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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 2846.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT DEVELOPMENT MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / TOULOUSE Airbus evaluates heavier A380 Manufacturer to decide within three months if it will offer increased take-off weight on 550-seater from service entry Airbus has come closer than ever to conceding that it has failed to achieve its weight-saving targets for the A380, with the revelation that it is studying a higher gross weight for the aircraft from entry into service. Airbus says it will decide "within three months" whether it will offer customers a new maximum take off weight (MTOW) A380 variant from entry into service in March 2006, which will feature a 9t increase over the current specifica tion aircraft, to 569t. Although Airbus declines to be specific about the reasons for the increase, A380 customer sources say it is as a result of the aircraft being heavier than the target "manufac- A380 WEIGHTS Current Max take-off 560t Max landing 386t Max zero fuel 361t *provisional "not defined Proposed* 569t 3911 hirer's weight empty" specification. Airbus's official line is that the higher weight option is to "satisfy customer payload/range require ments...the additional 9t can be used either to enrich the aircraft's definition as per the customer's requirement, or to increase the payload or the range". It adds that it decided to offer the pro posal because it wants to have all aircraft built to the same produc tion standard from the start. Robert Lafontan, who is senior vice-president engineering for the A380 programme, says the higher weight will require "local structural reinforcing". He adds that a deci sion on the variant, and the refin ing of its specification, will be made within three months. Airbus indirectly concedes that initial A380s will be overweight, by saying that aircraft built to the first production standard will incorpo rate weight savings. "Airframe weight estimates are now progress- A380 EARLY PRODUCTION SCHEDULE Build order Serial number 1 001 2 004 3 002 4 007 5 003 6 005 Notes Airframe and systems testing, including flight envelope trials (retained by Airbus after completion of programme) Airframe and systems testing (will be reworked for delivery to customer) Full interior for cabin tests - will carry out early long-range flights (will be reworked for delivery to customer) Test equipment and full cabin interior (for route proving) (will be reworked for delivery to customer) First customer aircraft (SIA) Second customer aircraft (SIA) 7 006 Third customer aircraft Note: First eight aircraft are all Rolls-Royce-powered. Aircraft 009 will be first GE/P&W Alliance-powered version and will be used for test and certification of GP7000 engine ing for the first production stan dard incorporating weight savings and the current standard of loads," says Lafontan. The first aircraft built to this stan dard will be the fourth and fifth A380s to fly - manufacturer's serial number (MSN) 007 and 003 respec tively - which will be the first to go to customers. Lafontan says primary The uphill struggle to lessen the load In early 2001 the A380's manufacturer's weight empty (MWE) was "several tonnes above target", says executive vice-president A380 programme Charles Champion, as Airbus accommodated changes to the specification to meet customer range, payload and noise requirements. "Two weight recovery programmes were insti gated, and a series of Tiger Teams' were established, which incorporated multi-disciplinary experts to reach the target," says Champion. A380 senior vice-president engineering Robert Lafontan adds that the company had set a weight saving target of 10t through new technology. "Each of the A380 design groups - the aircraft component management team - were given a weight target to achieve based on the knowledge of design, together with projected improvements in technology consistent with programme plan ning," he says. Lafontan says configuration changes can sig nificantly increase the cabin weight relative to that used for the guarantee, and three initiatives were launched with vendors - the seat, galley and in flight entertainment system manufacturers - to see what weight reductions could be achieved. "We had talks with the seat manufacturers about a 20% reduction in seat weight -1 don't think this target will be achieved," says Champion. "Several actions are under way to further reduce the overall performance and noise risks and to sat isfy A380 customer requirements," says Lafontan. For example, Airbus is developing a noise abate ment departure procedure for the flight manage ment system, which will enable optimised profiles to be flown during the take-off and climb. Lafontan adds that new routings between South- East Asia and Europe are being developed with IATA that will result in air distances being reduced by between 280km (150nm) and 550km. Assembly of the first A380 centre sections is being completed at Airbus France's St Nazaire plant structural weight estimates have been completed for the first airframe, MSN001 (due to fly in early 2005), but declines to specify what these are as it "is not designed with the same objectives" as customer aircraft. The first drawings for MSN003 and 007 have been released. "Individual component weigh ing [of the first airframe] is pro gressing with production," says Lafontan. "The first major wing section weighing took place at Airbus France's Nantes plant on 22 August. The results were within 0.4% of that estimated and fell within the acceptable margins for both weight and centre of gravity established by A380 programme management," he says. In terms of performance, Lafon tan says the higher MTOW is likely to result in a 1% increase in operat ing costs, depending on mission and configuration. But the aircraft will meet all other performance goals set for the standard A380, including the ability to reach FL350 (35,000ft) within 370km (200nm) and 30min of brake release. The aircraft will still comply with the QC2 departure noise limits at London Heathrow. Lafontan says while the standard 70,0001b-thrust (310kN) engines do not need to have an increased rating for perfor mance reasons (the higher weight adds around 120m [390ft] to the take-off run), a 72,0001b-thrust rat ing gives better climb performance than the baseline aircraft, and reduces the noise footprint. 8 9-15 DECEMBER 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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