Diamond D-Jet flies with upgraded engine

On Sunday, Diamond Aircraft (Booth No. 4707) flew its D-Jet for the first time with the new Williams International FJ33-5A engine (formerly designated FJ33-19), the production powerplant for the single-engine personal jet.

D-Jet S/N 003–the first production-conforming copy of the airplane now that the -5A has been installed–lifted off from Diamond Aircraft’s London, Ontario facility for a 1.4-hour flight and met “all intended test points,” the company said.

“This is an important milestone for the D-Jet program as we will be using this and subsequent aircraft for actual certification flights,” said Diamond Aircraft president Peter Maurer. S/N 003, originally powered by a Williams FJ33-15, was the third D-Jet to join the test fleet when it first flew on April 14.

Following Diamond’s decision in March to upgrade from the FJ33-15 to the FJ33-5A, S/N 003 was reconfigured to accept the new engine, with new engine inlets and fairings, as well as other detail aerodynamic modifications, including production-version winglets. Although the D-Jet will be certified initially with a derated version of the FJ33-5A, the configuration is designed to accept the higher thrust rating that Williams International plans to release in the future.
D-Jet S/N 002, a full-scale fuselage/cabin mockup, is on display here at NBAA’08.