First made-in-USA Phenom 300 makes maiden flight

Embraer Executive Jets’ first made-in-the-USA Phenom 300 was rolled out and made its first flight on December 5th. Delivery of the light Phenom 300 is scheduled to go to the Embraer Executive Jets’ Melbourne-based flight department which will use it as a flight demonstrator aircraft. “This is a major milestone for our facility,” said Phil Krull, Managing Director of Embraer’s 23-month-old U.S.-based production facility. “The reduction in production time to half of what it took for the first Phenom 100 means the processes we put in place for production have now matured. We are now on schedule to produce eight per month in the coming months as and when we require full production capacity.” Embraer opened the Melbourne production facility in February 2011 and the nearby 58,000 ft² Global Customer Center on December 5th, 2011. In November, it broke ground, inaugurating the construction of its newest venture in its aeronautical campus, the $26m, 67,000 ft² Embraer Engineering and Technology Center USA, expected to be completed in mid-2014.