Bombardier is about to freeze the design of its C Series airliner, marking the end of the project’s joint definition phase and the official start of the detailed design phase. In fact, according to Bombardier Commercial Airplanes president Gary Scott, many of the work packages have already entered detailed design, including parts of the structure, the wing and some of the systems. “At this point we basically have confirmed that the airplane will deliver as advertised,” Scott told AIN.
Since February, Bombardier has seen more than satisfactory results from its aluminum-lithium fuselage test barrel, delivered from China’s Shenyang Aircraft last summer. The barrel has now endured more than 60,000 test cycles–the equivalent number of cycles expected in a lifetime of service–with “very few issues, just a few minor cracks [in] angles and brackets,” said Scott. As a result, the company has begun to explore ways to remove some weight from the fuselage, he added.
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