Delighted with the performance of the engine on the first A350-900.

“One of our key challenges this year is the customer build-up on the -84,” Tim Boddy, head of marketing for the program, said.

Source: Airbus

Boddy said he and his colleagues are “delighted” with the performance so far of the engine on the first A350-900s.

There are now 5 of the twinjets in service with the 2 operators –Latam and Finnair will join their ranks shortly– and the XWB-84 is experiencing “very intense operations for a new engine”, he said.

“Vietnam are doing 2-hour legs with up to 6 flights a day, while Qatar does a lot of medium-haul flights and operates in a challenging environment, with lots of flying through sand.”

Based on the article “Rolls-Royce readies for Trent XWB-97 flight test on A380” published in Flight International.

A350 VTP assembly process improvement.

For carbon-fiber structural content of the A350, the assembly issues with composites must be overcome. “It´s a costly problem” said Maria Weiland, R&T director at Saab Aerostructures and coordinator of the EU-funded Low Cost Manufacturing and Assembly of Composite and Hybrid Structures (Locomachs) project.

Source: Airbus

An example of the issues encountered in composite assembly is the vertical tail plane (VTP) of the A350.

Composite Technology Center (CTC) Stade, an Airbus company in Germany with Spanish Tier1 Aciturri, developed the next-generation carbon-fiber VTP, which is designed for highly automated assembly.

But problems with process stability and rate capability were encountered early in production, said Joachim Piepenbrock, head of production composite systems at CTC Stade, speaking at the JEC Europe 2015 composites-industry show in Paris in March.

The cost of “non-quality” –the costs incurred by having to inspect and sometimes scrap parts- was greater than 25% and the deviation in skin thickness ranged from +10% to -15%.

CTC embarked on a process optimization and rebalanced VTP production to a 2-shift from a 3-shift operation.

Vacuum bagging for autoclave curing of the parts was simplified and skin thickness adjusted, and “within 3 months we got to more than 90% good parts and a cost of non-quality less than 5%”, he said.

Source: Airbus

Locomachs tackles the assembly problem in many ways, from designing more integrated structures with fewer interfaces between parts that need to be measured, drilled, shimmed and joined, to robots collaborating with humans to move and position parts and drill&join structures in areas that are hard for person access.

The project is developing simulation tools to predict gaps and design shims for rapid additive manufacture, mobile systems for faster nondestructive inspection to keep parts moving, and flexible assembly tooling that can accommodate variations in part geometry.

Based on the article “Faster Carbon” published in Aviation Week.

A350-1000s engine delivered to Toulouse.

A year after it powered to life for the 1st time in a concrete-walled test cell, the engine for the largest variant of the Airbus A350 has departed Rolls-Royce’s factory in Derby, and has start making its way by road and sea to Toulouse, where it is set to make its maiden sortie on Airbus’s A380 flying testbed, most likely in October, according to Airbus.

6 to 9 months and 120h of testing later, the Trent XWB-97 –exclusive powerplant for the A350-1000– should fly on that aircraft for the first time, ahead of the type’s service entry in 2017.

Meanwhile, with ground testing set to continue for another 12 months or so on 7 other development engines, Rolls-Royce will around Q4/2016 add the higher-powered engine to a production line that is already ramping up output of its XWB-84 sibling.

All pictures. Source: Rolls Royce

Based on the article “Rolls-Royce readies for Trent XWB-97 flight test on A380” published in Flight International.

Plans to convert in firm orders up to 8 A350-900 options for Iberia

Subject to final contractual negotiations, IAG plans to convert in firm orders up to 8 A350-900 options for Iberia to expand and renew their long haul fleet.

Iberia is making plans to open new routes to Asia, Africa and the Americas in the next 2 years.

The new destinations will be announced before the end of the year, following negotiations and profitability studies.

This expansion is made possible by the successful implementation of Iberia’s Plan de Futuro and consequential improvements in costs and earnings performance, which is meeting the company’s objectives, as the latest report by parent IAG attests.

