Global 7000 Completes First Flight

The two-hour and 27-minute maiden flight of Canadian aircraft builder Bombardier’s new Global 7000 went off on Monday without a hitch.

The first of the Global 7000 test aircraft departed Bombardier’s Toronto test facility with two pilots and one test engineer and allowed ample time for the crew to evaluate the airplane’s flight controls and systems, as well as assess its handling qualities.

The flight test included a climb to 20,000 feet and a maximum test airspeed of 240 knots. Although the first flight is now history, the 7000’s rigorous flight-testing program, designed to allow for first deliveries in the second half of 2018, is just beginning.

The Global 7000 will carry eight passengers and a crew of two 7,400 nm at Mach 0.85. That means Dubai is within nonstop reach from New York, or Singapore from London.

The Global 7000, with 16,500 pounds of thrust on each side from its GE Passport engines, offers a maximum airspeed of Mach 0.925 and requires 5,950 feet of runway for takeoff at maximum gross weight. The aircraft’s maximum ceiling is 51,000 feet.

The Global 7000 is the only clean-sheet business jet cabin offering four distinctly separate living areas, as well as a crew rest area on board the aircraft, according to Bombardier.