Two new A350 flying prototypes airborne on the same day

The A350 XWB flight test aircraft, MSN2 and MSN4, have both taken to the skies from Toulouse airport  for their respective first flights, bringing the total number of A350 XWBs now flying from 2 to 4. To date, the first two A350 XWB test aircraft to fly, MSN1 and MSN3, have already performed close to 1100 flight test hours out of the program’s total 2500 hours planned for certification. Click the picture to watch a video

The MSN2 is the first test aircraft equipped with a full passenger cabin interior. Airbus has planned "to start carrying passengers and performing tests of the cabin and all of the cabin systems” when it undertakes the Early Long Flights (ELF) in Spring.

Airbus rolled-out its 3rd flight-test aircraft MSN2 from the paint shop in Toulouse on the 2nd of January. It has a distinctive “Carbon” signature livery to reflect its primary construction from advanced materials.

In the upper side of the aft section of the fuselage there is the radome for the satellite based broadband system (a directional antenna is installed in German pre-FAL under the radome). With this system, the passengers will have access to the wifi system within the fuselage for internet connections through smartphones and tablets. 

Based on the press release “A350 XWB flying test fleet doubles size”