Story ID: 4071212alerts
New Learjets on Track, Says Bombardier
By: Chad Trautvetter
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Word Count: 213
Yesterday at the Farnborough International airshow, Bombardier said its three new Learjets–the Model 70, 75 and 85–are right on schedule.

The Learjet 85 continues to progress toward first flight later this year, with four test aircraft now in various stages of fabrication. The first complete pressure vessel, including the nose and aft fuselage, is undergoing final validation before being shipped from Bombardier’s Queretaro, Mexico plant to its assembly facility in Wichita.

Work on the first Learjet 85’s wing internal structure is complete in Queretaro and has been moved into the final assembly position for wing-plank installation. Assembly of a second wing is also under way.

Meanwhile, the recently launched Learjet 70 and 75 programs are “progressing well” and the first two flight-test aircraft–a modified Learjet 40XR and 45XR–have already logged more than 135 flights. This pair of jets is being used to continue development of the Bombardier Vision flight deck, which is based on a Garmin G5000 platform.

“Assembly of the three remaining Learjet 70 and Learjet 75 flight-test aircraft is on track, and with more than 600 test hours logged, we know that the Vision flight deck will truly offer the ultimate flight experience,” said Bombardier Business Aircraft vice president and general manager for Learjet Ralph Acs.