Bombardier: 'Mission Accomplished' for Global 7500 First Flight Test Vehicle

As it nears certification for its new 7,700-nautical-mile flagship business jet, Bombardier Business Aircraft has retired the first Global 7500 flight-test vehicle—FTV1, dubbed “The Performer”—from flight-test duties, the Canadian aircraft manufacturer recently announced. “On Nov. 4, 2016, the inaugural flight test vehicle…took to the skies for the first time,” the company said. “Today, [it] has officially completed all of its flight testing and is going into retirement. Mission accomplished.”

In fact, though, the aircraft isn't really being retired. Instead, FTV1 has recently been painted at the company’s Global Completion Center. The job served as a dress rehearsal for the paint shop, which has been expanded to accommodate the larger model. The airplane will also be used as a demonstrator and will appear at local and company events ahead of the first production Global 7500's expected service entry in the fourth quarter. In addition, Bombardier’s customer-experience team is using FTV1 to validate all instruction manuals and procedural guidelines.

Meanwhile, the company said, the rest of its Global 7500 flight-test fleet—FTV2 through FTV5—is wrapping up the final testing. To date, the five test aircraft have accumulated a total of more than 2,700 flight hours.