MRJ Iron Bird successfully becomes airborne

The iron bird is one of most significant system integration tests of the development process to test the maneuvering functions of the MRJ.  The system consists of flight deck, hydraulic and flight control equipment, on-board software to be loaded on the actual aircraft, and simulation computers creating the flight environment.

The testing is being conducted at the MRJ dedicated experiment building, built within Oye Plant (located in Nagoya, Minato-ku) of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, currently responsible for manufacturing and testing the MRJ as the major partner of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation.

The commencement of the iron bird test marks an important milestone and shows steady progress of MRJ development towards flight tests.

The iron bird is able to conduct tests, such as intentional failure, that actual aircraft cannot. Manoeuvring tests using the iron bird will therefore continue over the next 3 years to safely develop the aircraft.