CRJ1000 First Flight Expected This Month

An integration fault in the Bombardier CRJ1000’s fly-by-wire rudder control system has forced the company to install a software revision in the prototype destined to make the type’s first flight, resulting in delays to ground testing and contributing to the postponement of first flight. CRJ program director Jean-Guy Blondin told AIN that he expects the airplane to fly in “very early September,” adding that Bombardier would meet its fourth-quarter 2009 delivery guarantees if it flies by the end of the summer.