Bombardier Business Aircraft successfully opened the Global 7000’s speed envelope to Mach 0.995, very nearly breaking the speed of sound, during a recent flight of Flight Test Vehicle 1 (FTV1, registered as C-GLBO) from the company’s flight test center in Wichita, it announced yesterday. The 7,400-nm twinjet is projected to have an Mmo of Mach 0.925.

Meanwhile, Bombardier said that the two flight-test Global 7000s are showing excellent system reliability, and the program is progressing on schedule. "Our flight-test vehicles continue to show a high degree of maturity in testing, dispatching twice daily in many cases," said Michel Ouellette, senior vice president of the Global 7000 and 8000 programs. "We have strong momentum in the program right now, and we are on track for entry into service in 2018. FTV1 completed its maiden flight in November 2016…and, to date, has achieved approximately 200 flight hours."

FTV2, which completed its first flight in Toronto on March 4 and has since been transferred to Bombardier's Wichita flight-test center, is dedicated to testing aircraft propulsion, electrical and mechanical systems.