Airbus: September 2008 Archives

Ever since I saw the new A350 XWB rendering this morning, I've been trying to put my finger on what it is about that nose. I'm not going to judge an airplane aesthetically, because that's stupid and it can fly and I cannot, therefore it wins the argument every time. Am I crazy or is the XWB a hybrid of the A320 and 737 families.

Call it the lovechild of the Montagues and Capulets of the aviation industry?
737 wearing an A320 mask?
A320 wearing Groucho Marx 737 glasses?

Judge for yourself. This is photoshopping at its most crude, but I think it captures what I'm getting at.

Update: This is the CAD rendering of the nose that was released in May. It looks as though there are slight differences between the rendering and the CAD drawing:

In Toulouse tomorrow, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services will take delivery of its first Airbus A380-800.

QANTAS, the common shorthand form of the Australian flag carrier, will be handed the keys to MSN014, an aircraft that has gone by many different names in its short life. The aircraft has been called by its manufacturer's serial number (14), its Airbus test registration (F-WWSK), or now by its Australian registration (VH-OQA) or given name (Nancy Bird Walton), the 450-seat A380 will fly the longest in-service A380 mission yet.

QANTAS is set to begin airline service October 20 between Melbourne and Los Angeles (QF93). Four days later, VH-OQA will commence service between Sydney and Los Angeles (QF11).

The Melbourne to Los Angeles route is about 900 nm longer than the next longest route served by an A380, Emirates' Dubai-JFK service.

2001
March 6 - QANTAS places initial order for 12 A380s, the fifth airline to order the superjumbo.

2006
February 1 - Structural components arrive in Toulouse for MSN014
October 29 - QANTAS increases its A380 order to 20.

2007
November 28 - MSN014 is first spotted in Toulouse.

2008
January 16 - F-WWSK runs it engines for the first time.
January 25 - MSN014 makes it first flight.
January 30 - The first QF A380 makes the 682 nm to Hamburg for painting and interior outfitting.
May 12 - The Marc Newson designed interior is unveiled to mixed reviews.
May 19 - MSN014 heads to the paintshop.
June 5 - MSN014 is unveiled in Hamburg after being painted in the new QANTAS livery. Note: The new livery was altered for the A380 after it was found that the roo's leg went right through the horizontal stabilizer!
August 15 - After repainting, MSN014 undergoes rejected takeoff testing at Hamburg ahead of its outfitting flight.
August 19 - F-WWSK takes off from Hamburg for a 3-hour 38-minute outfitting flight as AIB014C.
August 30 - MSN014 returns to Toulouse from Hamburg in preparation for its September 19th delivery.
September 5 - VH-OQA makes its first flight with an Australian registration.

Image credit: David Barrie

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the DoD has hit the stop button on the tanker contract:

The Department of Defense is calling off a hotly disputed $40 billion competition to replace its aging fleet of aerial-refueling tankers because officials don't think they can pick a winner before the next presidential administration as planned.

The decision is a major victory for Boeing Co., which had lost the initial competition in February to a team comprised of Northrop Grumman Corp. and the parent company of Europe's Airbus. Boeing's protest of that decision was upheld by the Government Accountability Office, leading to a new round of bidding.

President McCain or President Obama will be inheriting this mess. Any odds on bets that this becomes an issue in the Presidential campaign?

Just spent the last two days traveling - finally back on the East Coast.

News broke yesterday afternoon of Airbus' decision to offer a heaver A330-200 to take on the first 20 787 Dreamliners in 2010. The new 238t version of the A330-200 would have a range of 6,840nm

A higher gross weight, longer range A330 was studied for years as a response to the 787, though it went by a different name at first. It was called the A350. It eventually gave way to the A350 XWB which we see today in the three aircraft family of the -800, -900 and -1000.

In its earliest iterations, the dimensions of the A350-800 and A350-900 matched identically to the A330-200 and A330-300. Though shelved in favor of a all-new design, Airbus clearly didn't opt to mothball the plan fully, instead waiting until now to call it a higher gross weight model A330 to take on those early 787s.

One has to wonder if a heavier A330-300 is in the works as well if performance issues on -8 carry to the -9. Though, the A350-900 will already be into final assembly by early 2011. Yet, a heavier A330-300 might make sense to offset the A350-800 which is due in 2013, a direct competitor to the 787-9 due in 2012.

There's no indication currently as to whether or not there would be any engine changes to the new 2010 model, though the A350 mark 1 featured both Rolls-Royce and General Electric engines. The only reason why GE didn't make it onto the XWB was because the passenger capacity of the -900 and -1000 would have put it in direct competition with the GE90-110/115B engines on the 777.

Finally, claims that the 787-8 is "tons" overweight and 2% over fuel burn targets are stunning to say the least. Airbus didn't say by how much the 787 is overweight, but the impact as they see it is clear. Early 787s, Airbus claims, will only have a range of 6,720 nm, at least 1,000 nm less than the range Boeing advertises, and only about 800 nm more than the 767-300ER. Airbus cited "market intelligence" for its updated assessment. It's worth noting that Boeing has not yet responded to Airbus' claims about the 787-8 performance.

Though with Dreamliner Seven held in supply chain because of the strike, the aircraft will likely benefit from additional change incorporation aimed at bringing down the weight and boosting performance both on the airframe and for the engines.

The jury is still definitely out on this question until flight and static testing get underway fully.