A350-1000´ Trent XWB-97 to be installed on the A380 MSN1 Flying TestBed.

The key Trent XWB-97 engine is the flying testbed. Serial No. 26000 has arrived to the FAL in Toulouse where it will installed on the A380 MSN1.

This engine is close to the production standard and will be the first engine to fly and all the tests associated with the production engine need to be created.

The engine run in July at Rolls-Royce and was delivered to Toulouse in early-August so Airbus now can pod it.

The 97,000-lb.-thrust engine due to fly in coming weeks is the 1st of 2 units destined for initial evaluation flights on the Airbus A380 flying testbed MSN001, and will be used for evaluating engine operability, relights and handling.

Beyond engine-specific testing, Airbus also intends to use the XWB-97 on the A380 for integrated nacelle tests.

“It will do this to take credit for A350 certification and flights will run well into 2016, so it is not a short program,” said Simon Burr,  Rolls-Royce’s COO for Civil Large Engines

Unlike the -84, which first flew on the A380 in February/2012, the higher- thrust engine Trent XWB-97 will not have undergone simulated altitude evaluation in a test cell before it takes to the air on the flying testbed.

The flight testing on Airbus’s MSN1 A380 is designed to fine-tune powerplant integration and “de-risk” the flight test program on the A350-1000, expected to begin at the end of Q3/2016.

The first A350-1000 is due to fly in end Q3/2016 and is scheduled to enter service in 2017, 2 years after the Trent XWB-84-powered A350-900.

All pictures. Source: Airbus

1200 litres of final paint for TAM´s A350-900.

The A350-900 of TAM, which was painted in September, required 1200 litres of final paint to complete the brazilian company´s livery.

9 days in the paint-shop at Toulouse where the technology called Base Coat – Clear Coat (BCCC) is used.

Using this technology for all A350s, electrostatic guns paint with more pigment.

In the end, the process requires less ink (10% reduction) and let the aircraft approximately 20 kg lighter than with the traditional process.

The black windshield, between the glass, is the specific detail of the A350 for all airlines, turning out in a hallmark of this model.

All picture. Source: Airbus

Based on the article “Airbus usou 1.200 litros de tinta para pintar A350 da TAM” published in Gazeta do Povo.

A350 Door Trainer for China Airlines.

RST Rostock System-Technik has been awarded a contract by China Airlines to design, manufacture and install an A350 door trainer.

Source: Alamy

The A350 1L door trainer will be installed at the China Airlines Training Center in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and be ready for training at the end of January 2016.

This door trainer will be the 6th A350 cabin training device that RST is installing for airlines and training centres worldwide.

Other A350 door trainers have been installed for Vietnam Airlines at Ho Chi Minh City, for Qatar Airways at Doha and for Airbus Training Centre at Toulouse.

Based on the article “A350 Door Trainer for China Airlines” published in CAT Magazine.

Finnair to take delivery on its 1st A350-900 on 7/October. Schedule for familiarization flights in October.

Finnair has slightly adjusted its Airbus A350 long-haul launch schedule, due to changes in the expected delivery schedules of the company’s first A350 aircraft, the needs of the crew familiarization program, and other operational factors.

 

Source: Clement Alloing

The company wants to offer the best possible customer experience for its customers, and has therefore adopted a slightly more conservative launch schedule than previously indicated.

Source: Airbus

Hand over ceremony is scheduled on 7/October at Helsinki, with the 1st commercial flight scheduled on 9/Oct to Amsterdam and Oslo.

 

For the first few weeks, the new aircraft will serve crew familiarization flights in Europe.

 

These are the planned A350-900 familiarization flights:

Helsinki – Amsterdam                                    9/Oct

Helsinki – Oslo                                                9/Oct

Helsinki – Barcelona until                               10/Oct-24/Oct

Helsinki – Malaga until                                    10/Oct-24/Oct

Helsinki – Hamburg                                        11/Oct

Helsinki – Brussels                                          12/Oct

Helsinki – Berlin Tegel                                    13/Oct

Helsinki – Gothenburg                                    13/Oct

Helsinki – Dusseldorf                                      14/Oct

Helsinki – Vienna                                            14/Oct-20/Nov

Helsinki – Munich                                           15/Oct

Helsinki – London Heathrow                           WAS: 6/Oct     IS: 15/Oct

Helsinki – Copenhagen                                   WAS: 8/Oct     IS: 18/Oct

Helsinki – Frankfurt                                         WAS: 7/Oct     IS: 19/Oct

Helsinki – Paris CDG                                      WAS: 8/Oct     IS: 31/Oct

 

Source: Jujug Spotting

Finnair’s 1st Airbus A350 XWB enters into long-haul service on 21/November when the aircraft flies from Helsinki to Shanghai.

