FLIGHT TESTING
Continuing E190- and E195-E2
development work has seen E195-E2
MSN20.041 reconfigured with a new cabin
interior with first-class staggered seats for
its appearance at June 2019’s Paris Airshow
and a world demonstration tour to Asia,
Europe, North America, and Oceania.
Embraer says that E190-E2 and E195-E2
static tests have demonstrated a “good
match” between results and calculations.
Full-scale fatigue testing, which goes up to
three aircraft “lives,” has seen completion
of 10,000 cycles before the specimen was
updated to the latest design configuration
for further testing at the end of 2019.
Main and nose landing-gear testing has
been taken to 20,000 and 40,000 cycles,
respectively, and Embraer plans to finish
the tests at five “lives.” Component fatigue
testing has been completed, with minor
findings that have been corrected,
according to the manufacturer.
MITSUBISHI SPACEJET
FAA authorization for certification flight
tests has brought the Mitsubishi Aircraft
(MitAC) MRJ regional-jet, recently
re-branded as SpaceJet, closer to gaining
airworthiness approval, albeit more than
seven years behind the original schedule.
The Japanese manufacturer expects the 81-
to 92-seat SpaceJet M90 (formerly MRJ90)
to receive certification and enter service
by mid-2020.
Meanwhile, to meet US major-airline
“scope clause” requirements specifying
aircraft weight and seat numbers, the
smaller SpaceJet M100 (previously dubbed
MRJ70, and scheduled for launch in late
2019) needs capacity for 76 passengers in a
three-class configuration within an
86,000lb maximum take-off weight limit.
Also under long-term consideration is a
100-seat M200 development.
After an audit showed that four initial
flight-test aircraft (FTAs 1 to 4) did not
meet certification requirements, MitAC
has committed the seventh and tenth
customer aircraft to final compliance tests.
Aircraft 7, the first series-production
example destined for launch operator All
Nippon Airways (ANA), will perform
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functional and reliability (“route-proving”)
flights, operational evaluation, and
customer work. Test-instrumented M90
Number 10 is to qualify SpaceJet avionicsequipment
configuration.
With over 2,600 FH logged by mid-
2019, the four MRJ90/SpaceJet M90 FTAs
will account for about 80% of such work.
Ground-based FTA5 is undergoing
software-release testing in Japan.
MitAC plans to use SpaceJet M90s 7
and 10 for flight-test tasks such as
environmental-control system, high- and
low-temperature climate, high-intensity
radiated field (HIRF), and lightning tests.
FTAs 1 to 4 have been modified to the
latest design configuration to meet
certification requirements.
Continuing preparation for SpaceJet
service readiness has seen MitAC submit
technical publications to the Japan Civil
Aviation Bureau, deliver a full-flight
simulator to ANA, and establish a support
centre in Montreal, Canada. SpaceJet
customer support also will be enhanced by
MitAC’s acquisition of Bombardier’s
Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) business, which
it expects to complete by mid-2020. The
deal, which is seen as a key step in
expanding Mitsubishi’s aircraft business in
North America and then globally, includes
all CRJ maintenance, marketing,
refurbishment, sales, and support activities.
UNITED AIRCRAFT IRKUT MC-21-300
In June 2019, Irkut reported that the
European Union Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) had completed a second round of
MC-21-300 certification tests, during which
the regulator evaluated aircraft behavior in
various flight modes at altitudes of up to
12,000m. The flights involved aircraft
performance at high and low take-off
weights and over a range of center-ofgravity
positions.
Irkut says that the operation of the
integrated aircraft-control system in
“normal” mode has been verified.
Furthermore, EASA pilots have sampled
aircraft behavior at minimum control
speed for take-off and landing, including
with simulated engine failure.
Flights are performed at the
Gromov Flight Research Institute’s
Ramenskoye airfield near Moscow. The
MC-21 has been operated at up to 12,500m
altitude and speeds of up to M0.89 on
flights of up to 6.2hr duration.
“Performance efficiency of all systems was
confirmed in a wide range of speeds and
altitudes,” says the manufacturer.
After laying out the third MC-21 in a
163-passenger, two-class cabin
configuration, the manufacturer is
preparing a fourth example, which in
September had not yet flown, with a highdensity
fit that accommodates more than
210 seats. \\
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13
14
12 // Lightning test of the
MRJ, which was rebranded
this year by Mitsubishi as the
SpaceJet
13 // The MRJ engine on a
Pratt & Whitney testbed
14 // The second MC-21-300
with the latest livery takes off
for a flight test
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