Fri, Mar 05, 2010
Two Of An Expected 75 Flight Test Hours Are Under The
Wings
The ATR 42-600 pre-series aircraft successfully took to the sky
for the first time Wednesday in Toulouse, France. The aircraft,
powered with Pratt & Whitney 127M engines, took off at 1500
(local time) and completed a 2-hour flight, thus starting a flight
test campaign of approximately 75 hours. The aircraft underwent
tests regarding performance of the engines and well-functioning of
its specifically developed new avionics, which integrates the
newest computer systems and software for navigational aids, flight
data recording, automatic piloting and communications. Pilots also
tested hydraulic and electrical systems, blades balancing, and
other tests.
Photo Credit Alexandre
Doumanjou
Since there is a high degree of commonality between the ATR 72
and the ATR 42, the ATR 42-600 will benefit from certain tests
completed by the ATR 72-600, whose 150-hour flight campaign started
in July 2009. Both ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 will enter into
service in 2011.
"The first flight of the ATR 42-600 culminates the dedication
and strong efforts of our team and our partners in order to prepare
this new aircraft for its flight test campaign", underlined
Stéphane Mayer, ATR's Chief Executive Officer. "With the ATR
42-600, we are proud to develop a new aircraft that has been
specifically designed to optimally match the 50-seat regional
market requirements, both in terms of comfort and performance". He
concluded: "It is our aim to propose our customers with aircraft
featuring the most advanced technologies and we are convinced that
the new ATR '-600 series' program will strongly contribute to
consolidate our worldwide success and leadership".
Photo Credit Pierre Barthe
Launched in October 2007, the new ATR '-600' series follows its
development phase according to the schedule planned for both
aircraft types. To date, ATR has recorded firm orders for 59 of
these aircraft (5 ATR 42-600s and 54 ATR 72-600s).
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