S/N 003 Now Powered By Williams FJ33-5A

Diamond Aircraft flew its D-Jet for the first time with the new Williams FJ33-5A engine Sunday.

"This is an important milestone for the D-Jet program as we will be using this and subsequent aircraft for actual certification flights," said Peter Maurer, President of Diamond Aircraft.

D-Jet S/N 003, flown by Chief Test Pilot Daniel Ribeiro and Flight Test Engineer Gerard Struthers, departed from Diamond Aircraft's London, Ontario facility for a successful 1.4-hour flight with completion of all intended test points.

Serial number 003, originally powered by the Williams FJ33-15 engine, first flew on April 14 of this year. Following Diamond's decision in March 2008 to upgrade from the FJ33-15 to the FJ33-5A ( formerly designated FJ33-19), S/N 003 was reconfigured to accept the new engine, with new engine inlets and fairings. Modifications also included other detail aerodynamic modifications, including production-spec winglets.

The D-Jet will be certified initially with a derated version of the FJ33-5A engine... though the configuration is designed to accept the higher thrust rating that Williams International plans to release in future, based on the expected successful in-service experience with the current engine.

"When Williams introduced the new engine, we had to decide whether to continue with the original FJ33-15 or upgrade to the FJ33-5A right away, even if it meant a program delay," added Maurer. "In the interest of all D-Jet owners, we chose to upgrade to the larger engine and create an optional future performance upgrade path. This decision has been universally welcomed by our customers, as it will preserve the value of even the first delivered aircraft."

FMI: www.diamondaircraft.com/djet