Aviation Technology Group (ATG) has delayed the beginning of flight testing of its Javelin very light jet following vibration problems the aircraft encountered during taxi tests.
The Englewood, Colorado-based company had planned to start flight tests last week from Centennial airport near Denver, but says it now has no firm target date for the rescheduled maiden flight.
The Williams FJ33-powered Javelin suffered a “shimmy”, or high-frequency vibration problem, on the nose landing gear during high-speed taxi tests, ATG says.
ATG says its engineers are analysing the problems to work out an answer, but adds that the company currently has “no idea” how soon a solution will be found.
“The flight-test programme is on hold until our engineers, the flight operations team and the Federal Aviation Administration are all happy; that could be two to three weeks or it could be months,” ATG says.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE/LONDON
Source: Flight International
