Rising Sun

After several postponements and three years of delays Japan’s new candidate in the commercial passenger aircraft space, the Mitsubishi MRJ regional jet, is set to take to the skies for the first time in May. Tom Ballantyne spoke to the aerospace manufacturer’s president, Teruaki Kawai, in Tokyo.

It hasn’t been easy, says 66-yearold Teruaki Kawai, president and chief operating officer of Japan’s Mitsibushi Aircraft Corporation, but finally the company is on the final leg of its often bumpy road towards seeing its baby, the 70-90 seat MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet) take to the skies for the first time.

In January, full-scale testing of the test flight aircraft got underway in Nagoya to prepare for its maiden flight, scheduled to occur in the second quarter of this year and expected to be sometime in late May. Following the successful completion of the wing up-bending test – an airframe test to ensure the aircraft meets safety standards in strength, at Nagoya airport in December – the first run of the aeroplane’s revolutionary Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower engine went ahead on January 13, verifying the aircraft’s various systems including hydraulic, fuel, air conditioning and electrics.