72 hours for the MSN1 since mid-August. 16 flights in 20 days is a good progress for the A350 XWB Flight Test Program which has more than 160 flight hours.

Airbus has completed over 160h of flight testing -31 missions- with the first A350 prototype, having resumed the campaign on 15/August following a short break of a month after undergoing modification to its flight-test installation in July.

These upgrades in the MSN1 included the fitting of a device beneath the aft fuselage which appears to be linked to high-attitude take-off testing, although Airbus says these minimum-unstick tests have not yet been conducted and are not scheduled for the "immediate future".

The MSN1 is being constantly upgraded for conducting test with new test installations. The left wing fairing is one of the aircraft areas that Airbus has been studying very carefully over the last flights.

The second aircraft to join the flight test campaign is being completed in the FAL. The MSN3, that is going to be painted next week, has the target to airborne by the last day of September.

 

The third aircraft MSN2, already with cabin crew area installed is in the station 30, and as watched during last Friday visit of French ambassadors, it has a white tail; it is covering a special livery that will be shown before the end of the year.

The forth aircraft MSN4 has also started the final assembly, with major fuselage and empennage sections in the FAL since mid-August.

Based on the article “Airbus steadily clocks up A350 flight hours” published in FlightGlobal