The first Embraer Legacy 450 assembled in the US made its maiden flight last week.

Revealing the news, the Brazilian-based jet manufacturer said the Legacy 450 performed as expected and all flight test procedures were successfully completed.

“We are very satisfied to have successfully completed this important milestone and we are on track to deliver this aircraft in December,” said Marco Tulio Pellegrini, President & CEO, Embraer Executive Jets.

The Legacy 450 is the third business jet model to be assembled at the Embraer’s recently expanded Melbourne, Florida, facility, where the midsize Legacy 500 will also be assembled, beginning in 2017. The Legacy 450 is also being assembled in São José dos Campos in Brazil, since August 2015, where the Legacy 500 began assembly one year earlier.

Embraer began its Melbourne aircraft assembly operations in early 2011 with the entry-level Phenom 100, followed by the Phenom 300 in August 2012. In just over five years, the company has delivered close to 200 Phenom jets from its Melbourne facility to customers across the US and in 12 other countries.

The Legacy 500 and Legacy 450, which entered service in 2014 and 2015, respectively, are the first midsize and mid-light business jets with digital flight controls, based on full fly-by-wire technology, featuring side-stick controls. The state-of-the-art Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics suite on four 15.1-inch high-resolution LCD displays allows graphical flight planning and offers operators the advantages of paperless operations and autobrakes. The optional E2VS (Embraer Enhanced Vision System), which includes a Head-Up Display, provides a technological advantage typically only seen in much larger aircraft. 

Embraer is one of the world’s leading executive jet manufacturers, having entered the business aviation market in 2000 with the Legacy jet, which led to the launch of Embraer Executive Jets in 2005. 

Its portfolio consists of the entry-level Phenom 100 and the Phenom 300 light jet, the Legacy 500 midsize and Legacy 450 mid-light, the super midsize Legacy 600 and large Legacy 650, and the ultra-large Lineage 1000E. 

With more than ten years in the market, Embraer Executive Jets’ global fleet exceeds 1,000 aircraft, which are in operation in more than 60 countries and are supported by the company’s global customer support and services network of over 70 owned and authorised service centres, complemented by a 24/7 contact centre at its headquarters in Brazil.