Here’s how Bombardier will keep a lid on noise at its huge Mississauga jet-building plant

A global leader in its field has been chosen by Bombardier to help keep the noise down at the jet manufacturer’s $500-million state-of-the-art plant to be up and running at Pearson Airport in Mississauga by 2023. 

U.S.-based Blast Deflectors Inc. (BDI) will design, manufacture and install an aircraft test facility at Bombardier’s 770,000-sq.-ft. Global Manufacturing Centre, where final assembly of the company’s line of Global business jets, including its signature Global 7500, will take place. 

Known as a ground run-up enclosure (GRE), the facility will be used to test the engines of all Global business jets prior to delivery.  

BDI president Don Bergin said his company, which has been around since 1957, has a long history with Bombardier.  

“We appreciate that our experience and expertise in the field of aircraft acoustics and aerodynamics was a driving factor in our selection,” he said in a news release. “The aerodynamic challenges of ground running engines at takeoff power while the aircraft is static requires a facility with enormously sophisticated features to control airflow.” 

Bergin added BDI has built three other GRE facilities in Canada, most recently at Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto. 

He said his company’s engineers worked closely with Bombardier’s airframe and powerplant teams to ensure all design criteria were carefully addressed.  

“The result is a run-up facility that will provide a stable aerodynamic environment suitable for consistent testing of Global aircraft in a wide variety of wind conditions with, of course, an emphasis on acoustics that will benefit the community surrounding the airport,” said Bergin.  

When Bombardier’s Mississauga plant is built, it will take on the 2,000 employees working at the firm’s current jet-building facility in Downsview, which was built in the 1960s.