Embraer's midlight Legacy 450 and midsize Legacy 500 programs are well underway, and moving steadily through their Detailed Design and Certification Phase (DDCP), in the hands of more than 500 of the Company's engineers.

A new full-size Legacy 500 mock-up, built by Austria's List Components & Furniture GmbH and consisting of the cockpit, main cabin and aft baggage compartment, is now operational. The cockpit and cabin interior utilize approximately 90% of the current aircraft production parts manufactured by Embraer and the program suppliers.

The Critical Design Review (CDR) has also been completed, and the first and second prototypes of the Legacy 500 are being assembled at the Company's headquarters in São José dos Campos, Brazil.

"It is amazing what has been accomplished by the Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 team in the past months. Numerous refinements to the cabin styling and comfort have been implemented. We have also been dedicating a lot of attention to the robustness of the design and to product maturity. Our priority is to deliver to our customers a best-in-class airplane, with outstanding comfort, performance, reliability and maintenance characteristics," said Maurício Almeida, Vice President, Programs – Embraer Executive Jets.

Honeywell is performing flight tests of its modern HTF7500E engines that incorporate the latest technologies for meeting performance requirements with improved fuel consumption, ease of maintenance, low operating costs, and reduced noise and emissions.

Numerous systems test benches are operational and dedicated to perform integration and maturity tests. "Our Iron Bird has performed almost 1,000 hours of tests, in order to guarantee the mature integration of all aircraft systems, with special attention to the fly-by-wire flight control system," said Ricardo Maltez, Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 Program Manager. "Avionics testing at both Embraer and Rockwell Collins are on schedule, meeting our design goals."

The first flight of the Legacy 500 is on schedule to be completed during the second half of 2011. Certification discussions are underway with the Brazilian civil aviation authority (ANAC), the U.S.'s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).