MSN3 is currently in the station 40 in the FAL where the wings have been joined up to the fuselage and the Vertical and Horizontal Stabilizers have been already installed without any special issue.
MSN3 is the third aircraft being assembled. As MSN1, it does not have a cabin and is full of Heavy Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI). The flight test program of MSN3 includes a high and medium altitude campaign, a cold weather campaign, a hot weather campaign and long system flights.
After completing the pylon and the main landing gear installation, the MSN3 will be transferred in coming weeks to the station 30 for indoor ground tests. All the movable surfaces (flaps, spoilers, etc) have to be installed before going to the next station.
Next aircraft, the MSN2 (the 4th in the FAL and the 3rd flight-test aircraft) will be the first aircraft to have a cabin. As the fuselage assembly will start in few weeks, the main interior suppliers´ staff is starting to increase in the FAL, although the cabin equipment is done in station 30. Diehl Aerosystems and its suppliers are in charge of most of the A350 interior work.
First of all, congratulations for your magnificient blog with daily update. Let's share the last minute news of MSN3; after station 40 activities (wing, empennage, pylon, main landing gear, first power-on) were completed, the aircraft moved out of the Final Assembly Line on its wheels. The aircraft spent a few days in the C63 hangar next to its twin MSN1 to undergo lightning tests, compulsory for first flight clearance. It has now just returned to the FAL for indoor ground tests at station 30.
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Thanks for your comments and for your data. Hope we watch soon the MSN1 painted soon
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