fast-paced requirements of a global economy and government decision making."
The Global Express is now set to go head-to-head with Gulfstream V. Both aircraft are capable of flying 12,000km (6,500nm) with city pairings such as London-Singapore, Tokyo-Miami and Paris-Buenos Aires.
Source: Flight Daily News
