Airbus A350 touches down in Auckland

First A350 XWB Touches down in New Zealand

In a NZ First: Airbus’ rival to the new generation Boeing Dreamliner has landed in Auckland and Sydney on its global tour.

The A350 - 900 XWB (extra wide-bodied) test aircraft  touched down at Auckland International airport earlier today after flying from Sydney, via Johannesburg, South Africa.

The aircraft is operated by Airbus flight crews and while in Auckland is to be demonstrated such as meeting normal airline turnarounds using airport handling and ground demonstration services.

The tests form part of the final trials required for aircraft Type Certification, which is expected by the end of September.

 

The A350 family as envisaged 

Comparison of competitors

The aircraft, named A350-900 (MSN 5), is one of five A350 test aircraft one of two with 265 seats (42 business and 223 economy).

The world tour began on July 24 and involves a series of tests on four different trips. It will visit 14 airports around the world and will end on August 13.

Airbus says the aircraft offers a 25% reduction in fuel use and comes in three versions from 276 to 369 seats.

It has a carbon fibre fuselage and wings, the same as its Boeing rival, which has been bought by Air New Zealand. 

The visit could be seen as a reminder that Airbus has a strong competitor here.

The NZ national carrier has switched to Airbus A320s to replace its aging single-aisled Boeing 737 fleet.

At the end of June 2014, the A350 XWB had 742 orders from 38 customers worldwide.

From Airbus' website:

" The A350-900 is the cornerstone member of Airbus’ all-new A350 XWB Family, which is tailored to meet airlines’ future market requirements in medium-to-long haul operations.

As the first A350 XWB Family version that will enter airline service, the A350-900 has the same optimised cabin cross-section as the other A350 XWB versions (A350-800 and A350-1000) – which ensures maximum comfort for both passengers and crew while guaranteeing operators optimum revenue potential and operating efficiency.

This jetliner accommodates 315 passengers in a two-class configuration, while offering unbeatable economics in high-density seating and true long-haul capability with a range of up to 7,750 nautical miles.

Airbus’ right-sized interior cross-section for the A350 XWB Family is five inches larger than the nearest competitor, allowing operators to comfortably accommodate economy class passengers at eight-, nine- or 10-abreast arrangements.

The A350 XWB’s wide fuselage cross-section was designed for an optimal travel experience in all classes of service, with passengers enjoying more headroom, wider panoramic windows and larger overhead storage space.  With a cross-section of 220 inches from armrest to armrest, the jetliner’s cabin provides the widest seats in its category, being five inches larger than its nearest competitor.  In addition to providing the space for unmatched premium first class and business solutions, the A350 XWB allows for high-comfort economy seating in a nine-abreast arrangement, with a generous 18-inch seat width. 

Over 70 per cent of the A350’s weight-efficient airframe is made from advanced materials that combine composites (53 per cent), titanium and advanced aluminium alloys. The innovative carbon fibre reinforced plastic fuselage results in lower fuel burn as well as easier maintenance. With this new fuselage – along with the latest systems and engines, as well as an advanced wing optimised for Mach 0.85 cruise speed – the A350-900 is a generation beyond its current competitor, benefiting from a 25 per cent lower fuel burn, 25 per cent lower operating costs, and 25 percent lower CO2 emissions.  The A350-900 also offers more range and additional seats for greater revenue potential.

The A350-900, along with the other A350 XWB variants, inherit commonality features from Airbus’ fly-by-wire aircraft family, while benefiting from the latest in display technology and integrated modular avionics.  

They retain the same handling qualities as the A320, A330/A340 and A380 families, and are flown utilising similar operating procedures. For Airbus-rated pilots, this means less training time when transitioning from one aircraft to another, as shorter-duration Difference Training classes replace the Full Type Rating course.

Additionally, pilots can fly multiple aircraft types within an Airbus fleet by using the proven Mixed Fleet Flying concept – enabling significant benefits for airline profitability, pilot productivity and scheduling flexibility."