Destinations now under study includeTokyo, Doha, Johannesburg, Toronto, Guadalajara, Managua, San Juan de Puerto Rico, Brasilia, and Asunción.

The company hopes to open the new long-haul routes in 2016 and 2017.

Early this year IAG ordered 16 new long-haul aircraft for Iberia, 8 A350-900s, for delivery in 2018-2020 along with 8 A330-200s to be delivered this year and next.

Last year Iberia posted its first operating profit in six years, thanks to the cost-cutting measures and new revenue streams, along with major improvements in customer service.

Based on the press release “Iberia making plans to open new routes to Asia, Africa and the Americas”

2 engines per week is the production rate for A350-900 at Rolls-Royce.

The XWB-84 (the designations reflect maximum thrust in thousands of pounds) exclusively powers the A350-900, which entered service with Qatar Airways at the beginning of the year, with Vietnam Airlines becoming the second operator in recent weeks.

Source: Airbus

Rolls-Royce is currently producing 2 XWB-84s a week –although this has been raised to 4 to test the robustness of the production process and supply chain, said Tim Boddy, head of marketing for the program.

Source: Manuel Belleli

Both suppliers and final assembly line, he said, coped well with the exercise.

He expects output to rise to 5 a week by the end of 2017 –including by then one example of the -97 variant– and to reach 7 a week across the 2 variants by 2020.

Based on the article “Rolls-Royce readies for Trent XWB-97 flight test on A380” published in Flight International.

With Fokker buy, GKN positions itself on A350 XWB.

With a recent spate of acquisitions, British aerostructures firm GKN Aerospace is positioning itself as one of the key suppliers for the industry giants.

Source: ATO.ru

The purchase in June of California-based Sheets Manufacturing Co. (SMC) allowed GKN to secure major contracts from Boeing for the 737 MAX and 777Xprograms.

And now the addition of Dutch aerostructures company Fokker Technologies opens the door to additional work on the Airbus A350 XWB and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Source: Manuel Belleli

The €706 million ($779 million) acquisition from Arle Capital Partners -signed 28/July- also includes Fokker’s 5.5% share in the NH Industries consortium with Airbus Helicopters and Agusta Westland to produce the NH90 military utility helicopter.

Today, Fokker employs 5.000 and as aircraft component manufacturer and MRO provider remains the Netherlands’ aerospace champion, despite its troubled past.

GKN believes the purchase will position it as the global number 2 in aerostructures, behind Spirit AeroSystems, and number 3 in electrical systems behind Safran (Labinal) and Latecoere (Latelec).

“Fokker ticks all the boxes on GKN’s strategy,” CEO Nigel Stein told investors in London “It is a great fit, with attractive financials, and is a quality company that will add to our capability. We want to run Fokker the GKN way.”

On the A350 XWB, Fokker adds the composite outboard flaps to GKN’s work on the wing spars, windows and trailing edge parts.

Based on the article “GKN Targets Work On A350, F-35 With Fokker Buy” published in Aviation Week

A350 XWB full flight simulator achieved the highest certification

CAE has achieved the highest certification (Level D qualification) for its A350 XWB full-flight simulator located at the Airbus Training Center in Toulouse.

Source: Finnair

The FAA, the Directorate General for Civil Aviation in France and the European Aviation Safety Agency granted the Level D qualification to CAE’s A350 XWB full-flight simulator.

Source: Airbus

“Achieving Level D qualification for the first A350 XWB simulator marks an important milestone, which highlights 5 years of collaborative efforts with Airbus in the development of the full-flight simulator,” said Nick Leontidis, CAE’s group president of civil aviation training services.

Source: Finnair

The A350 XWB simulator, along with the Airbus Pilot Transition and a flight management system trainer, is based at the Airbus training center in Toulouse, France.

A350 also obtained Level 6 qualification from the FAA and Level 2 from the DGAC/EASA for pilot common type ratings qualifications.

Based on the press release “CAE A350 Full-Flight Simulator Nets FAA Level D Rating”