Bombardier CSeries CS300 Achieves First Flight

By Seth Miller / Published February 27, 2014 / Photos by author
The Bombardier CS300, the newest commercial aircraft on the market, made its maiden flight just after 11:00 a.m. today at Montreal’s Mirabel airport. The larger CSeries variant follows the smaller CS100, which took to the skies 17 months ago.
EXTRA: Bombardier CSeries Completes First Flight
For Bombardier, this is a significant step forward for a project which has seen its share of challenges. As a clean-sheet” aircraft design, such challenges are not unexpected; Boeing and Airbus experienced similar delays with the 787 and A350, respectively. Bombardier’s new CEO, Alain M. Bellemare, described the event as “an inflection point” in the CSeries project “where we’re finally reaching momentum and we can go to market with a solid product for our customers.”

The test flight came on the second day of the three-day window Bombardier allotted for the event. Initial plans to run the test flight on Thursday were hampered by cold weather, wind and snow earlier in the week in Mirabel; that weather prevented final pre-flight testing from happening. It is colder today than earlier in the week – probably the coldest first flight ever – but the low temperatures did not prevent the first flight.
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With both the CS100 and CS300 now flying, the company is able to aggressively push
towards the completion of the flight test regimen and move towards
entry in service. It is also worth noting that the CSeries plan is somewhat unusual in having both types flying test flights concurrently rather than a sequential process of EIS on the first followed by testing of the second. Delays in the CS100 test program can be blamed in part for these circumstances.

The CSeries aircraft promise a more comfortable passenger cabin combined with lower costs for the airlines and quieter operations for the passengers and those who live near the airports. And, while the interior of the CS300 is not yet on display to media, the noise aspect
was demonstrated during the first flight departure; the CRJ900 – a quiet plane in its own right – was notably louder than the CS300 flying just ahead of it during the first flight departure.
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Bombardier is targeting the 100-150 passenger market with the CSeries jets, a space which has been mostly abandoned by Boeing and Airbus and one which Embraer has indicated it will not enter. In that regard Bombardier has tremendous potential for the CSeries.


The company has 243 firm orders today and Mike Arcamone, president of commercial
aircraft, suggests that additional orders are yet to come, “We have been in commercial discussions with a number of customers. Many of them have visited us in Mirabel. …We are tracking to our plan of 20 customers and 300 firm orders by EIS and are very confident in the status of our orders.”
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In addition to confidence in the order book, Bombardier is expressing confidence in the flight test plan and progress towards EIS. With the CS300 in the air this morning, Bombardier had four CSeries test aircraft flying, working through the check-list.

Rob Dewar, vice president of the CSeries program, notes that the test plan is running (mostly) on schedule and that the most challenging tasks have already been completed, “The majority of the risks are behind us. It is now about executing the plan and we’re making good progress on that.”
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Arcamone sees potential now only for one result, “There is no turning back, only moving forward. And we will do this with much confidence.” Below is a slideshow of photos from the event.

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Cover Image: Courtesy of Seth Miller
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Contact the editor at benet.wilson@airwaysnews.com
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