Airbus ramps up work on A350 family
With the A380 very-large airliner firmly established in production and airline operation, Airbus is now hard at work on its next project: the three-model A350XWB twin-aisle twinjet family. It is about to begin production detailed design for
the mainly carbon-fiber aircraft, which is competing against the Boeing 787 and which Airbus claims also could replace the larger Boeing 777. Manufacturing of production tooling is already under way, as is development of aircraft systems and the passenger cabin, according to A350 program head Didier Evrard. Unveiled at the 2006 Farnborough airshow three years ago, the new design is a wider-cabin reworking of an earlier two-model A350 proposal, based on the A330 that makes extensive use of composite materials.The European airframer expects to begin final assembly of the first A350 in about two years. Testing of static and fatigue specimens should be initiated around the end of 2011, ahead of first flight in early 2012 and service entry in mid-2013, according to a schedule Airbus released last month. Before the A350 maiden flight, the company will use a digital mockup, as well as synthetic and real testing of system functions in an effort to ensure reliability, since many airframes, assemblies and subassemblies will be in production and Airbus wants to minimize modifications arising during flight test.
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