FLIGHT TESTING
“Airbus is continuing A350 development
with in-flight trials of cabin technologies.”
acknowledges that this schedule is “at risk.”
The manufacturer says that A330-900
MSN1836, the first production aircraft,
previously cited for route-proving and
service-entry readiness duties, has not
been involved in flight-test work.
AIRBUS A350
Airbus is continuing A350 development,
which in late 2019 included in-flight trials
of “connected cabin technologies.” Recent
growth in A350-1000 maximum take-off
weight to 319,000kg and related extra fuel
capacity has contributed to increased range
that now approaches 8,700 nmi. In
October, the manufacturer was
refurbishing third-built (but second to fly)
A350-1000 MSN071 for customer delivery
in 2020.
AIRBUS A380
In late 2019, A380 very-large-airplane
development centered on gaining FAA
certification for 350-minute ETOPS.
According to Airbus, this follows work to
improve fleet operational reliability to
“above 99% – a first for any four-engine
aircraft” – and to reduce “severe” flightdisruption
events that result in delays of
more than four hours by 30 to 40%, said to
be “now the norm within almost all A380
operators.” Additionally, A380 heavymaintenance
C-check inspection intervals
have been extended from two to three
years and the manufacturer is “strongly
supporting airlines in their cabin
reconfiguration program.”
AIRBUS BELUGAXL
By the end of 2019, Airbus aimed to obtain
certification for the A330-based BelugaXL
heavy-transport aircraft, developed to ferry
whole wings and large Airbus subassemblies
between factories and finalassembly
lines, and to have delivered the
second example to subsidiary Airbus
Transport International (ATI) for service
entry in early 2020.
First aircaft BelugaXL MSN1824 had
logged 738 FH in about 15 months of typecertification
duties by October 2019 (with
only flight-in-known-icing to be
completed), while second example
MSN1853 had accrued 27 FH of
supplemental type-certification work and a
further 122 FH of function and reliability
flying and ATI pilot training.
BOEING
Late 2019 found Boeing continuing to
address technical issues with the 737 Max
following two fatal accidents and the
consequent suspension of certification and
also dealing with an explosive
decompression of a 777X door in static
testing. Reports of apparent certification
irregularities with the Max might lead to
greater scrutiny of Boeing derivative
AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM // SHOWCASE 2020 15
AIRBUS A320NEO FLIGHT TEST LOG
Model Engine MSN* FC** FH***
A319neo CFM 6464 269 762
A320neo P&W 6101 488 1,444
A321neo P&W 6673 327 897
A321LRneo CFM 7877 46 158
A321neo CFM 6839 227 599
TOTAL 1,357 3,860
*Manufacturer’s serial number; **flight cycles; ***flight-hours
Source: Airbus (September 2019, week 37)
and climb handling qualities, and stalls.
The subsequent development phase has
included rotation law, take-off
performance, design dive Mach number
and velocity (MD/VD), Cat I autoland,
braking and reverse thrust, and minimum
“unstick” speed (VMU). The A330-800
has completed abused-takeoff and
minimum ground-control speed (VMCG)
certification tests.
Outstanding flight-test work included
an “ice-shapes” campaign, maximum crosswind
handling qualities, and Cat I and Cat
III autoland development. Before EIS,
activities include flight-management
system, required navigation performance
(RNP), and Cat III autoland. Airbus has
been working with the end of 2019 as the
target date for certification but
4 // An A330neo being
painted in its livery prior to
delivery at Toulouse
4
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