Interesting letter about the A400M's air display routine in the 14-20 September issue of Flight International:
The appearance of the Airbus Military A400M at air shows including Farnborough casts my mind back to the 1988 A320 crash at a show in France. Some interesting questions of judgement on behalf of Airbus Military, and indeed the pilots demonstrating the aircraft, are worth considering.A picture of the A400M (Flight International, 27 July–3 August) has the caption “took spectators breath away with its 120° twists and turns”. This is not the first time that extreme angles of bank for a large transport aircraft have been accomplished in the A400M.Later (Flight International, 10-16 August), you report that “A400M passes wing load test”. Would it not have been prudent to complete structural testing before displaying the aircraft in the public arena at the edge of or perhaps beyond its envelope?Has the marketing department at Airbus Military put the cart before the horse in an attempt to salvage the image of the programme? Nothing could be worse than another air show accident for an Airbus type in its infancy. Capt Ben RabyBrisbane, Australia
I asked Ed Strongman (Airbus's chief test pilot military) about the manoeuvre during the Berlin air show, where it was seen for the first time, and he told me that it's probably the easiest part of the display routine. The flight safety committees at Berlin, RIAT and the ultra-conservative Farnborough all gave it the thumbs up, so that's all the answer I need.
I'm happy to report that we have got a response to Capt Raby's letter from the man in the know at Airbus Military: A400M chief test pilot Ed Strongman. It is published in Flight International's 5-11 October issue, and reads as follows:
In his recent letter, Capt Raby questioned Airbus’s judgement of the way the A400M is flown at air displays (Flight International, 14-20 September). It may be of interest for you to know what we do in preparation for such a display and how it is regulated.First we build our display in the engineering simulator. This is not only to make an interesting presentation for the spectators but also to check the behaviour of the flight control laws, assess the structural loads and simulate potential critical failures such as engine failure and control law degradation at the most critical moments during the display. The next step is to fly the display at altitude to check flight control behaviour and measure actual structural loads. Only then do we practice at display heights.Air shows are strictly managed and all displays have to be seen and validated by an appropriate authority. Minimum heights are 500ft or 300ft depending on the regulator and on the environment surrounding the display airfield. The high bank manoeuvre referred to in the letter is made in a climb at a height above 2,000ft and is not at all demanding on the aircraft structure. For this case, we also took into account the results of the static tests, and limit loads had already been achieved well before this demonstration.What we do and how we do it bears no resemblance to the organisation (or lack of) surrounding the Habsheim accident you referred to and which was not conducted by Airbus.Airbus believes that we should show our aircraft at air shows, but displays need to be approached in a safe, progressive and above all extremely professional manner. This is the approach Airbus has taken on all Airbus aircraft. This includes the A400M.