JetBird Exercises Phenom 100 Options

JetBird exercised three more options for Embraer’s Phenom 100, brining the operator's total order backlog to 53. Its original order for 50 Phenom 100s was placed in 2006 which included options for another 50 jets. JetBird begins taking delivery of Embraer’s first very light jet next year.
The announcement came less than a month after the second Phenom 300, the Phenom 100 sister aircraft, took flight. Embraer is showcasing the Phenom 300 for the first time at Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (LABACE), this week at Congonhas Airport, in São Paulo, Brazil.
Embraer’s Phenom 100 flight test fleet has accrued over 1,000 flight hours in the certification and maturity campaigns. Certification is expected in the fall. There are currently four test aircraft participating in the certification and maturity campaigns, and the first Phenom 100 aircraft to be delivered to customers this year are already in the sub-assembly production phase.
“As the Phenom test campaigns advance, we are excited to see the growing market acceptance of these jets. By the end of June, close to 800 Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 firm orders had been placed,” said Luís Carlos Affonso, executive vice president, Executive Jets. “To our further satisfaction, the Phenom jets have been awarded by renowned institutions worldwide, for both the aircraft project and their interior design.”
Several development and certification flight tests have been performed to date, such as low- and high-speed characteristics, stalls, flutter, and natural ice conditions, which will allow the aircraft to be certified for flying into known icing conditions, when it enters service later this year. Crosswind tests were held in Punta Arenas, Chile, earlier this year, and operational tests in high altitude airports were recently concluded in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Systems and performance tests are ongoing, and one test aircraft is currently in the south of Argentina undergoing cold weather tests.
Ground tests included ground vibration, lightning, HIRF (High Intensity Radio Frequency) and cold soak, the latter done last April at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida, USA. All structural static tests have also been concluded, while the primary structure components made of composite materials have completed both fatigue and static certification tests.