Airbus has built a 37m (121ft) -long A350 XWB cabin test rig at its Hamburg plant as part of its drive to maximise system maturity ahead of first flight.

Dubbed "Cabin 0", the verification and validation platform comprises forward and aft fuselage sections. It will be fully furnished in a layout based on the arrangement of the A350 cabin flight-test aircraft MSN002.

"The cabin can be linked to functional system integration benches, such as the air system - to look at air distribution - or the IFE system," says A350 chief engineer Gordon McConnell."

Airbus A350 cabin zero
 © Airbus
The "V&V platform" in Hamburg will help validate cabin systems

Source: Flight International

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