Bombardier CSeries FTV1 touches down on Rwy 06 at YMX after a successful first flight. Photo: Bombardier Aero

Today, on a brisk Quebec fall morning, Bombardier’s CSeries Flight Test Vehicle 1 (FTV1) took off for the first time at Mirabel Airport (YMX). I, along with hundreds of three thousand Bombardier employees watched the takeoff at just before 10AM ET, and then we waited for FTV1 to return at 12:25 PM.  Stands had been set up along the apron, with a somewhat distant view of the runway.  Of course, there were airline VIPs watching, including executives from the airlines that have ordered the 177 CSeries planes on the books, and from airlines that Bombardier is trying to convince to order the CSeries.

FTV1’s first flight was 2 1/2 hours long, and was described as an “extremely, extremely successful test flight”, by Bombardier CSeries VP Robert Dewar. FTV1 Chief Test Pilot Chuck Ellis said “How did it fly? Like the predictions, like the sim(ulator).”