A350 XWB is the first Airbus aircraft with cargo fire protection as combination of Halon1301 and Nitrogen Enriched Air (NEA).

The lower half of the cross section is designed around the cargo compartments and the loading system. The A350-900 has three compartments, i.e.: the forward, aft and bulk compartments and can load up to 36 LD3 containers or 11 standard pallets of 96 inches. Special equipment is available for the transport of live animals, perishable goods, heavy pallets and vehicles.

To minimize the aircraft turn around time, the A350 XWB offers a high level of cargo hold capability and flexibility; 2 wide cargo doors and a Cargo Loading System (CLS) compatible with most lower deck cargo containers and pallet standards, allowing interlining operations, ease the loading.

In frame of the A350XWB development, the current flow-metered Halon 1301 fire extinguishing bottle for cargo bay long term fire suppression has been deleted, and Nitrogen Enriched Air (NEA) produced by the Inert Gas Generating System (IGGS) -as part of the Fuel Tank Inerting System (FTIS)- is used instead.

This evolution has different benefits because is the first step to halon-free aircraft –the A350 is “green-aircraft” (less halon). Other benefits is a 20-45 kg weight saving allowing an unlimited ETOPS and an aircraft level architecture synergy.
The weight reduction with respect to the conventional system depends on the ETOPS configuration: up to 20 kg are envisaged for 195 min diversion time and up to 45 kg are envisaged for 360 min diversion time.

Effectiveness of a combined Halon1301 / NEA system has been shown.

Based on the presentation “A350XWB Cargo Inerting Function” done within the International Aircraft Systems Fire Protection Working Group by Airbus.

Airbus will monitor all A350 XWB delivered to customers “around the clock”.

AiRTHM, Airbus’ Real-Time Health Monitoring which falls into Customer Services function. AiRTHM provides real-time troubleshooting, which monitors system health to anticipate failures and enables customer spares provisioning.

This system was available at the A380′s EIS and it is part of the A380 Flight-Hour-Services for customers. The solution is also on the A350XWB. The following chart lays out how this system works.

The A350 has more communications capabilities than the A380; this is necessary because the A350 XWB has over 400.000 parameters measured for aircraft in service. That is a 60% increase between generations over about 5 years.

Moreover, by using ACARS (Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System), Airbus is now able to collect those parameters and analyze the system data from a remote location.

Thanks to this technological evolution, AiRTHM will be available to provide a new and innovative ‘real time health monitoring’ for A350 XWB aircraft. It is based on new processes developed by the Airbus AIRTAC-MIT (Maintenance Innovation Team) with the objective to improve the A350 customers’ Operational Reliability and maintenance scheduling, whilst reducing the associated costs

Boeing has similar capabilities with the 787; Boeing is monitoring them around the clock.

There are tens of thousands of things that can be measured and tracked on 787, and that's just what they're doing inside the company's 787 Operations Control Center in Everett, Wash.

Boeing has 2 giant maps showing the location of each 787 currently in flight. The maps also show the planes' speed and altitude.
Equipped with highly sophisticated onboard monitoring systems, the planes send back massive amounts of information while in the air. Computer software sifts through the data, and anomalies or potential problems pop up in yellow or red on giant computer screens.

"So a red item ... [means] there is a maintenance action that needs to go out and be cleared on the airplane before you have it depart," Boeing explains.

With real-time monitoring, Boeing and the airlines are more likely to have replacement parts on hand even before the plane lands.
Boeing says it can offer a level of customer support it couldn't deliver before. In an extreme case Boeing experts talked directly to pilots who had questions while in flight.

Monitoring an airplane while in flight is nothing new, but the sophistication here — and the amount of data being reviewed — is. United Airlines is pleased; "Boeing created the aircraft, they designed it [and] they know it from the inside out, so it helps to have both of us monitoring it at the same time," says United Airlines spokeswoman Christen David.

What's more, since Boeing can track data from every flight simultaneously in real time, the airplane maker can spot trends or problems across the entire fleet much sooner.


That is especially important when a new plane like the 787 or the A350 goes into service.

Based on the article “Airbus communications technology evolves” published in AirInsight, and based on the article “Dreamliner Returns, And Boeing Is Watching Its Every Move” published in npr.

British Government supports aerospace careers for young students at Airbus Broughton A350 wing plant

Business Minister Michael Fallon praised Airbus’ dedication to the future of the aerospace industry during a visit to the Broughton plant this week. He was in North Wales to announce the first intake of students in a £6m Airbus-sponsored graduate scheme that will support more careers in aerospace.

Mark Stewart, general manager Airbus UK, with Conroy Iwhiwhu, EDS Innovation Works Aerospace MSc, Michael Fallon and Gareth Davies, head of A350 wing assembly

The government has awarded 100 bursaries to employees and graduates at the plant to study Masters (MSc) level degrees in aerospace engineering, which will help the sector develop the high-level skills it needs to compete globally.

The bursaries will cover the cost of tuition fees up to £9,500 and will encourage participating students to forge relationships with UK aerospace companies through project work and placements.

Based on the article “Business minister praises Airbus graduates scheme” published in The Chester Chornicle

Spanish tooling supplier Aritex will develop and manufacture the assembly line for the Keel Beam at Airbus site in Nantes.

