Aircraft

EADS Casa has completed an initial series of six flight tests intended to prove the handling qualities of an Airbus A310 demonstrator equipped with the company’s air refuelling boom system. Conducted from Getafe near Madrid on 16-30 March and totalling around 40 flight hours, the tests assessed potential flutter vibration from the boom mast and checked safe operation of the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit with the boom in the stowed condition.

“The influence of the boom installation on the aircraft handling qualities has proved to be minimal,” says EADS Casa.

Additional flight testing scheduled to take place over the course of this year will include dry and wet contacts with a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter to be allocated to the trials by an undisclosed European air force.