Two first flight-test-aircraft MSN1 & MSN3 in the same hangar. Picture

Finally, It has been published the picture of the MSN1 (with engines) and MSN3 in the same hangar (C63) when they met each other on the 3rd week of April.

The MSN3 was moved out of the FAL on its wheels and spent a few days in the C63 hangar next to its twin MSN1 to undergo lightning tests that are required for First Flight Clearance. After those tests, MSN3 returned to the FAL.

Meanwhile, MSN1 remained for some days in the C63 hangar preparing Ground Vibration Tests and trying to finish the FTI- Flight Test Installation.

The MSN3 has a very similar configuration as MSN1, only with some FTI differences.

A350 XWB First Flight date depends on previous on-ground tests as for example the “rejected takeoff at high speed” test.

Having been painted, the MSN001 will shortly be turned over to pilots and flight-test engineers, who will monitor it from the first flight through more than 12 months of rigorous trials culminating in certification and service entry.

 

Tests to be done before the aircraft gets airborne include running engines through controlled cycles, taxiing at low and high speeds, and a so-called rejected takeoff at high velocity to check that brakes, spoilers and thrust reversers all work properly to bring the aircraft to a controlled standstill.

 

Still, the remaining A350 testing schedule may not be plain sailing, with scope remaining for hitches with the plane’s electronic systems during final trials, according to Tecop International President Hans Weber, a physicist and aerospace expert who advises the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. “Software glitches are one of the biggest worries in these systems,” Weber said in an interview. “Everything on the plane is ultimately controlled by software, and it can be a lengthy effort to find a glitch and fix it.”

Depending on these tests, the First Flight date will be fixed but could be the week before Paris Air Show (starting on 17/June). With a live-video signal that will be follow in all Airbus sites in big video-walls and in streaming by internet all around the world, the event could have a massive media coverage converting this “Toulouse Air Show” in the unofficial start of the Paris Air Show. The take off -around 10 am- will be follow by many people in the other side of the fence of the Toulouse Airport and the flight could take between 4 and 5 hours.

    

Based on the article “Airbus A350’s Paint Job Points to Paris-Show Blow for Boeing” published in Bloomberg

Next step in the MSN001; start of engines … and the typical white smoke.

The start of engines by the test-crew will take place in coming days. With the fire & emergency crews on the stand by, the A350 XWB will “come to live”. The white smoke that we will see is caused by a protective lay of oil burning off.

Testing and monitoring the engines will take two days. 

Systems pre-installed in support/floor grids to reduce assy lead time in the FAL.

Airbus and Boeing have adopted similar methods of pre-equipping large modules in the 787 and the A350 to reduce lead time and recurring costs.

An example of this is the decision to pre-install systems such as electrical harnesses and other cables and piping above the avionics bay using a secondary support grid structure, rather than attaching them to crossbeams with fixed brackets in the traditional manner.

“Lead time has been reduced by 80% on the floor grid in the nose above the avionics bay. Before, it was impossible to produce as a module so we started to go into the architecture. As a result, we developed a secondary structure we can pre-equip,” says Gralfs, Airbus VP of overall physical design, who adds that the integration of the unit lies on the critical path.

All of the A350’s metal parts — including aluminum seat rails and a mix of aluminum, aluminum/lithium alloy and titanium for lower frames and passenger cabin structural floor grid beams — do double duty. Each part has a structural function, and it also forms part of the overall electrical structure network (ESN) within the aircraft.

Based on the article "Airbus’s Automated Future Features Robotics" published in Aviation Week

A350 XWB equipped with a new oxygen system, which delivers oxygen based on a person’s breathing cycle. Risky?

Oxygen cylinders are vulnerable to explosion if exposed to fire or impact damage. Oxygen facilitates the spread of fire or increases its intensity. The vulnerability of onboard bulk oxygen to post crash or in-flight fire is dependant upon its location within the aircraft. The risk of a major explosion is dependant on the quantity stored and whether it is stored in one place or distributed around the aircraft. 

Airbus A350XWB is to be equipped with a new type of oxygen  system,  the  BE Aerospace Pulse® system,  which  delivers  oxygen  based  on  a  person’s breathing cycle and has oxygen stored in small vessels, one at each PSU. This type of system may be  relatively well protected from  crash  impact  damage  compared  with much  larger  bulk  oxygen cylinders that are often located beneath  the cabin  floor, but might pose a greater overall  risk  in a cabin fire, albeit with a smaller explosion.

