5 aircraft less in the A350-800 order-book as India’s Kingfisher Airlines is no longer operating.

 

 Airbus has removed 5 A350-800s (and 5 A380s) originally destined for India’s Kingfisher Airlines from its order book.

Kingfisher placed the order for the 5 A350-800s at the June/2005 Paris Air Show, but as the airline is no longer operating, Airbus decided to remove the aircraft from its backlog.

“Kingfisher founder and chairman Vijay Mallya is still determined to sell his airline. He still has an air operator’s certificate. If he does sell the airline, we took the decision internally here that he probably doesn’t need A380s just right now, so we’re taking them out of the order book, along with the A350s,” Airbus COO-customers John Leahy said.

Current A350 XWB family order-book has 812 orders.

Based on the article “Airbus axes Kingfisher Airlines' A350s, A380s from its backlog” published in ATW

A350 MSN4 flying prototype will have the Qatar logo on the Vertical Tail Plane

Airbus is to roll out its 4^th A350 test-flight aircraft in a special hybrid livery based on the color scheme of Qatar Airways, the launch customer that is to take delivery of its first A350-900 before the end of this year.

The rear fuselage of the MSN4 aircraft will carry Qatar Airways branding, including the Doha-based airline’s oryx logo on the vertical fin.

A source familiar with the plan mentioned in Flight International states that the manufacturer’s A350 product scheme will be on the forward fuselage. “It’s not the first time we’ve done this,” the source added, pointing out that an A310 test aircraft was painted in the livery of Lufthansa and Swissair.

A380 VTP

Airbus has been expecting to fly MSN4 around February and it will be used for tests including noise analysis.

Based on the article “Qatar hybrid livery to feature on test A350” published in Flight International.

“The A350-800 would likely not be built”. But there are still 61 orders that need to be upgraded before officially cancelling the smaller variant of the A350 XWB family.

After the announcement from American Airlines Group to convert all of its order for Airbus A350 aircraft (22 aircraft) to the larger -900 variant, the A350-800 only has 61 remaining firm orders. This decision from American Airlines is considered key for the A350-800 future.

These orders include 12 from lessor Aircraft Purchase Fleet, 10 from Yemenia and 8 from Aeroflot (from originally 18 ordered).

The -800 has not secured an order for over 4 years and its backlog has depleted as customers migrate to the larger -900. Airbus has declared that they had decided to focus on two larger wide-body models (-900 and -1000). During the Paris Air Show in June, Didier Evrard Head of Program said that there was no allocated MSN for first A350-800 yet so it is not expected to be before MSN150.

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker (who cancelled an order for the A350-800 and boosted orders for larger types), said the 270-seater would likely not be built. "This is what they (Airbus) told us," he told reporters at a trade fair.

Airbus had also announced in July the Regional variant of the A350-900 with the same engines than previously planned for A350-800.



Based on the article “American converts remaining A350-800s to larger -900s” published in Flight Global

The A350 XWB wingtip deflects more than 5 meters after ultimate load application

Airbus successfully performed the ultimate load test of the A350 XWB’s wing in December/2013, applying loads up to 1.5 times higher than those the aircraft would ever encounter in its entire in-service life.

At ultimate load, the A350 XWB wingtip deflection exceeds 5 meters.

This test was performed on A350 XWB static test airframe that was built specifically to demonstrate the structural integrity of the airframe. The strains induced into the airframe are measured and monitored in real time using more than 10.000 measurement channels. The huge volume of data recorded is analyzed and correlated to the structural computer models which have been used to design the airframe

Airbus already passed the last of the ultimate load tests for the A350 XWB fuselage in early December 2013 in the MSN500 prototype that has been tested in the L34 building that is in the AéroConstellation site in Toulouse.

The same test with the 787 static test airframe. It looks like more flexible.

These successful ultimate load tests are important milestones for type certification and another step on the road entry into service of the A350 XWB in Q4 2014.

 

Based on the press release “A350 XWB passes ultimate load wing test”

First serial A350 XWB final assembly started. MSN6 will be delivered to Qatar Airways before end of 2014.

Airbus’s first serial-production A350 aircraft MSN6 has started the final assembly in Toulouse.

The aircraft that is destined for launch customer Qatar Airways, is the first customer A350 airframe.  During Airbus´ annual orders briefing in Toulouse, Airbus chief executive Fabrice Bregier confirmed the initial sections' arrival at the final assembly line and that the join has started as planned.

Qatar Airways has 43 A350-900s on order and is scheduled to take delivery of the first aircraft in the fourth quarter of 2014. Doha-based Qatar Airways also has 37 orders for the larger A350-1000.

Based on the article “First serial A350 for Qatar enters final assembly” published in Flight International.

A350 XWB completes high altitude testing in Bolivia

The A350 XWB development aircraft MSN3 has completed in Bolivia a series of tests at the high altitude airfields of Cochabamba and La Paz.

Operations at such high altitude airfields are particularly demanding on aircraft engines, Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) and systems.

The aim of these trials has been to demonstrate and validate the full functionality of engines, systems, materials as well as to assess the overall aircraft behavior under these extreme conditions.

A number of take-offs with all engines operating and with simulated engine failures were performed at each of the airfields to collect data on engine operating characteristics and compare with the same data from Toulouse tests. With these data, Airbus can validate the aircraft take-off performance and can be interpolated without penalty for airports worldwide.

More pictures available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/banzinho/11931953023/in/photostream/

The autopilot behavior has been also evaluated during automatic landings and go-arounds as well as avionics ventilation, APU bleed requirements, pax/crew oxygen systems and handling in flare.

Next stop; Martinique.

Daher-Socata designed and builds the A350 XWB Main Landing Gear Doors “warped”.

Of the hundreds of structural parts and hundreds of moving parts on a commercial airplane, there are very few that are both structural and moving that also face the aerodynamic and mechanical-performance demands placed on landing gear doors. Among the largest moving structures on an aircraft, they must perform flawlessly under all flight conditions and meet a host of contingency requirements in the event of aircraft power loss or landing-gear failure.

Daher-Socata (Tarbes facility) is the Tier1 in charge of the development, design and build the main landing gear door (MLGD) for the A350 XWB (4mx2,2m).

The MLGD solid laminate skin is layed up on this Coriolis automated fiber placement system mounted on the end of a KUKA robot.

The doors are hinged back-to-back in the center of the fuselage and open only when the landing gear are retracted or deployed. Located under each wing, adjacent to the fuselage, each landing gear levers inward for storage under the fuselage. The MLGDs are flat and rectangular except for a 0.9m wide curved tab that extends from the end opposite the hinges to conform with the fuselage curvature.

Daher-Socata made the decision to design the A350 XWB’s MLGD with warp built in to keep the door snug and rattle-free.

Engineers discovered that constantly changing air pressures as the aircraft changes altitude and airspeed cause the MLGD to change shape. Designers determined where and how these changes occurred and then used that data to optimize the design.

After several iterations, Daher-Socata designers settled on a final “warped” design that included an apparent gap of unspecified dimension at the door closure between the MLGD edge and the landing gear opening in the plane’s underside. To match both objectives: to properly stress the door and to meet aerodynamic requirements.



Based on the article “Main landing gear doors designed for all contingencies” published in High-Performance Composites