Bombardier will give the new LearJet 85 its public debut at the 2014 NBAA convention next week in Orlando, Florida. JetOptions will be attending NBAA 2014 convention. The aircraft will be the first prototype, or FTV1 (Flight Test Vehicle 1), as Bombardier calls it.
FTV1 was the first LearJet 85 to be completed and rolled out from the manufacturer’s Wichita production facility. It is also the first LearJet 85 to fly, having completed the types first flight on April 9 2014.
The LearJet 85 is the first of the LearJet family to rely heavily on composite materials. The manufacturer opened a composite manufacturing plant in Querétaro, Mexico , to work on the fuselage. The LearJet 85, announced at the NBAA convention in 2007, is designed to carry eight people up to 3,000 miles.
Bombardier had targeted entry into service in 2014, but the aircraft suffered several delays as Bombardier learned to work with new technologies.
Following the aircraft’s first flight in April, Bombardier has yet to announce a new schedule , leading some people to believe that the aircraft remains a low priority to Bombardier, which is simultaneously working on its new flagship Global 7000 / 8000 aircraft.
