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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 2148.PDF
March, while the first -500 will arrive at Air Canada in November 2003 instead of November next year. In 2002, Airbus will deliver 16 instead of 21 aircraft, the last three of which will be delivered on time. The remaining five aircraft, all -500s, will be delivered in early 2003. "We will recover back to the contractual dates by early 2003," says Pardoe. Early maturity "Achieving maturity at the earliest possible moment is the most important aspect of the programme," says Daniel Therial, senior vice-president long-range pro grammes. Three main areas have been cov ered: deliverables (the aircraft itself, accom panying documentation, training, tools etc) user satisfaction (maintenance, cock pit, cabin crews and passengers) and signif icant reduction in post EIS problems. Twelve "key maturity subjects" were iden tified: cabin, cargo loading, electrical genera tion, flight controls, hydraulic system, structure, built-in test and on-board main tenance, landing gear, fuel system, bleed air, powerplant and lower-deck facilities. Each is under constant review. "We've made more than 500 significant improve ments as a result," Therial says. Combined endurance and environment testing has been carried out at equipment level while entire systems are tested on rigs, including a new full-scale water/waste and new land- mEWfllfiWIatiffl'MHirl ing gear rig. A new cabin avionics rig is being used to test items such as the in flight entertainment and communications systems. A dedicated -500/-600 "iron bird" rig has also been established to test hydraulics and other systems running throughout the aircraft. Airbus has held maturity vendor confer ences with suppliers to "share challenges and identify responses as early as possible," says Therial. Specific exercises have also been defined to ensure cabin maturity at EIS, which will include early flights with passengers six months before EIS to iden tify any cabin comfort modifications. Long-range route-proving flights will also be carried out with full passenger loads. Preparation for the first flight included application of 60% static limit loads on the second of the three dedicated -600 flight test aircraft (MSN360/MSN371/MSN376) before the maiden flight. The first aircraft, MSN360, launched the flight test programme on 23 April with a successful 5h 22min maiden flight from Toulouse. It will remain in Airbus colours and be used for demonstrations and devel opment after flight testing, as well as for general development and certification. MSN371 will fly in mid-June and carry out general development and powerplant- related certification while the third, MSN376, will carry out cabin systems, cold weather and long-haul trials, planned for Customer Aerolineas Argentinas Air Canada Egyptair Emirates Flightlease (Swissair) ILFC Lufthansa Singapore Airlines Virgin Atlantic Unannounced Total Model 600 500/600 600 500 600 500/600 600 500 600 500/600 Orders 6 5 2 6 9 13 10 5 10 5 71 November, leading to passenger proving flights in March next year. Airbus expects testing to last l,600h but has provided a | further 3O0h contingency time. The aim is to achieve type certification | in April 2002. Production Final assembly of both of the new A340 versions will take place in Airbus' Clement Ader factory in Toulouse integrated with the A330/340 models. The addition of the new types will take the monthly produc tion rate to eight and possibly nine aircraft. By the first flight of the prototype, 19 A340-500/600s had been launched into production with rates building from 16 air craft next year to 35 in 2003 and 39 in 2004. • FLIGHT Source: Airbus industries Length (m) 67.9 / 75.3 Wing span (m) 63.45 / 63.45 Height (m) 17.1/17.29 Powerplant 4 x 53,000lb R-R Trent 553 / 4 x 56,000lb. R-R Trent 556 Performance: Normal operating speed (Mach) 0.83 / 0.83 Operating weight empty (kg) Standard fuel capacity (litres) Max payload (kg) MTOW (kg) Maximum landing weight (kg) Tim Brown 170,800/177,700 214,800/194,880 51,200/62,300 368,000 / 369,000 236,000 / 254,000 132 12-18 JUNE 2001 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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