Today Embraer performed a major milestone in its history, the first second-generation Ejet aircraft performed its first takeoff, and consequently the first flight this Monday (23/05). During the entire flight, the aircraft was accompanied by a Legacy 650 jet and another Legacy 500, which provided the necessary and took the first images of the Ejet E2 in a cruise flight.
The aircraft took off at approximately 13:05 pm, in total the flight lasted about 3 hours until the aircraft landed in São José dos Campos, the current headquarters of Embraer and the main site responsible for producing aircraft of the Ejet model. On the flight was Commander Mozart Louzada, assisted by co-pilot Gerson de Oliveira, in addition to engineers Alexandre Figueiredo and Carlos Silveira.
“A first flight is always an exciting occasion, no matter how many you witness over the years. In this particular case, we are not only keeping our promises to the market, but going further, being a few months ahead of schedule. I want to thank all Embraer employees who are participating in this project,” said Frederico Fleury Curado, President & CEO of Embraer.
Embraer stated that it was possible to make even greater progress than expected, both on the date of the flight, which was scheduled for the beginning of the second half of the year, and on the actual flight that took place today. Unlike most prototypes, the Embraer E190-E2 was able to reach its maximum operating altitude, 41 feet, retract the landing gear during flight and fly at its maximum speed capacity.
“There are always a lot of expectations with a first flight and today was no exception. We were able to open the flight envelope significantly, flying at mach 0.82, climbing to 41 feet and retracting landing gear and flaps, and engaging the normal fly-by-wire flight controls. All this demonstrates that the E190-E2 project is very mature and robust, exceeding the performance objectives”, said Captain Louzada.
The Ejet E2 offers several evolutions when compared to the current generation. The engines will be the new Pratt & Whitney PW1900G for the E-190E2 and E-195E2 models, with the PW1700G for the E175-E2. The flight controls will be Fly-By-Wire, with a renovated cockpit consisting of 4 high-resolution screens and the traditional Embraer joysticks, improvements in aerodynamics and a new wing incorporated into the E2 model. Embraer estimates consumption up to 20% lower than the current generation.
The Ejet E2 is composed of 3 variants similar to the current ones in of name, they are the E175-E2, E190-E2 and E195-E2. Deliveries start in 2018 for the E190-E2 version, followed by the E195-E2 version in 2019 and the E175-E2 in the year 2020. In all 3 variants, the Ejet E2 has 267 fixed orders and 373 purchase options , so far, Embraer has delivered more than 1200 first generation Ejets and is on track to complete 1800 current generation aircraft in operation.
