U.S. Certification Expected Shortly, Followed By First Deliveries

Embraer received the type and production certificates for its Phenom 300 executive jet on Thursday from Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Authority (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil – ANAC) in a ceremony held at Company headquarters, in São José dos Campos, Brazil. An FAA type certificate is expected to be issued in the coming weeks.

“When we launched the Phenom 300 program, we wanted to bring an unparalleled product into the light jet category,” said Luís Carlos Affonso, Embraer Executive Vice President, Executive Jets. “Besides delivering a product with unique and innovative features for this class, we are very happy to announce that the Phenom 300 has not only met all original specification targets, but has also surpassed many performance goals.” The Phenom 300’s maximum range, originally designed to be 1,800 nautical miles (3,334 kilometers), has been extended to 1,971 nautical miles with six occupants and NBAA IFR reserves. Runway performance also significantly improved over the initial targets. Takeoff field length, at maximum takeoff weight (MTOW), is now 3,138 feet, considerably better than the original 3,700 feet, while landing distance at maximum landing weight (MLW) improved to 2,621 feet, or 329 feet shorter than the targeted 2,950 feet.

For flights into and out of airports with restrictions due to high temperatures or high elevations, the Phenom 300 exceeded the range targets, resulting, for example, on a range of more than 2000 nm from Aspen, Colorado, U.S. Climb performance also surpassed expectations, allowing the aircraft to depart from sea level at MTOW and reach its operational ceiling of 45,000 feet in only 26 minutes. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW535-E engines, the Phenom 300’s fuel consumption is as much as 6% better than originally estimated.

The jet’s top speed of 453 knots TAS was validated during the flight test campaign. Certified without restrictions, the Phenom 300 is able to fly according to Visual and Instrument Flight Rules, day or night, and into known or forecast icing conditions. The aircraft also operates well within Stage IV external noise requirements. “After working hard to meet design criteria and certification requirements, we are finally approaching the first Phenom 300 delivery. The aircraft’s performance demonstrates the top quality of our engineering,” said Humberto Pereira, Embraer Vice President, Engineering, Executive Jets. “I would also like to congratulate  NAC for their professionalism and competence demonstrated during the Phenom 300 certification campaign.”

The highly intuitive Prodigy flight deck, based on the acclaimed Garmin G1000 avionics suite, was developed from Embraer’s accumulated experience in human factors design. It offers full situational awareness and automation for a low workload, enabling single-pilot operation.

At the same time that Embraer received the type certificate for the Phenom 300, ANAC also issued the production certificate, which is an approval to manufacture the jet in series. The process began in June 2007, and Embraer had to demonstrate that the Phenom 300 Organization Production System  Sistema de Organização da Produção – SOP) complies with the Brazilian aeronautical rules. The main characteristics analyzed by ANAC were project and material controls, manufacturing process, final dispatch and continuous airworthiness, which are part of the Production Organization Manual.

FMI: www.embraer.com