Graham Warwick/MONTREAL
Bombardier has completed the forward fuselage for the first Continental super mid-size business jet. The airframe section was completed four weeks ahead of schedule by Bombardier's Canadair plant in Montreal and will be delivered to the company's Learjet plant in Wichita, Kansas, for final assembly in September.
"All structural components are on schedule for the final line start," says Continental product director Claude Chidiac.
The centre fuselage is being built by Bombardier's Shorts plant in Northern Ireland, the wing by Mitsubishi in Japan, and the aft fuselage and empennage by Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in Taiwan.
The Continental is AIDC's first risk-sharing venture with Bombardier and the Canadian manufacturer sent a team to Taiwan to help harmonise the processes. "AIDC is ramping up to work with Bombardier," says Chidiac. "We are past the point of problems."
First flight of the Continental is set for June next year, leading to certification in September 2002 and first "green" deliveries by December of that year. Although the programme started out a year behind Raytheon's rival super mid-size Hawker Horizon, Bombardier believes the Continental could enter service first.
Bombardier took a number of steps to accelerate the programme which, at 39 months, will be shorter than any previous all-new aircraft certification by the company. Risk-sharing partners were involved earlier, in a joint concept definition phase which preceded the formal launch in June last year.
Certification authority Transport Canada has also been involved in design reviews in a bid to avoid later changes. "The programme has been designed to avoid rework later," says Chidiac.
The first forward fuselage assembled by Canadair is nearing completion, with windshield, airstair door, avionics racks, instrumentation wiring, antennas and even mounts for the galley already installed.
Source: Flight International
