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Aviation History
2004
2004-00 - 0015.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Trent 900 noise and crosswind trials are being undertaken in Hucknall Airbus Espana has completed the first composite aft fuselage section for onward barge and road trans port to the Toulouse assembly line. The first unpressurised aft fuse lage segment (section 19), which is constructed from caibonfibre-rein- forced plastic skin panels attached to a combination of composite and aluminium alloy frames, has been completed by Airbus Espana in Getafe. This is transported by Airbus A300-600 Beluga to Finkenwerder for attachment to the section 18 rear fuselage. The first wing set was removed from its jig at Airbus UK's Broughton plant in November and is undergoing equipping. This involves the installation of hydraulic and fuel systems and wiring. It will then be painted and shipped to Toulouse in April. Meanwhile, preparations are under way at A380 engine makers Rolls-Royce and General Electric- GP7200 assembly is under way Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance. Five R-R Trent 900s are under test, with noise and crosswind trials being carried out at Hucknall in the UK. Delivery of engines to power the first A380 will take place towards the end of 2004. The first full-scale Engine Alliance GP7200 test engine is nearing completion in the USA, with trials to begin soon. The cockpit and forward fuselage shells have been mated in St Nazaire Static airframe to be first The A380 assemblies under construction at the various plants include those for the first flying aircraft, "MSN001", as well as the static test air frame. According to executive vice-president A380 programme, Charles Champion, the first set of subassemblies to enter the final assembly line in Toulouse will be for MSN001, but the first to be finished will be the static test airframe. "The static test airframe will be trans ferred to the test hangar in Toulouse around July," he says. MSN001 is due to be formally rolled out in Toulouse at the end of the year, ahead of a first flight in early 2005. With the A380 a little over two years from entering service with launch customer Singapore Airlines, Champion says that Airbus is already starting to prepare the ground for the launch of commercial flights. "We will set up a customer readiness forum in 2004, at the request of launch operators. This will involve Airbus and the launch customers, and will look at all aspects of the pro gramme before entry into service," he says. Full-scale fatigue testing will be carried out in Dresden, Germany, in a new hangar which was recently opened by German engineering test company IABG and IMA. Beginning in November 2005, the tests will simulate successive flights, simulating uneven runway surfaces and all loads expected during flight. IABG was commissioned by Airbus in 2002 to conduct the fatigue test and construct the 4,950m2 (53,300ft2) test hangar, having per formed similar work on previous Airbus aircraft, most recently concluding the 50,000 flight-cycle A340-600 full-scale fatigue test in June. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6-12 JANUARY 2004 13
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