 

The next A350 long haul destinations include Beijing (from 4/December), Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore as previously announced.

 

Source: Airbus

 

 

Finnair will also take the aircraft to New York later this year, becoming the first airline in the world to fly to the US with this new aircraft type.

 

 

 

 

Based on the press release “Delivery ceremony of Finnair’s first Airbus A350 XWB aircraft to take place on October 7; long-haul service to Shanghai to start November 21”.

A350 engines being assembled on moving-lines and vertically at Rolls Royce site in Derby.

Rolls-Royce production assembly site in Derby is being upgraded and the $46 million invested are primarily focused on the installation of 4 pulsed lines, 2 of which are already in action.

Source: Getty-images

The first 2 lines, one for the fan and one for the core, enable the units to be built up vertically, representing a break in tradition for Rolls. 

Each line has 6 positions, with engines “indexing”, or moving position down the line from station to station every 24hr.

Source: Getty-images

The floor of the line moves on rails, allowing the engine to shift to the next station without having to be craned into place, as was the case under the original assembly process.

The next 2 lines will provide a site for the horizontal integration of the fan and core modules and an area  for final preparations before dispatch; this includes borescope inspection, cleaning and packaging.

Source: Getty-images

The pulsed lines are “agnostic” to engine type and currently are being used to produce both Trent 1000s and XWBs. However, the investment is geared toward the coming growth in deliveries of the A350, firm orders for which translate into an orderbook for more than 1500 engines.

Source: Getty-images

“The line will be used for building Trent XWB-84s and -97s, and mostly -84s over the next 2 years” said Simon Burr, Rolls-Royce COO for civil large engines.

“Rolls expects to deliver 70 XWB-84s in 2015 and ultimately we reach a rate of 1 a day over the next 2,5 years; so that is 1 every working day by  2017, or around 250 per year” he added.

Source: Getty-images

“It is important to note that the investment in the industrial system and the development of pulsed lines reduces the time needed to build each engine, as well as the lead time. There has been a lot of effort put into the XWB to make production easier” he said.

Based on the article “Pulsed Plans” published in Aviation Week.

Airbus has finally delivered the 6th A350. MSN15 to Vietnam Airlines.

Source: Jujug Spotting

The last A350 delivered was on 30/June to Vietnam Airlines (MSN14) and after nearly 2 months and a half without deliveries, finally today Airbus has delivered the MSN15 again to Vietnam Airlines.

Source: Khanna-Prade

VN-A887 is the final registration of this aircraft that had the roll-out on 13/July and the first flight on 31/July.

Source: A380_TLS_A350

The MSN8 for launch customer Qatar Airways will be delivered in coming days after some weeks of delay. MSN11 for Qatar and MSN15 for Finnair could be delivered before.

Source: Clement Alloing

This is the 2^nd aircraft delivered to Vietnam Airlines and the 6^th A350 delivered to Customers.

First A350-1000 fuselage sections´ manufacturing on track.

The section-19 for MSN59 has been completed and delivered to Germany.

Source: Airbus

 

The tail cone is manufactured in Spain; the lateral shells at Illescas composite site and later the assembly is completed at Getafe site.

 

The Section 19 is later shipped from Getafe to Hamburg for build up with the Section 16-18 panels.

 

 

 

Source: Premium AEROTEC

 

On the same date, Premium AEROTEC's Nordenham site handed over the complete front fuselage section for the same 1st A350-1000.

 

 

This fuselage section will be completed by a CFRP door frame, bringing significant savings in weight and costs.

Delivery of the rear fuselage section from Augsburg is scheduled for the end of September.

 

Source: Lindner Fotografie

 

During the ceremony at Nordenham, Daniel Wenninger, Program Head at Airbus for the front and rear fuselage of the A350-1000, said: "In addition to higher loads and the use of new structural technologies, the over 3-metres longer fuselage section for the -1000 made considerable modifications in the design and construction necessary compared to its sister model A350-900. "

 

 

 

"The team managed to devise a first-class design for this highly complex aircraft component and to deliver it on time and in the desired high quality. That is something they can be proud of."

 

Based on the press release “Premium AEROTEC übergibt erste vordere CFK-Rumpfsektion für A350-1000”