With two Hawker Horizons in flight test, Raytheon’s aircraft programme is on track for certification in 2003.

The second Horizon, which will be used primarily for systems development testing, flew its maiden flight in May. Senior test pilot Randy Rosebrock described the first flight as a mirror image of the first aircraft’s.

“It’s what we’ve come to expect from the Horizon,” he said. “It’s obvious the integrated systems are very mature, and that simplifies operation.”

Two more planes are to join the test programme, the the third and fourth aircraft used for systems development and functional and reliability testing.