BAE Systems Regional Aircraft has completed four months of test flights in its new Avro RJX85, leaving officials “very confident” of meeting, if not exceeding, the 15- to 20-percent-enhanced fuel burn and other performance-improvement targets set for the 80- to 112-seat quad-jet. The Honeywell AS907-powered airplane has completed final tests to clear its full altitude and speed envelope, and has flown at speeds up to Mach 0.80 and 360 kias to demonstrate a margin over flight-manual capabilities, according to the UK manufacturer. The RJX is a variant of the Avro RJ, itself a development of the earlier BAE 146 regional quad-jet.
Test flying with the new production-standard Honeywell engines should increase later this month, when a second aircraft joins the 800-hr program, albeit somewhat later than previously envisioned. Since its maiden flight on April 28, the initial RJX85 development aircraft had accumulated almost 130 hr in some 60 test flights by August 5, when it flew for the first time with a full set of four so-called “Block 2” engines. BAE has scheduled a similarly powered RJX100 to fly in “late September;” the larger aircraft had been due to take to the air before the end of July, but has been awaiting the new powerplants. Honeywell has said that there is no plan for a further enhancement to produce a “Block 3” standard.
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