A fourth flight test aircraft from the MRJ regional jet programme has taken its maiden sortie.
In a statement, Mitsubishi Aircraft says FTA-3 took off from Nagoya Airfield at 10:18 local time on 22 November, and landed at the same airport after a 124-minute flight.
The Japanese manufacturer was able to confirm the basic flight characteristics of the aircraft during the flight in the airspace of the Pacific coast. There were six people on board the jet.
Mitsubishi Aircraft
FTA-1 and FTA-4 are already at Mitsubishi’s US test facility at Moses Lake. The airframer is targeting to ferry FTA-2 and FTA-3 to Moses Lake by the end of 2016.
Mitsubishi has said that Moses Lake’s good weather, long runway and airspace availability has allowed for more flexibility in flight planning and also more frequent flight tests.
FTA-5 is meanwhile undergoing engineering and functional tests, and is scheduled to take its first flight this winter.
It is targeting a mid-2018 entry into service for its regional jet.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