The Pulse passenger oxygen system weight can be reduced by up to 450 pounds. Pulse also requires less maintenance while supporting various aircraft mission profiles and seating reconfigurations. It eliminates the need for rigid pipe, providing mission flexibility. To conserve energy, the Pulse System is not powered during typical flights and activates immediately if required. In addition, its built-in microprocessors are designed to improve reliability with minimal preventative maintenance required.

EASA recommends a  research  to be  carried  out  to  establish  the  explosion risks presented by different passenger emergency oxygen storage systems when subjected  to cabin fire or post crash impact.

However, it is likely that this method of oxygen storage would present a greater risk of explosion in a fire than chemical oxygen systems. 787 has the same new type of oxygen system.

Small oxygen storage vessels  located at each PSU in the A350 XWB and in the B787 present a greater risk than large (centralised) storage vessels?

Based on the “STUDY ON CS-25 CABIN SAFETY REQUIREMENTS i.6” published by the European Aviation Safety Agency

One month countdown to the next milestone; Airbus wants the A350 XWB flying by the 50th Paris AirShow to get a credibility boost against Boeing rival.

Airbus engineers are working 13-hour days to get the company’s latest A350 plane off the ground in time to scoop the headlines at next month’s Paris air show.

A flight around the year’s biggest aviation expo, starting June 17, would let Airbus steal the limelight from Boeing, which aims to use the event to spur orders for an updated 777 and revitalize the 787 program hit by a months-long grounding.

Getting the wide-body A350 aloft would repeat Airbus’s splash at the last Paris show in 2011, which the European manufacturer dominated with $44 billion worth of orders for the A320neo.

While Boeing hit back at the 2012 Farnborough jamboree in England with a welter of deals for the 737 Max, the 787 troubles has taken the gloss off its French prospects.

“A first flight by Paris would bring a huge credibility boost for Airbus just as people are having doubts about Boeing’s execution,” according to Richard Aboulafia, vice president of U.S.-based Teal Group, who says the 787’s woes and slow progress with the 777 revamp give Airbus a “window of opportunity.”

Airbus’s first new jet since the A380 superjumbo won’t need to appear in Paris to be the top talking point, with a maiden takeoff from the Toulouse production site likely to be enough to outshine Boeing. The chances of a flight during the event rose when the first operational plane emerged from the paint shop yesterday, replete with an Airbus logo and A350 name on its white fuselage.

EADS Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm called the A350 program “challenging” today; “The important thing is that it’s a mature first flight” he said.

With the A350 due to enter commercial service with Qatar Airlines Ltd. by the end of next year, achieving a timely first flight would be a coup for Airbus after the 787 made its initial takeoff two years late and began deliveries three years overdue.

Airbus is in a position to land a blow against Boeing in Paris after taking a conservative approach in developing the A350 that sought to avoid the pitfalls of previous projects.

 “The biggest lessons we can draw from the past is that we need to move from one step to the other on these big programs, without rushing,” Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier said at last summer’s Farnborough show.

Since then, progress has been sufficiently brisk for A350 engineers to view mid-June as a target for its first flight, even if the official goal remains a less specific “mid-2013,” according to Bregier.

The A350’s Head of Program, Didier Evrard, is leading efforts to get the plane airborne, arriving at the factory before 7 a.m. and leaving after 8 p.m.

An A350 flight by mid-June could have a snowball effect for Airbus, building sales momentum for the A350-1000 variant due to begin deliveries in 2017, even as Boeing seeks to drum up orders for the competing 777X, according to Teal Group’s Aboulafia.

 “Having the A350 fly by the Paris air show would be great from a prestige point of view. But they’ll only do it if they’re really comfortable. They’re not going to be pushed.” Said Nick Cunningham, an analyst at Agency Partners in London who has followed the aviation industry for 30 years.

Based on the article “Airbus A350’s Paint Job Points to Paris-Show Blow for Boeing” published in Bloomberg

Airbus could win an order for 10 A350-900 from Kuwait Airways.

Airbus is close to sealing a purchase agreement from Kuwait Airways for 25 aircraft in a deal valued at $4.4 billion based on list price, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The state-owned airline may sign the agreement as early as this month to purchase 10 Airbus A350-900s and 15 single-aisle A320neos, with deliveries starting in 2019, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been finalized.

As part of the purchase agreement, Kuwait Airways will also lease 13 aircraft from Airbus, with the first to be received in June or July, the people said. The airline plans to take all 11 of its A300s, A310s and A320s out of service by the end of this year, one of the people said.

Kuwait Airways, which expects to pay about 850 million dinars ($3 billion) for the order, chose Airbus over an offer by Boeing partly because the cost was lower, one of the people said.

Based on the article “Airbus Said Close to Order for 25 Planes From Kuwait Airways” published in Bloomberg