In The Works: Embraer Legacy 450/500

Embraer began taxi tests of Legacy 500 Serial Number 001 at its São Jose dos Campos plant in March. The Legacy 500 program’s fly-by-wire development is on track, said Marco Pellegrini, senior v-p of operations and COO for Embraer Executive Jets. First flight of the Legacy 500 is anticipated in the third quarter of this year and certification and entry into service in late 2013 or early 2014. The 450 program follows that of the 500 but is advancing more quickly as technology and lessons learned with its larger sibling are quickly applied in the 450. The Legacy 450 is slated to fly in the second quarter of next year and enter service in the second quarter of 2014.