Mitsubishi Aircraft resumed test flights of its MRJ flight test aircraft (FTA) after carrying out structural and software changes. The...
Mitsubishi Aircraft resumed test flights of its MRJ flight test aircraft (FTA) after carrying out structural and software changes.
The FTA-1 flew for 90 minutes off the pacific coast during its fourth flight on Wednesday, after taking off from the Nagoya Airport. The aircraft has been grounded since performing its third flight on 27 November 2015.
Mitsubishi had applied temporary strengthening with additional plates to the aircraft's wing roots and fuselage frame above the center wing, which was identified during structural tests before maiden flight on November 11.
For production aircraft, these parts will be redesigned.
In Dec 2015, the Japanese airframer announced the fourth delay to the program, which postponed its maiden delivery by two years to 2018.
The 70 to 90 seat singe aisle aircraft family is the second Japanese commercial passenger aircraft program after the YS-11 turboprop airliner developed in the 1960s.
The MRJ flight test program will involve five flight test prototypes, flying more than 2000 flight hours in Japan and United States.
The flight tests in the US are scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2016, from the MRJ base at Grant County International Airport at Moses Lake in Washington State.
The FTA-1 flew for 90 minutes off the pacific coast during its fourth flight on Wednesday, after taking off from the Nagoya Airport. The aircraft has been grounded since performing its third flight on 27 November 2015.
Mitsubishi had applied temporary strengthening with additional plates to the aircraft's wing roots and fuselage frame above the center wing, which was identified during structural tests before maiden flight on November 11.
For production aircraft, these parts will be redesigned.
In Dec 2015, the Japanese airframer announced the fourth delay to the program, which postponed its maiden delivery by two years to 2018.
The 70 to 90 seat singe aisle aircraft family is the second Japanese commercial passenger aircraft program after the YS-11 turboprop airliner developed in the 1960s.
The MRJ flight test program will involve five flight test prototypes, flying more than 2000 flight hours in Japan and United States.
The flight tests in the US are scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2016, from the MRJ base at Grant County International Airport at Moses Lake in Washington State.
