Bombardier began high-speed taxi tests of its new CSeries today, calling previous sightings of high-speed trials "high-speed low-speed tests".

The CS100 known as FTV-1 was to begin the high-speed tests at Mirabel airport on 3 September but they were deferred to today due to weather, says the Canadian airframer. These will include rejected take-off testing.

Various sources had spotted the test aircraft conducting apparent high-speed trials on 1 September.

Montreal-based Bombardier says that these were slightly below its 130km/h (70kt) threshold for high-speed tests.

Landing gear and other further testing has yet to take place, the OEM says.

The flight crew reports that FTV-1 is "handling beautifully" in testing, says Bombardier. The crew includes chief pilot Chuck Ellis, first officer Andy Litavniks and flight test engineer Andreas Hartono.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news