Story ID: 
Mexican Learjet 85 Facility Opens 
By: Chad Trautvetter
Caption: Bombardier Aerospace officially inaugurated its new Learjet 85 component manufacturing facility at the Queretaro Aerospace Park in Mexico.
Word Count: 190
Bombardier Aerospace officially inaugurated its new Learjet 85 component manufacturing facility at the Queretaro Aerospace Park in Mexico. Construction of the 185,000-sq-ft center was completed in July, and fabrication of development parts started soon afterward. Parts for the first Learjet 85 are now being fabricated, Bombardier said. An additional 36,300 sq ft of previously existing space at the Queretaro campus has also been allocated to the Learjet 85 program, for a total of 221,300 sq ft. The Queretaro facility is responsible for building the Learjet 85’s major composite structures, including fuselage lay-up and subsystem installation, wiring harness fabrication and installation, wing assembly and horizontal and vertical stabilizer assemblies. Over the past three months, more than 150 tools, including many major lay-up tools, have been fabricated and shipped to the Mexican Learjet 85 plant. The factory layout makes use of the latest lean manufacturing methodologies, Bombardier said. “We are on target with all of our program objectives, and production of the first composite parts for the Learjet 85 at our Mexico facility is under way,” said Bombardier Business Aircraft Learjet 85 vice president Ralph Acs. The $18.25 million jet, which will be assembled in Wichita, is scheduled to enter service in 2013.