Bombardier Aerospace
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Bombardier Aerospace is a division of the Bombardier group.
The aerospace division was launched with the acquisition of Canadair, at the time owned by the Government of Canada and a company that had recorded the then largest loss in history of any Canadian corporation. Politically, the Federal Government could not allow the Montreal, Quebec based company to close, and any hints that it might do so were met with media stories of the Government's Avro Arrow disaster. Quebec separatists have long complained that Federal Government does nothing for Quebec. The loss of many desirable highly paid jobs at Canadair would have confirmed their complaint.
After acquiring Canadair in 1986 and restoring it to profitability, Bombardier acquired the money-losing Boeing subsidiary, de Havilland Aircraft of Canada based in Toronto, Ontario. A few years later in 1989, Bombardier, by then experts at buying companies cheaply and turning them around, acquired the near-bankrupt Short Brothers aircraft manufacturing company in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shortly thereafter, in 1990 Bombardier acquired the bankrupt Learjet Company of Wichita, Kansas, builder of the world-famous Learjet business aircraft.
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Aircraft
Bombardier builds business jets, short-range airliners and fire-fighting amphibious aircraft and also provides defense-related services. Some of their aircraft designs originated in the design departments of Canadair or de Havilland Aircraft of Canada. The company has been adept at developing quiet turboprop airliners capable of using urban airports with relatively short runways and steep glide slopes.
Current production aircraft models include the Continental, Global Express, Dash 8 (now known as the Q series) and CRJ series. The Continental is a mid-size business jet. The Global Express is a extra long range, high speed business jet. The Dash-8 is a high-wing turboprop, while the CRJ is a low-wing jet with rear mounted engines. The CRJ is a derivative of the Canadair CL-600 Challenger business jet. Both aircraft have 2 seats on each side of the aisle. LearJet models are still branded as LearJet.
Both models (Dash-8 and CRJ) have overhead bin storage, lavatories, and a galley. The latest Dash-8 models have an advanced noise canceling system that reduces noise considerably. Bombardier calls Dash-8 aircraft with this system "Q" models (e.g., Dash-8-300 becomes Q300).
These aircraft are selling well in a competitive market and are enabling some less popular routes (sectors in airline parlance) to be profitably served by scheduled air services with relatively low environmental impact at the airports. They have recently mounted and endured some unusual legal battles with a key competitor Embraer of Brazil focused upon allegations of unfair state assistance in export markets.
The current production amphibious fire-fighting aircraft is the CL-415, and it has a derivative amphibious utility aircraft.
Each model is available in different versions:
Business Jets
Canadair Regional Jets
- CRJ-100: 50 seats. Original model; Out of production
- CRJ-200: 50 seats. Enhanced version of the -100
- CRJ-700: 64-75 seats. Stretched -200
- CRJ-900: 86-90 seats. Stretched -700
CSeries
During the development of the EMB-145 series, Bombardier had a plan for an 85-120 seat aircraft. This was the BRJ-X project. Instead of continuing development, the CRJ-900 was built instead. However the shelved project was revived, and reformulated into the CSeries.
In July 2004, Bombardier announced its intention of developing a new family of airliners named the CSeries and capable of carrying 110 or 135 passengers. For the first time, Bombardier will be competing directly with the smallest offerings from the much larger Boeing and Airbus Industrie companies. Bombardier expects the aircraft to be available by 2010. In March 2005, Bombardier's board decided to promote the plane to airlines to garner advance orders, which will decide the fate of the project.
In May 2005, Bombardier announced agreements with the Federal Government of Canada, the Provincial Government of Quebec and the Government of the United Kingdom of supports and loans for the C-Series project. Final assembly of the aircraft will be at Mirabel Airport, outside Montreal, Quebec and substantial portions of the aircraft are expected to be constructed at Bombardier facilities in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Q Series Turboprops
The De Havilland Canada Dash 8's latest iteration is the Quiet series.
- Q100: 33-37 seats. Original model
- Q200: 33-37 seats. Enhanced engines; "Hot/High" version of the -100
- Q300: 50-56 seats. Stretched -100 series
- Q400: 68-78 seats. Features 6-blade, low speed props for low noise.
External link
- Official site (http://www.aerospace.bombardier.com/)
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