Embraer has flown its first US-manufactured Phenom 300, about a year after its smaller Phenom 100 stablemate made its maiden sortie from the airframer's Melbourne, Florida site.
The light business jet will enter service as a flight demonstrator based at its US production and customer support facility where, Embraer says, it will have the capacity to produce up to eight of the seven-seat types a month.
The Brazilian company opened the Melbourne factory in February 2011, followed little more than a year later by a 5,380m² (58,000ft²) global customer centre close by.
These facilities will be bolstered by the construction of a $26 million, 6,220m² engineering centre. Work began on the project last month, with completion scheduled for mid-2014.
Source: Flight International
