Deutsche Aircraft has started flight testing the landing gear developed for the D328eco, using an older Dornier 328 as a flying testbed while development of the new regional turboprop continues.
The modified aircraft has completed five development flights since August 5, accumulating more than 15 hours of ground and flight testing with the new landing gear. The campaign followed low- and high-speed taxi tests and is part of the certification work required for the D328eco.
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Using an existing D328 allows Deutsche Aircraft to test the system independently of the D328eco prototypes. The company plans further flights covering braking and stopping distances, steering, crosswind operations and unpaved runways, followed by structural, durability and reliability assessments.
The landing gear is particularly significant because Deutsche Aircraft changed suppliers during development and acquired the intellectual property rights for the new system. The company says this will give it direct engineering control and reduce dependence on third parties for spare parts and future modifications.
The architecture is also intended for existing D328s, creating commonality between the current fleet and the D328eco.
First flight still awaited
The landing gear campaign comes as Deutsche Aircraft works toward the much more significant event of flying the D328eco itself.
The first test aircraft, TAC 1, was rolled out at Oberpfaffenhofen in May 2025. Its first flight was subsequently pushed into 2026, with the company more recently targeting the second half of this year.
The program has already undergone a wider schedule revision. Deutsche Aircraft once expected the D328eco to enter service in 2026, but in 2024 postponed that target to the fourth quarter of 2027, citing changes to certification requirements and other factors identified during a program review.
The manufacturer continues to maintain the late-2027 target. That leaves a relatively compressed period for the flight-test and certification campaign once the first D328eco begins flying.
The aircraft is not a clean-sheet design. Deutsche Aircraft is using the original Dornier 328 as the basis for a substantially updated 40-seat turboprop with a stretched fuselage, new Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127XT-S engines, modern avionics and other structural and systems changes.
It would enter a regional turboprop market now dominated by ATR, particularly the larger ATR 72-600. The smaller D328eco is aimed at routes requiring around 40 seats, including operations from short and unpaved runways where larger aircraft may be less suitable.
Commercial challenge
Turning the aircraft into a commercial program remains another challenge.
Deutsche Aircraft said earlier this year that it had accumulated around 150 letters of intent and described a commercial pipeline of approximately 600 aircraft. It has not, however, publicly announced firm orders corresponding to those figures.
German charter and corporate shuttle operator Private Wings remains the only publicly identified customer. It signed a letter of intent in 2023 for five D328ecos and already operates the original Dornier 328.
Deutsche Aircraft is also preparing a new final assembly operation at Leipzig/Halle Airport, intended to support serial production after certification.
