Phenom 100 Takes Maiden Flight
The Embraer (ERJ) Phenom 100, took its first flight last week when a lifted off with Capt. Antonio Bragança Silva at the helm.
“This is a key milestone for Embraer and a very special and rewarding moment for the entire Embraer team. To see our new baby bird taking off is highly satisfying and I congratulate every Embraer employee for making this possible.” remarked Frederico Fleury Curado, president and CEO. “When we unveiled the Phenom jets a little more than two years ago, we asserted to the business aviation community our commitment to be a long-term player in the executive aviation market. The first flight of the Phenom 100 confirms this commitment and constitutes another step in Embraer´s strategy to serve our customers with a product line that spans the market.”
During the one-hour-and-36-minute flight, several maneuvers were performed to check the aircraft’s flight characteristics and systems operations. Members of all the engineering teams involved in the Phenom 100 program were on the ground, analyzing flight data and supporting the test crew on board the jet. The two Pratt & Whitney-Canada PW617F engines, with 1,615 pounds of thrust each, powering the Phenom 100 operated flawlessly during the entire flight. The first flight was preceded by several weeks of ground tests. The results confirmed the Phenom 100’s operations throughout ground vibration, flight control, low and high-speed taxiing, and systems functionality and integration tests.
A full test program, including static and fatigue tests, will follow the maiden flight in order to obtain Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) certification, which will be followed by FAA certification, prior to entering service in mid-2008. EASA certification will be completed in the first semester of 2009.
Test Pilots Capt. Antonio Bragança Silva and Capt. Eduardo Alves Menini, and flight test engineer Marcelo Toledo Basile, declared themselves “very impressed with the Phenom 100 performance and flying characteristics, as well as the exceptional comfort and ergonomics of its cockpit design.”

Eclipse Aviation Unveils New Color Weather Radar
Eclipse Aviation said it completed development of a next-generation Eclipse Aviation WeatherRadar System. Designed by Eclipse Aviation, the system will be manufactured by Japan Radio Co., Ltd. (JRC), which will also supply the radar components. The system is comprised of an antenna subsystem, which includes the antenna and pointing control motors, and the radar electronics subsystem, which includes the transmitter, receiver, signal processing and interface functions.
The new system will provide enhanced robustness and reliability in weather monitoring for Eclipse 500 pilots as well as significant increase in Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) rates, and creates cost efficiencies that will translate into lower operating costs for customers. All the interfaces and information displayed on the radar are more accurate than the previous system. The system integrates seamlessly with Avio NG, providing tactical radar information to pilots on the Eclipse 500's Primary Flight Displays.

Eclipse Aviation's Avio NG Ready for NextGen
Eclipse Aviation, said the next generation of Avio (Avio NG) is designed to align with the FAA Next Generation Air Transportation System
(NextGen) integrated plan. Providing an open architecture platform to incorporate the deployment of technology envisioned with NextGen, Avio NG will incorporate additional technologies as they become available mostly through simple aircraft software updates. .
The vision of NextGen is to use Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP), together with other technologies to enable greater air traffic capacity and less airspace congestion. Avio NG enables the seamless integration of these technologies at minimal costs and complexity. Using 1090 MHz as the pathway for ADS-B, Avio NG will be capable of broadcasting aircraft position and providing traffic information inside the cockpit to pilots. Avio NG will provide RNP technology resulting in access to RNP-based flight plans with shorter, more economical and environmentally-friendly routes, and improved minima compared to existing non-precision approaches.
Eclipse is currently working on certification for Avio NG and expects certification of Avio NG by the end of October. The company will retrofit, at the company's expense, all current Eclipse 500 aircraft with Avio NG by the end of 2007. Avio NG has already been installed and is flying in two flight test aircraft. All of the NextGen technologies will be made available to Eclipse customers by the end of 2008 including:
• ADS-B OUT: Ability to send position data to requesting ground stations
and aircraft
• ADS-B IN: All ADS-B out functions plus basic air traffic monitoring of
all ADS-B aircraft flying within 125 mile radius, including unique
indication for aircraft on ground
• RNP: Meets Required Navigation Performance (RNP) requirements for the
flight segments including enroute, terminal, initial approach, intermediate approach, non-precision approach, and departure
LPV Approaches: Allows Eclipse operators FMS functionality for Localizer Performance with Vertical (LPV) approach capabilities.