Design and Development
By 1985, economic integration of South America seemed to be in progress with advances in the negotiations of Mercosul between the Brazilian and Argentine governments. Meanwhile, in 1985, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, having commenced production of its Brasilia 30-seat turboprop airliner, started the design process for a 19-seat airliner to replace the aging Bandeirante. In 1986, as a way of encouraging partnership between both countries, an agreement to develop a Brazilian-Argentine aircraft was signed between Embraer and the Argentine company Fabrica Militar de Aviones (FMA). The name "CBA" stood for "Cooperación Brasil-Argentina" (Spanish), and "Cooperação Brasil-Argentina" (Portuguese), meaning Brazil-Argentina Cooperation.
The costs and workload of the project were divided between Embraer (67%) and FMA (33%). The aircraft was designed as a high technology turboprop aircraft, to be fully certified under USA FAR 25. It was powered by two Garrett TPF351 turboprop engines (more powerful derivatives of Garret's popular Garrett TPE331 mounted on pylons on the rear fuselage and driving six-bladed pusher configuration propellers. This was planned to allow a smaller wing to be used, giving a higher cruise speed, while also improving increase passenger comfort. The design had wings with supercritical airfoils, used a FADEC system for engine control, plus EICAS and EFIS avionics systems. The "Vector" name was chosen by an international competition including more than 6,000 proposals.
The first prototype of the Vector flew on 18 July 1990, and the flight occurred without any problem. The official presentation on 30 July 1990 was attended by Brazil President Fernando Collor de Mello and Argentine President Carlos Menem.
Read more about this topic: Embraer/FMA CBA 123 Vector
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