Aircraft News Weblog

Category: A350

  • Boeing and Airbus on track?

    The Boeing Dreamliner is back in the air and the Airbus A350 is completing the first elements of the flight test program required for certification. So all is well in the Big Two manufacturers world. Or is it, such is the nature of the business that this assumption will never be accurate. There will always be setbacks and problems when each airframe, engine combination is pushing back the boundaries of fuel economy and efficiency.

    There is a huge requirement to reduce all the negatives like fuel burn and aircraft weight while increasing the load and range of the aircraft. The development of the airliner design from the first jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet, to the latest Boeing or Airbus aircraft has been amazing in the last 60 years. Every time I think they have reached the ultimate in design they exceed it with the next aircraft.

    The Boeing 737 was, and still is the work horse of the Seattle based manufacturer. It was challenged by the A320 family and now the Big Two are competing for another prize with the 787 and A350 by flying non stop from London England to Sydney Australia as a regular commercial route.

    Quite amazing that Louis Bleriot managed the first powered flight across the English Channel in 1909 and now in 2013 we are vying for non stop scheduled flights from London to Sydney.

    I can’t wait to see what they will come up with next.

  • Airbus A350-900

    A350-900

    Airbus are reporting there will be no delay to the production and testing schedule of the A350 due to the problems with Lithium-Ion (Li-on) batteries.

    While Boeing are searching for a solution with the B787 Dreamliner battery problems Airbus are pressing ahead with then A350 and have replaced the planned Li-on batteries in favour of the more common Ni-Cad type.There are a number of problems with being the ‘first’ to use new technology and Boeing have taken on the brunt of the problems with the Dreamliner.

    Airbus have been developing their own twin engined wide bodied challenger to the B777 and B787 in the A350. This is the first step into the new technology of extensive carbon fibre for Airbus who are using it as the main component in the fuselage and the wings. This will allow a fuel saving to compete with Boeing on the non stop long distance routes from Europe to Australia and New Zealand.

    Although I would need a good vacation after a London to Sydney 19 hour non stop flight. It is amazing that Bleriot only managed the first crossing of the English Channel in an aircraft from England to France in 1909, around 25 miles, and in 1989 a Qantas B747 completed a non stop flight from London to Sydney 10,500 miles as a publicity stunt.

    Something that would not have helped Bleriot is the engine developed for the A350, which weighing in at just over 6 tonnes would have been bit much for his aircraft!

    The Trent XWB-84 has completed all certification and is being shipped to Toulouse from Rolls Royce for installation. This engine will produce up to 84,000 lbs of thrust required for the first A350-900 which will be completing the flight testing of the aircraft design. Changes to the thrust of the engine will power the other two variants of the aircraft. The increased thrust for the A350-1000 will be achieved by increasing the core engine power, temperature and fan speed rather than the diameter of the engine. Due to this approach nearly 80% of the line replacement units will be common to the engine variants.

    The A350 is scheduled to start flight testing this summer and for those who would like to keep informed of developments here is a link http://www.a350xwb.com/#