Legacy 450 and 500 programs on schedule

Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 programs are moving through
their Detailed Design and Certification Phase (DDCP). A new full-size Legacy
500 mock-up, built by Austria’s
List Components & Furniture GmbH and consisting of the cockpit, main cabin
and aft baggage compartment now exists.

The cockpit and cabin interior utilize approximately
90% of the current aircraft production parts manufactured by Embraer and the
program suppliers. The Critical Design Review (CDR) has also been completed,
and the first and second prototypes of the Legacy 500 are being assembled at
the Company’s headquarters in São José dos Campos, Brazil.

“It is amazing what has
been accomplished by the Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 team in the past months.
Numerous refinements to the cabin styling and comfort have been implemented. We
have also been dedicating a lot of attention to the robustness of the design
and to product maturity. Our priority is to deliver to our customers a
best-in-class airplane, with outstanding comfort, performance, reliability and
maintenance characteristics,” said
Maurício Almeida, vice
president, Programs, Embraer Executive Jets.

Honeywell is performing flight tests of its modern
HTF7500E engines that incorporate the latest technologies for meeting
performance requirements with improved fuel consumption, ease of maintenance,
low operating costs, and reduced noise and emissions. Numerous systems test
benches are operational and dedicated to perform integration and maturity tests.
“Our Iron Bird has performed almost
1,000 hours of tests, in order to guarantee the mature integration of all aircraft systems, with
special attention to the fly-by-wire flight control system,” said
Ricardo Maltez, Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 program manager. “Avionics testing at both Embraer and
Rockwell Collins are on schedule, meeting our design goals.”

The first flight of the Legacy 500 is on schedule to
be completed during the second half of 2011. Certification discussions are
underway with the Brazilian civil aviation authority (ANAC), the U.S.’s Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).