Recently in Airbus Category

On the flightdeck of the Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered freighter (MSN 1004) for the 3h 50min flight were Airbus test pilots Philippe Perrin and Martin Scheuermann, accompanied by test-flight engineers Wolfgang Brueggemann, Stephane Vaux and Pascal Verneau.

With just under a day to go before her maiden sortie, the Airbus A330-200F underwent rejected takeoff (RTO) testing at the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in the south of France. The high-speed taxi tests are part of the final series of check-outs on the new freighter before its scheduled first flight tomorrow morning.

The first A330F (F-WWYE - MSN1004) is now wearing marketing stickers on either side of its windowless fuselage. The left side of the aircraft reads "the right aircraft right now" and the right side reads "Efficient, reliable, profitable".

RTO testing brings the aircraft to just under the takeoff decision speed known as V1. At anytime below the V1 speed, the aircraft is able to safely stop in the remaining length of the runway. The decision speed is determined based on many factors including the length of the runway, weight of the aircraft, thrust rating of the engine, as well as runway and weather conditions.

Airbus will be streaming live video of the A330F's first flight on its website beginning at 8:30 GMT (3:30 AM ET) Thursday morning.

Photo Credit Eurospot

One small item on Airbus.com caught my eye this morning:

First flight of the A330-200F freighter

5 November 2009

Toulouse, France

The A330-200F's first flight is planned for 5 November (weather permitting) from Airbus' Toulouse, France headquarters. This maiden takeoff will mark a key milestone for the cargo version of Airbus' popular A330 jetliner, which is the first new mid-sized freighter to be launched in 40 years. Photos, video and articles from the event will be posted after the first flight.

The first Airbus A330-200F, now fully painted, came out in the sunlight at Toulouse after departing the paint shop. The aircraft, registered F-WWYE (MSN1004), will head to the flight line toward the end of the month and will be handed over to flight test to begin ground testing ahead of its planned November 2009 maiden flight.

So you're probably asking, "What's up with that nose gear blister?"

From an April 8th article on flightglobal.com:

Images released by Airbus of the first A330-200F on the move in Toulouse reveal the modification made to the landing gear and forward fuselage to address the nose-down pitch that is a characteristic of the A330/A340 and provide a level cabin floor during loading.

This has been achieved by lowering the nose-gear leg attachment points to raise the nose height, in turn requiring a larger gear bay that is faired by a blister on the underside of the nose.

Photo Credit Airbus

The never ending battle between Boeing and Airbus to claim the title of worlds biggest aircraft maker got a little bit tighter this week.

Through the third quarter of 2009, Airbus says it had delivered 358 planes to Boeing's 359. Each company says it plans to deliver between 480 and 485 aircraft this year.

While the rest of the civil market has taken a major production beating, especially on the business jet side, the commercial market has remained strong. There are more than a few people who are of the mind that 2009 deliveries are a significantly lagging indicator to the true state of the marketplace. Any pronouncement that Boeing and Airbus have weathered the storm of the global recession in production terms is a bit premature.

Suppliers to Boeing and Airbus are of the mind that production has to slow, with 737 and A320 rates likely to fall in 2010 or 2011.

Each company says that it has no plans to cut rate due to back-filling of orders to compensate for deferrals, but with the backlogs barely growing compared to previous years, back-filling is only viable for so long.

On the Boeing side, one needs only to look at history to see how the company works within the cycle. Without fail for the last half century, Boeing has announced a significant production cut on years ending in zero ±1 year. To quote Mark Twain: "History doesn't repeat itself - at best it sometimes rhymes"

At the bottom of Page 82 of Airbus' Global Market Forecast are three interesting concepts for the European airframer's next generation narrowbody concept. The A30X is now not expected for another 15 years, but the concepts provide an interesting glimpse into the potential for non-conventional concepts that could define the replacement of the A320 family. Rear mounted engines seem to be in the imagination of the company's engineers, with options for both ducted and unducted configuration, as well as a Sonic Cruiser style model, presumably for long range operations.

