Engine-related development and integration issues continue to dog Airbus Military's efforts to prepare the A400M for its maiden flight, but the manufacturer remains optimistic it can get the transport airborne "this summer".
Speaking from the floor of Airbus parent EADS's purpose-built, 150,000m2 (1.61 million ft2) A400M final assembly building in Seville on 22 April, the head of the company's military transport aircraft division Carlos Suarez said work to prepare the aircraft's Europrop International TP400-D6 powerplant for flight remained "very challenging".
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© Airbus MilitaryMarshall Aerospace C-130K will be used to test fly the A400M’s TP400 engine |
The four engines that will equip aircraft MSN001 have been undergoing "continuous work" since being delivered to Seville, but will be installed on the aircraft in time for its official roll-out ceremony on 26 June, he adds.
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© Airbus Military |
Airframe MSN001 is fully assembled with full "power on" status and is undergoing systems testing in "station 35". The fuselage for MSN002 is about to be moved to the station 40 assembly jig, where its wings and empennage will be attached.
Obstacles on the "critical path" to the A400M first flight include the need to accumulate at least 50 flight hours with a TP400 installed on a Lockheed Martin C-130K testbed (to be operated by the UK's Marshall Aerospace), and problems completing development of the eight-bladed engine's full-authority digital engine control.
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© Airbus Military |
The C-130K-mounted TP400 test flights should have begun last year, but will not now start until late May or early June.
Meanwhile, the need to modify the TP400's high-pressure compressor (HPC) means that certification-standard engines will not be available until MSN004 takes to the air. "We expect to be in a position to fly the aircraft with the new HPC in the final engine configuration early next year," says Suarez.
With the benefit of hindsight, he admits that industry may have bitten off more than it could chew with the A400M development contract, given the technical and financial risks involved.
"For a programme of this scale and magnitude this is something we will never do again," he says. "It was probably not wise to launch such a large-scale aircraft programme in parallel with a completely new engine development programme."
The French air force is due to become the first A400M operator in April 2010, six months later than the originally contracted date, but Airbus Military has warned that the schedule remains subject to a possible further half-year slip. It has also made a euros 1.4 billion ($2.23 billion) provision to cover potential cost overruns.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
