Bombardier’s CSeries is working on a realistic timeline and the team is also learning lessons from its risk-sharing partners who have also been involved in the delayed Boeing 787 and before that the Airbus A380.
According to Bombardier Commercial Aircraft VP programs Ben Boehm, the company set out “a realistic 63-month development timeline”, compared to the announced 48 months for the 787. “As many of our suppliers have been on the 787 and A380 programmes, we've factored in much of what’s been learnt on those programmes,” he confirmed.
Updating progress on the CSeries, Commercial Aircraft president, Gary Scott, noted, “We've had a lot of comments reassuring us that we’ve hit the sweet spot in the market.”
That sweet spot, Boehm added, includes “the flexibility to operate at London City Airport or all the way across Australia”. And developing the aircraft are more than 1,000 Bombardier employees with greater than 15,000 years of engineering experience, he noted. “We also have 275 supplier employees based full-time on Montréal.”
Bombardier is building a new testing facility for the aircraft, Complete Integrated Aircraft Systems Test Area (CIASTA) at Mirabel, where final assembly is also scheduled to take place. CIASTA, work on which is will begin in the third quarter of 2009, will include the CSeries Integrated Systems Test Certification Rig. “We’ll have 2,000 flights logged on the test rig before the first flight of the actual aircraft,” reported Rob Dewar, VP integrated product development team.
The composite wing for the aircraft is progressing at Bombardier in Belfast. “Manufacturing will use a resin transfer infusion process and we’ve already tested thousands of small parts for material evaluation,” stated Colin Elliott, VP engineering. “We’ve also got a full-scale wing demonstrator, while building on the manufacturing facility will begin this summer.”
Elliott confirmed that the use of advanced aluminium alloys and composites will bring a weight saving of around 2,500 lb over the use of conventional materials.
Bernie Baldwin, editor, Low-Fare & Regional Airlines/LARAnews.net
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