Bombardier brought its fourth Global 7000 test airplane—FTV 4—to this year’s National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas, making this its public debut.
At last year’s convention, a cabin mockup was at the static display. The airplane’s first flight was on Sept. 28. Like most new designs, the Global 7000 has had its share of ups and downs, but Senior Vice President of Global 7000 and 8000 Programs Michel Ouellette said solid progress is being made. So far, nearly 900 hours of flight testing have been performed. These included heat- and cold-soaking trials, polar flight to evaluate avionics performance, and validation of cabin comfort and ergonomics.
In other news, Bombardier introduced a new fixed-hourly-price maintenance program for its aircraft. Essentially a bolt-on to Bombardier’s long-standing Smart Parts program, the new Smart Services plan uses a fixed monthly billing rate to cover scheduled and unscheduled labor on landing gear overhauls, cabin components, and other systems.