Aircraft

Extended-range A350-900R adopts -1000's six-wheel gear

By Guy Norris

Airbus will incorporate the A350-1000 XWB's standard six-wheel main landing-gear bogie on the extended-range version of the A350-900 to enable the twinjet to sustain weight increases and ensure that its range growth will not be "compromised".

Speaking at last week's Speednews conference in Los Angeles, Airbus vice-president marketing Colin Stuart said that while the A350-800 and -900, with maximum take-off weights of 245t and 265t respectively, will have a standard four-wheel undercarriage bogie, the -1000 will be configured with a six-wheel bogie to cope with a higher take-off weight of 295t.

The longer-range A350-900R, which is part of the XWB family plan, will feature the higher engine thrust, strengthened structure and landing gear of the -1000, says Stuart.

"This will provide it with a means of meeting the ACN [runway loading] requirements for the increased take-off weight and gives us a further 800nm [1,480km] or so in range," he says.

The baseline A350-800 requires a 75,000lb-thrust (334kN) engine, the -900 needs 87,000lb and the -1000 requires 95,000lb thrust.