BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE has signed up Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) as a major risk-sharing partner in its recently launched de Havilland Dash 8-400 70-seat turboprop programme.
The Japanese company will be responsible for the design and manufacture of the aircraft's forward-, mid- and aft-fuselage sections, wing-to-body fairing, and vertical and horizontal stabilisers. Bombardier will build the wing and cockpit section and will carry out final assembly of the aircraft at de Havilland's Downsview, Ontario plant in Canada.
According to Robert Brown, president, Bombardier Aerospace Group - North America, the deal "...further reinforces Bombardier's business associations in the Asia/Pacific region". MHI is already a risk-sharing partner in the Global Express business-jet programme, contributing the wing and centre fuselage sections.
Other participants in the Dash 8-400 programme include Pratt & Whitney, whose PW150 turboprop engine was chosen to power the aircraft in April; Dowty Aerospace, selected in June to supply six-bladed all-composite propellers; and Menasco, named in July as the supplier of the aircraft's landing-gear system.
The first flight of the Dash 8-400 is due in late-1997, followed by certification in 1998.
Source: Flight International
