Bombardier updates on Learjet 85 program

Bombardier Aerospace’s
Learjet 85 aircraft development program continues with development and
production teams in Wichita, Kansas;
Montréal, Québec; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Querétaro, Mexico,
are actively engaged as work has transitioned from the detail design phase to
the build, test and validate phase. The Learjet 85 aircraft program is moving
towards its scheduled entry-into-service in 2013.

“The Learjet 85 aircraft
program has entered a new phase and is progressing towards entry-into-service
with great strength,” said Ralph Acs, vice president, Learjet 85, Bombardier
Business Aircraft. “The synergies achieved by working with people from across
our Bombardier Aerospace sites have proven extremely successful in the
advancement of the program.”

Each team is working on
their own area of responsible. In April 2011, the Integrated Product
Development Team (IPDT) completed the aircraft level critical design review, a
major product development milestone.

In Montréal, the IPDT is
focused on completing the last production drawings for the test aircraft and,
in Wichita, the construction of the Learjet 85 aircraft final assembly line
building, the first of four phases of the site expansion, has begun.

The Belfast team successfully manufactured the
first production wing spars using its innovative Resin Transfer Infusion (RTI)
technology, and wing skins are currently in production. Both the spars and
skins will be shipped to the Querétaro facility for final wing assembly.

Production of parts has
begun at the Mexico Manufacturing Centre in Querétaro, and the production of
the majority of composite parts for the first aircraft is underway.