Mitsubishi Aircraft announced that it plans to start final assembly of the first MRJ90 in Nagoya, Japan within two to three months with the aim to have the first flight of the aircraft by the end of 2013. This target will need to be met in order to meet the planned first delivery of the MRJ90 to launch customer All Nippon Airways by the end of 2015.
The testing phase of the program plans for the first aircraft MSN 10001 to conduct basic flight characteristics, possible expansion of the altitude and airspeed envelopes, major systems and runway performance.
The second aircraft, MSN 9001, will serve as a ground-test article and assess static strength of the airframee. The third aircraft, and second flight-test example, MSN 10002, will undertake general flight performance tests.
MSN 10003 will prove detailed flight characteristics and test avionics while MSN 10004, will perform systems and interior tests, natural icing, extreme temperature tests and community noise tests. MSN 10005 will test autopilot performance and flight characteristics with simulated ice shapes.
