aerobd.news : The first Legacy 450 mid-light business jet assembled at Embraer’s facility in Melbourne, Florida, has made its first flight. “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 and CEO, Embraer Executive Jets.

The Legacy 450 is the third business jet model to be assembled at the company’s recently expanded Melbourne facility, where the mid-size Legacy 500 will also be assembled, beginning in 2017. The Legacy 500 and Legacy 450 entered service in 2014 and 2015, respectively, with assembly taking place in São José dos Campos, Brazil.

Embraer began its Melbourne 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 Melbourne to customers across the USA and in 12 other countries.