It’s a bold move to pitch an all-new aircraft for a price-competitive bidding process, but the Boeing/ Saab team rolled out its ‘clean-sheet’ jet trainer design on September 13 and flew it on December 20.
Boeing and Saab’s first BTX-1 trainer prototype, which wears the civil registration N381TX, flew for the first time when it took off from Lambert-St Louis International Airport, Missouri, for its maiden flight on December 20.
Boeing
BOEING CARRIED OUT the first flight of its ‘cleansheet’ BTX-1 trainer — jointly developed with Saab — on December 20, 2016, at its St Louis, Missouri, facility. A second prototype is undergoing ground testing and is expected to fly soon. The BTX-1’s initial 55-minute flight validated key aspects of the single-engine trainer and testing has continued apace.