Radically pushing the envelope of new aircraft configurations will invariable run into interesting challenges for airline operations and airport layouts. This, of course, will be an interesting one to watch.

Hat tip to Keesje for the spot

The five year battle between Boeing and Airbus on claims the European-airframer received illegal subsidies for the development of its commercial portfolio has taken a significant turn with reports indicating that the World Trade Organization has ruled, at least in part, in favor of Boeing.

The preliminary ruling, which was handed down today, has been distributed confidentially to US and European trade officials.

Almost immediately, the rhetorical war of words erupted as initial reports in the Wall Street Journal citing multiple sources claiming that the initial ruling declared the repayable launch aid for development of the A380 represented an illegal subsidy by the governments of France, Germany, United Kingdom and Spain.

The United State Trade Representative says the 1000-plus page report is under review and its confidential contents are not being discussed.

Neither Boeing nor Airbus have issued official statements on the ruling or on any of the reports detailing the decision, with unnamed sources as the best place for information.

As a counter-point the report of the A380's illegal subsidy, another report by Dow Jones Newswires and Financial Times suggests that 70% of the United States' claims on Airbus subsidies have been dismissed, citing a European source in Brussels.

Adding that despite the finding of illegality, the ruling "also confirmed that repayable launch aid is a permissible way to partner with governments."

Despite the lack of official confirmation of any of the details contained in the report, elected officials have not been deterred from weighing-in on the potential implications.

Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA), whose home state hosts the majority Boeing's commercial operations, has been a vociferous proponent for the company on Capital Hill, hailing the report and calling it "encouraging" while decrying the "the damage that has been done to America's premier airline manufacturer which has suffered the loss of 20 percent of the market share -representing hundreds of billions of dollars in value and tens of thousands of jobs."

Dicks urged the Pentagon, which is currently preparing for a re-bid of the US Air Force tanker contract, to take into account the WTO ruling in its decision-making.

"The U.S. government cannot reward illegal market actions that have harmed U.S. manufacturers and stolen U.S. aerospace jobs," said Dicks. "The tanker contract must be awarded on the basis of a level playing field, and because of today's ruling that means it must account for the direct and unlawful subsidies that have allowed Airbus to launch the A330 and other large civil aircraft without the risks that other manufacturers must assume."

The reaction appears to solidify the assessment of aerospace analysts that the ruling, no matter the outcome, would only serve to further the rhetorical arguments and political maneuverings, rather than force real changes in how Boeing or Airbus deal with government money.

According to one source familiar with the WTO rules, any appeals filed by both sides to the preliminary ruling must be resolved within 90 days of being filed, meaning that a "final WTO ruling will be out by next spring."

Still pending, however, is a counter suit by Airbus alleging that research and development funding through NASA has directly benefited Boeing's ability to transfer the intellectual property towards developing commercial aircraft, such as the majority-composite 787 Dreamliner.

Yet the same source familiar with the WTO case also suggests that no matter the outcome of the European case against Boeing, "Europe will have to come into compliance with today's ruling." Adding that "If the EU prevails on any of the allegations it has made, that will not excuse the EU from complying with rulings that go against it in the US case."

Boeing predicted in July that the details of the preliminary ruling on the WTO case would leak in the days just before Labor Day. Almost like clock work and right on schedule, the Wall Street Journal reports that the WTO will rule that Airbus received illegal subsidies for its aircraft development programs, setting up a potential challenge to state aid for the A350.

According to the WSJ:

Legal experts say the WTO's preliminary decision, part of a process that could drag on for years, could alter the framework for government aid to airplane makers, which invest billions in developing new jetliners. In addition, the decision could eventually crimp Airbus's ability to tap state funds, these people say.

Though the challenge to the A350 may be the important first test case for the ruling, the conseqences could reach far beyond the trans-Atlantic trade battle between Boeing and Airbus. The ruling may serve as preceedent for future aircraft development and could have an impact on the planning of nations like Brazil, Canada, China, Japan and India to develop commercial aircraft of their own. This ruling certainly has the potential to significantly alter the landscape for those wanting to get a piece of the commercial pie.