By Justin Wastnage in London
Austrian general aviation manufacturer Diamond Aircraft performed the first flight of its D-Jet 5-seat very light jet at its Canadian facility on Tuesday.
Following a series of high speed taxi tests and rotation tests, the prototype (MSN001) took off at 17:08 on Tuesday at London, Ontario airport (pictured below). The test flight lasted 1h06min, during which 19 distinct test points were explored, the company says.
After take-off and climb to flight level 120 (12,000ft/3,640m), the landing gear was retracted and flaps checked. The aircraft reached a speed of 160kt (300km/h) during the trial, which also tested the Williams FJ33 engine and systems tested. A normal landing was performed with a crosswind of 5kt.
The chase aircraft was piloted by Christian Dries, Diamond chief executive, who says: "We are absoluteley delighted with the flight," which he says went exactly as planned.
D-Jet certification is planned for 2008.
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All photos © Diamond Aircraft |
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Watch the video of the Diamond D-Jet first flight from Diamond Aircraft's website
Source: Flight International
