Begins Accelerated Maturity Program

Aero-News has learned Embraer’s fourth Phenom 100 took off for the first time on March 26 from Embraer’s Gavião Peixoto plant, in outstate São Paulo, Brazil. The event marked the beginning of the Phenom 100’s maturity campaign that will simulate, via an intensive flight schedule, real operating conditions, including exposure to extreme hot and cold weather.

"The fourth aircraft will play a significant role in the Phenom 100 program," said Luís Carlos Affonso, Embraer Executive Vice-President, Executive Jets. "The maturity campaign is intended to confirm the jet’s quality and high-utilization characteristics."

At the present time, Embraer is performing certification tests with the first three aircraft. So far, the flight tests, totaling 530 hours, have already checked flutter and stall, flight quality, and performance and the Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), and other systems and features of the Phenom 100.

Certification for the Phenom 100 is expected in mid-2008. Embraer expects to deliver between 10 and 15 jets by the end of this year, and the first customer Phenom 100 is already in preassembly.

FMI: www.embraer.com