The second Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ90) FTA-2 has been transferred to Moses Lake in Washington State. The arrival of this additional aircraft will help the company speed up its certification process by being able to fly more regularly from the US base.
In Japan the fourth Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. MRJ90 flight test aircraft made its first flight on November 22. Mitsubishi Aircraft reported that the flight took off from Nagoya Airfield and lasted just over two hours.
Before the end of 2016, two more MRJ90s are expected fly to the Mitsubishi testing base at Grant County International Airport, Moses Lake.
Mitsubishi Aircraft is planning an expedited flight test program at Moses Lake in an effort to achieve its scheduled first delivery in the second half of 2018 to its launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA).
A fifth MRJ90 flight test aircraft, still under construction, will remain in Japan. In total, 2,500 hours of flight testing with the five MRJ90 aircraft will be needed for certification; 250 hours have been achieved so far.
The first flight of the MRJ70, a smaller variant, is slated for 2H2017.
November 24, 2016
