Aircraft
CRJ1000 Takes Flight
Bombardier’s sole CRJ1000 prototype took to the air for the first time today, marking the successful start of a flight-test regime expected to last until t

Bombardier’s sole CRJ1000 prototype took to the air for the first time today, marking the successful start of a flight-test regime expected to last until the fourth quarter of next year. Test pilots Jacques Thibaudeau and Chuck Ellis and flight-test engineer Eugene Lardizabal took off at 10:02 a.m. EDT and flew CRJ1000 S/N 19991 for three hours and 25 minutes. The aircraft reached an altitude of 30,000 feet and a maximum speed of 260 knots.

“We put the gear up, operated the flaps and slats and exercised our new fly-by-wire rudder,” said Thibaudeau. “All systems worked as they were designed to do. The aircraft handled similarly to the smaller CRJ900 airliner so flight crews will have no problem in transitioning to the 100-seat CRJ1000 NextGen aircraft.”