Flying high: CSeries logs successful first flight

Bombardier Aerospace’s $3.5-billion roll-of-the-dice in the narrow-body commercial jet market could hit a global jackpot with the Sept. 16 first flight of its long-awaited CSeries.

Bombardier chief pilot Chuck Ellis, a former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, flew the CS100 for just over two and a half hours out of Montreal Mirabel Airport. He was followed by a Bombardier Global 5000 chase plane flown by Scott “Scooter” Whitley, another ex-RCAF pilot, based at the company’s main test centre in Wichita, Kansas.

The historic event took place under clear skies and before an audience of some 3,000 Bombardier employees and dignitaries. The CSeries took to the air less than a decade after Bombardier announced plans to develop the jet, and only 11 months after first assembly began.

“Exactly like the simulation,” Ellis said minutes after greasing the landing. “It flew very well.” He volunteered, however, that there had been one “minor” issue, which turned out to be what he described as “a small advisory message on one of the subsystems” which, if the aircraft had been in commercial service, would not have been an issue.

With first deliveries only about 12 months away, Ellis said the data collection and analysis – including that from four additional test aircraft still in assembly – means that “we have a long road to go” before completing a planned 2,400 hours of flight testing.

But that road could eventually be a lucrative one for Bombardier, which hitherto has focused successfully on the regional jet and turboprop commuter markets. More than 20 customers had the confidence to place more than 300 firm CSeries orders more than a year ago, enticed by a 20 per cent fuel burn advantage over competitors, 50 per cent lower emissions, and a projected eight per cent reduction in seat costs.

Another key selling point is the aircraft’s extremely low noise signature, an increasing requirement for carriers serving urban airports. In fact, the two Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1500G geared turbofans were so quiet that the CS100’s takeoff seemed to catch the crowd, including veteran airplane watchers, by surprise.

Targeting a market it has estimated at more than 19,000 aircraft and worth at least $250 billion over the next couple of decades, Mike Arcamone, president of Bombardier’s commercial division, told Canadian Skies he remains confident that the “game-changer” CSeries can account for more than half of those orders. Maximum seating capacities are 125 in the CS100 and 160 in the larger CS300.

Arcamone said after the first flight that it apparently had convinced “quite a few people,” including investors and current and prospective customers, that the aircraft was clearly delivering what Bombardier had promised. “I’m still trying to…. calm down,” he said. “Wow!”