Airbus A350 XWB news

[sn26567]

is there any specialist in our audience who could tell me which type of plastic is used in the carbon-fibre composites that make the structure of the A350 (or in the 787 for that matter) ?

It's a CFRP, Carbon-Fibre Reinforced Polymer. More specifically it's HexPly M21 made by Hexcel.

Thanks, Bralo. I've been looking for that information for a long time.

[sn26567]

Air France KLM Group has firmed a previously announced contract for 25 A350-900s, plus options for 25 more.

And, equally important, the A350 will conduct its second test flight today at 13:30 from Toulouse, weather permitting.

[sn26567]

And, equally important, the A350 will conduct its second test flight today at 13:30 from Toulouse, weather permitting.

According to the flightradar24 site, the Airbus A350 has taken to the air on the second test flight from Toulouse Airport: http://www.flightradar24.com/AIB02WB. Flying now at FL370 towards the Atlantic Ocean North of Bordeaux.

As flight test engineer Patrick du Ché explained last time, the crew will test the MMO speed today, which should be 0.89M at FL430.


Today's take-off. Picture Airbus

[sn26567]

The third test flight today lasted 9 hours (!) and brought the A350 over the Paris Air Show and French President François Hollande.

[Desert Rat]

Did I say that the 350 will be at the airshow?

No....

What I say is Airbus will probably try to first flight the a/c before the airshow.

Difference.

I was wrong....Not only they flew the A/C before the Airshow....but Also they flew the A/C at the Airshow...

Way to go AIB...

[sn26567]

Airbus to offer a shorter-range A350-900 to counter the Boeing 787-10

The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner was designed for airlines willing to surrender part of the range to carry more people on dense, intra-Asian routes.

The "regional" version of the A350 does not involve design changes, but it will be offered with lower-thrust Rolls-Royce engines tuned for shorter routes than the baseline model.

Source: Reuters

[sn26567]

Scandinavian carrier SAS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 8 A350 XWB and 4 A330 aircraft. Why didn't they announce it during the Paris Air Show?

[Boeing767copilot]

A350 prepares for next stage of flight tests in August

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... st-388277/

[sn26567]

The A350 XWB has achieved 92 flight test hours since its maiden flight. Initial flights tests covered engines, electrics, RAT, landing-gear, brakes, fuel, cabin pressure, autopilot and autoland.

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=50858

[quixoticguide]

A350 prepares for next stage of flight tests in August

Trials will resume in August, with the second flight test aircraft.

[regi]

A350 prepares for next stage of flight tests in August

Trials will resume in August, with the second flight test aircraft.

Oh my goodness! Working in August ? That is trully unseen in French labour tradition
30% of the population is at the Côte d'Azur or Ile de Ré ; another 30% is serving those holiday makers; 30% is hiding behind closed curtains in their appartments because "money no have" and the last 10% is staying in Brussels for tax evasion.

Well...maybe 0.0001% is still working as a pilot of a A350

[galaxy]

Well...maybe 0.0001% is still working as a pilot of a A350

And they are also not all French citizens

[earthman]

Which is why they are still working.

[Desert Rat]

A350 prepares for next stage of flight tests in August

Trials will resume in August, with the second flight test aircraft.

Oh my goodness! Working in August ? That is trully unseen in French labour tradition
30% of the population is at the Côte d'Azur or Ile de Ré ; another 30% is serving those holiday makers; 30% is hiding behind closed curtains in their appartments because "money no have" and the last 10% is staying in Brussels for tax evasion.

Well...maybe 0.0001% is still working as a pilot of a A350

Only parisians take their vacation in august........

[Airbus330lover]

A350 prepares for next stage of flight tests in August

Trials will resume in August, with the second flight test aircraft.

Oh my goodness! Working in August ? That is trully unseen in French labour tradition
30% of the population is at the Côte d'Azur or Ile de Ré ; another 30% is serving those holiday makers; 30% is hiding behind closed curtains in their appartments because "money no have" and the last 10% is staying in Brussels for tax evasion.

Well...maybe 0.0001% is still working as a pilot of a A350

constructive post ? no

[sn26567]

Airbus to offer a shorter-range A350-900 to counter the Boeing 787-10

Interest mounts for the A350-900 regional

Airbus says it has already firmed commitments for the aircraft but that its customers had preferred not to announce them until Airbus formally offers the aircraft at the end of the year.

But it seems one order has leaked. SIA has just announced that it's increased its orders for the A350 XWB with an additional 30 A350-900s, plus options for a further 20 aircraft. It's been rumoured that it has also signed as the launch customer for the A350-900 regional.

Airbus' regional variant is going to be structurally identical to the standard A350-900, but its Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines will be derated to 75,000lb thrust. Its maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) will be limited to 250 tonnes, which compares to 268 tons for the standard A350-900.

One difference between the 787-10 and A350-900 regional is that the latter will not operate at its maximum thrust, meaning operators can save on maintenance costs.

Airbus' reaction shows how confident it is in the success of the 787-10. In fact, Airbus must think that the market for the 787-10 is so vast, it wants a piece of the pie too. And, considering the 787-10's success at the Paris Air Show, it's no surprise.

Full article from Aviation Media

[sn26567]

The Russian newspaper Kommersant reports that Aeroflot would like to change its order of 18 A350-800 and 4 A350-900 aircraft. It is rumoured that they would switch to an entire A350-900 order.

If this is the case, the A350-800 has no a longer future, with just 85 firm orders. And the A350-900 would be the flagship of the A350 series

[Passenger]

Airbus took some photo's today from a formation flight of a A330-300, A380-800 and A350 XWB:

http://www.airbus.com/newsevents/news-e ... ly-flight/

(high resolution photo's available through the above link)

[OO-ITR]

Landmark order for the A350
31 A350s for JAL
http://www.airbus.com/newsevents/news-e ... ver-order/

[RoMax]

Landmark order for the A350
31 A350s for JAL
http://www.airbus.com/newsevents/news-e ... ver-order/

This is a huge win for Airbus and though I like Boeing more, I'm happy to congratulate Airbus for this order. Boeing has no one but themself to blame for this, JAL lost a big part of its trust in Boeing due to the 787-failure and the A350 may simply be a better fit for JAL (with the 777-9X being a bit too big probably, JAL doesn't need the extra payload/range capabilities of the 777X and the A350-1000 being the more efficient choice over the 777-8X).