Now, after an eternity, the A400M's engine is flying. No doubt following the flight the engine will throughly checked over and all software verified. Also, there will be modifications required to the software but, hopefully none for the engine. From experience the software upgrades are inveriably complex and time consuming. However, once the engine and it's associated software are verified the aircraft should flown as often as possible to make for lost time and if this means relocating to Spain, sobeit. After all, the the airframe is assembled in Spain, the engine is assembled in somewhere in continental Europe and any software upgrades can modified anywhere in the world and installed online. The opportunity to hasten the test program and bring it all together by utilising the normally clear skies of Spain should be taken to demonstrate to the customer progress is being made with some degree of haste.
A4K