Bombardier's new mid-size Continental business jet is progressing ahead of schedule with the cutting of the first metal.
"This represents an important milestone for the Continental programme," says John Holding, Bombardier Aerospace's vice-president of engineering and product development. "We are now ahead of schedule and are successfully graduating into detail design and preliminary manufacturing."
The first metal cut at Bombardier's Montreal plant was the uplock fitting for the nose landing gear . The 400 specialists from the Continental's risk sharing partners are soon due to return to their home countries to begin the detailed design phase.
The Continental was launched at Le Bourget in June and has already picked up 39 orders. The aircraft was conceived out of a series of detailed focus groups with business aircraft users - both from the front and back.
The aircraft will have a range of 5,740km (3,100nm) so can link Dubai with cities such as Beijing, Lusaka and Rome. It will fly at Mach 0.82 but will also have the advantage of being able to use 5,000ft airfields with eight passengers.
Bombardier has positioned the Continental in the niche between the Challenger 604 and the Learjet 60. The aircraft will be offered at a lower cost than all other mid-size business jets, says Bombardier.
First flight is expected in mid-2001 with certification due in September 2002.
Source: Flight Daily News
