A second Mitsubishi Aircraft MRJ regional jet has departed Nagoya for the airframer’s US flight test base at Moses Lake.
FTA-4 took off from Nagoya Airfield at 09:35 local time on 15 November, and arrived at Guam International airport at 14:14 local time.
The aircraft is expected to make several more stops, and take about a week to reach Moses Lake from Japan.
The first MRJ prototype arrived at Moses Lake flight test centre on 28 September, following a 8,300km journey from Nagoya.
Mitsubishi tells FlightGlobal that FTA-1 has been conducting flight tests for detailed flight characteristics, as well as system tests several times a day. Moses Lake’s good weather, long runway and airspace availability has allowed for more flexibility in flight planning and also more frequent flight tests, it adds.
Mitsubishi’s aim is to have four flight-test aircraft at Moses Lake by the end of 2016, if weather and aircraft conditions are met.
It is targeting a mid-2018 entry into service for its regional jet. While a schedule delay is expected, it has however only said that it has warned launch customer All Nippon Airways of a “risk of delay” of the first MRJ due to “technical reasons”.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