The company, with 160 engineers onboard, has been awarded with a contract to develop, design, manufacture and set-up the assembly line for the keel beam of the A350 XWB in Nantes.

This is an important contract for Aritex because of the criticality of the structure; The keel beam provides structural continuity to the fuselage at the landing gear compartment. The A350 XWB program is the first time in which the keel beam and the aft lower shell have been combined to form a single major component. This immense part, made out of 70% composites, is 16.5m long and 4.3m wide and weighs 1.2 tonnes. Its assembly in the Nantes factory required the use of 10,000 fasteners to join 2000 parts.

Aritex has the headquarters in Badalona (close to Barcelona) and it is already working in Airbus´ site in Nantes since 2012 with other tooling projects for the A320Neo.

For the A350 XWB program, Aritex has developed and manufactured the assembly lines of the Horizontal stabilizers (in Puerto Real) and of the Vertical Stabilizers (in Stade). Identified as Tier1 by Airbus, currently is the second supplier with more workload in the category of “jigs and tools” since it started in 2000 to work with.

David López is the CEO of Aritex

Currently Aritex is part of the Comsa Emte Group (more than 10.000 people) and it has recently open a new production facility of 7.000 sqr meters in Shanghai, mainly working for the C-919 with COMAC on the assembly lines of the horizontal stabilizers and the wing box. There is another production facility in Puebla (Mexico) focused in the automotive industry and a commercial delegation in Sao Paulo (Brazil) close to Embraer.

Based on the article “Aritex crece con Airbus” published in La Vanguardia

The tail-skid ready in the MSN1 for starting VMU tests in coming days.

Externally the MSN001 has hardly changed after her return, only a tail skid under the structurally reinforced & prepared rear fuselage S.19 has been installed.

This specific tail bumper is added to protect the tail from any damage during the VMU tests (Velocity Minimum Unstick).

Airbus needs to know the VMU because the computed take off speeds incorporate some margin above VMU, just as they also do for VS (Stall speed), VMCG (Minimum control speed on the ground) and VMCA (Minimum control speed in the air). These “V” speeds therefore form the basic building blocks of take-off performance.

Many videocameras and other FTI devices (specially in the wing) have been installed.

For crew members, these are one of the most stressful tests, as the risk of damage to the aircraft is rather high, although the section 19 is structurally-reinforced to sustain a force up to more than 150 tons. Few pilots can say that they have performed VMU tests on several programs without damaging anything! The VMU tests are difficult to carry out, mainly because it has to perform a soft touch down of the tail bumper, as the structure is not designed for a strong impact.

Perfect weather conditions are needed, with no turbulence and wind less than 5 kts, to insure the precision of the measurements. The tests will be performed at Istres Air Force Base (South of France) where there is a 5 km runway and no houses or other obstacles on the runway axis for several kilometers.

On A380, a total of 22 VMU tests were executed including both development and certification.


Based on the article “Airbus A350 nimmt Testflüge wieder auf” published in Flug Revue

Fokker Aerostructures extends the Outboard-Flap design&build contract for the A350-1000 model

Fokker Aerostructures has signed an important contract with Airbus for the development and manufacturing of the Outboard Flap for the A350-1000, the largest variant of the A350 XWB family of aircraft.

Development activities have already started in close collaboration with Airbus in Bremen, where a team of Fokker engineers is co-located on-site with the Airbus team. First hardware deliveries are scheduled for 2015. The new contract means employment for 50 highly qualified specialists at Fokker.

Fokker is the supplier of the outboard flaps for all variants of the Airbus A350 XWB family.

The Outboard Flap for the A350-800 and A350 -900 variants has also been designed by Fokker and is currently in production in Papendrecht.

This contract recognizes Fokker’s position as a specialist in smart lightweight aerostructures. Fokker and Airbus have a long standing business relationship. The company is also a supplier on the Airbus A380 for the Glare® (glass fibre reinforced) fuselage panels, the thermoplastic leading edge and the wiring systems.

“We are delighted with this new contract, which enables us to further strengthen our business relations with Airbus and which brings highly qualified employment to the Netherlands. It is also an excellent achievement for the Dutch aerospace industry, the strong knowledge infrastructure with universities, knowledge centers and specialist suppliers ensures continuous innovation and integrated solutions which are highly valued by our customers” said Hans Büthker COO of Fokker Technologies.


Based on the article “Fokker krijgt nieuwe order voor Airbus A350” published in RTL

The MSN1 in the air again; the first flight prototype resumes the A350 Flight tests.

The first month from the 14/June that the MSN1 airborne was dedicated to test the complete envelope of the aircraft in 15 flights for 92 hours. This phase1 was finished in one month (15/July) and it has been necessary another month to resume the Test Program.

The FTI Flight Test Instrumentation has been updated and many data from the first month deeply studied to start this phase2 with new and different tests scheduled with the target of freezing the aircraft´s aerodynamic configuration.

The MSN1 has taken off from the “new” 32R runway of the Toulouse airport at 10:33h (local time) this morning and flight to the Rochefort and La Rochelle area in the Atlantic coast.

The MSN1 has landed at 16:35h (local time) completing a flight of 6 hours and 2 minutes.