More than 1000 flight hours and 500 cycles logged by the first 2 A350 flying-prototypes.

The Airbus A350 flight test program is going much better than expected, according to the company’s Senior Vice President Flight and Integration Tests Fernando Alonso. The two test aircraft flying are accumulating around 100 flight hours each per month. “In previous programs, we did around 50-55 hours per aircraft and month,” Alonso said.

MSN1 and MSN3 logged a combined 1,025 flight hours and 505 cycles as of today 10/February. That puts the A350 close to half way through its test program which is aimed at 2,500 hours.

Most of the work (669 hours and 382 cycles) has been done by MSN1. The first A350 to fly is currently on the ground for several weeks for previously planned software and systems upgrades.

Meanwhile MSN3 has done hot & high and cold weather trials in Bolivia and Canada. It made a stop in Doha for a presentation at Qatar Airways before flying to Singapore. In Doha, 2 Qatar Airways pilots flew the aircraft and 2 Singapore Airlines pilots have been allowed to fly the A350 just before the opening of the show.

 

Based on the article “A350 Test Progress Exceeds Expectations” published in AviationWeek