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EASA Staff Flies Leonardo AW609
Tiltrotor
EASA
certification directorate staff members flew the Leonardo AW609 civil tiltrotor
in Cascina Costa di Samarate, Italy, on March 16 and 17 as part of its first
round of familiarization activities for the aircraft program. These flights
follow FAA pre-type inspection authorization (TIA) flights on February 22 in
Philadelphia. Leonardo said both sets of flights constitute “an important step
forward in the final stages of the certification process” and set “the right
pace on the validation process, together with the FAA certification path.”
Earlier
this month, Leonardo reported that the AW609 civil tiltrotor had reached the
“final stages of certification” as the FAA prepares to initiate formal TIA
flight tests. Along with the test fleet, three customer AW609s remain in final
assembly. However, under questioning, managing director Gian Piero Cutillo
admitted that an order for four AW609s from an unnamed European customer, announced
at last year’s Heli-Expo, was the largest contract it had received for the
type. Company officials have declined to reveal details concerning the
aircraft’s total order book, likely pricing, or precise timetable for
certification.
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