Building Will Be Constructed To LEED Environmental
Standard
Bombardier Aerospace Tuesday
celebrated the ground breaking for the first CSeries aircraft
building in Québec, Canada. Located at Mirabel, 45 minutes
north of Montréal, the Complete Integrated Aircraft Systems
Test Area (CIASTA) is a testing and systems-proving facility that
will house a virtual CSeries test aircraft. The CIASTA will test
aircraft systems for reliability and functionality one year before
the first prototype aircraft flies.
Attended by Bombardier’s employees, suppliers, partners,
customers and the media, the groundbreaking lays the path for the
new aircraft’s entry into service in 2013. “It’s
a red-letter day for the program and an important day for
Bombardier Aerospace,” noted Guy Hachey, President and Chief
Operating Officer, Bombardier Aerospace in his remarks to the
assembled guests. “Today we begin work on the facilities that
will be the site of the first CSeries test aircraft. Eventually we
will erect a complex of buildings here that will total
860,000 square feet – that’s the size of 15 football
fields – to produce the CSeries family of
aircraft.”
The CIASTA will be constructed as a Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) building, the first such building for
Bombardier Aerospace in the world. LEED is a third-party
certification program and an internationally accepted benchmark for
the design, construction and operation of high-performance green
buildings. The design and construction of the CIASTA is on track
and is expected to be ready for test rig assembly next year.
Wieland-Dafco Québec Inc. and Ghafari Associates LLC have
been contracted to construct the building.
Bombardier C300 Artist's
Concept
“We seek consistency and uniformity when it comes to being
greener whether it’s our aircraft or the facilities in which
they are tested and built,” said Mr. Hachey. The CIASTA will
house, among other things, the CSeries aircraft Integrated Systems
Test and Certification Rig (ISTCR) or Iron Bird as it is usually
called. This will be the first complete test vehicle enabling
earlier product maturity. Flight control systems, avionics,
electrical and environmental controls will be tested one year ahead
of the actual flight test program. Other test articles will include
an Interiors Rig, a Systems Integration Test Stand (SITS), an
Engineering Simulator (ESIM) and Flight Controls Integration Lab
(FCIL).
The first CSeries aircraft test article - a fuselage test barrel
- arrived ahead of schedule at its Saint-Laurent, Québec
site from China on August 19, 2009. The test barrel is now being
prepared for fatigue testing including pressure cycle testing
representative of the life of the aircraft.
Since launching the CSeries family of aircraft at the
Farnborough Air Show in July 2008, Bombardier has recorded firm
orders for 50 CS100 and CS300 aircraft from Deutsche Lufthansa AG
and Lease Corporation International Group.