Circumnavigation of the globe: My Airline Opinions

I have just returned from an around the worlds trip with my family. Our trip gave us reason to fly in many aircraft, including the 100th Airbus A380:

We experienced several airlines, and varying standards of service and in-flight food, and in-flight entertainment.

The main carriers we flew with were Air Malaysia and Air Tahiti Nui

We also flew regionally with Air Asia and Aer Lingus, and of course Air New Zealand
As budget and regional airlines these can not be faulted. Professional and friendly service, of course no trimmings, but who needs that on a 60 minute flight? Good pilot skills and well maintained, new aircraft.

Local flights were all on Airbus variants, mostly the 320 range, while the Air Tahiti Nui flight from LA to Tahiti was on a A340-400. The Air NZ flight was a Bombardier from Paraparaumu to Auckland

So International Airlines first: Tahiti Nui
(LAX to Papa'eete, Tahiti)

The Rangiroa, the A340-300: F-OSEA was a great aircraft with up to date passenger comforts and technology. Service was on "Island time", and though friendly and hospitable, pales when measured against airlines such as Air NZ, South African Airways, BA, Lufthansa or Qantas.

Noticeable was a paucity of drinks rounds. Drinks were only served with the meal, no separate pre-dinner drinks, no offers for more drinks, only a water round halfway through the flight. The food was good, French in origin, but on both Tahiti Nui flights the bread rolls were not heated, and appeared decidedly stale.

Other than this I could not fault Tahiti Nui. A nice touch was the distribution of frangipani flowers after take-off at LAX. (A nice island touch, which sets the scene for a tropical holiday experience. I suspect this may have replaced the initial drinks round though, and I would rather have had a beer ! Going through US customs and immigration is thirsty work. )

Flying back to NZ was another story. Think the oldest aircraft in their fleet, in-flight entertainment not working, not for anyone. Stafff shrug, sorry, it doesn't work. 9 hours of BOREDOM. This crew a bit more forthcoming with drinks, but you had to ask. Again the drinks round was absent and the cold, STALE BUNS! For goodness sake Tahiti Nui! Get your act together! 

Everyone in Tahiti eats fresh Baguette! What is up here? 

Landed safely enough, but I doubt I'd easily fly Tahiti Nui again. I think better value can be had from other airlines for the same price.

Air Malaysia can not be faulted, great service, great food- probably some of the best inflight meals I ever had was on board the A380 - On the way to London ex KL the Chicken Biryani, was as good as you'd get in a restaurant. Well done.

Kids under 12 were allowed on a behind-the-scenes tour of the aircraft. 

No amount of trying to convince the cabin crew that I was 12 would work. 

(Think the moustache and "traveller's beard" the kids had convinced me to grow was a dead give-away!)

Paris Airshow: US Absent, Russians rules roost, Airbus pulls Grizzly

Paris Airshow 2013:  US Absent, Russians rules the roost, Airbus pulls Grizzly

So the Paris Airshow has started, minus attendance from the US Military and Airbus' A440M Grizzly/Atlas transport.The US did not attend due to budget cuts.

This has left Russia as the main military exhibitor to wow the crowds with their aircraft:

Russia’s Sukhoi has rocked the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget with the premiere of its cutting-edge Su-35 fighter. Super-maneuverable even for a Sukhoi, the Su-35 has been dubbed the “UFO” for its outstanding maneuverability.

Su -35

Two other Russian aircraft will also debut at Le Bourget: The Yakovlev Yak-130 ‘Mitten,’ a subsonic two-seat light attack jet, and the Kamov Ka-52 ‘Alligator,' a coaxial helicopter gunship.

But the first demonstration flight of a Ka-52 has already been accompanied by a minor scandal, as the gunship was banned from its scheduled flight. Two Eurocopter Tiger helicopters performed in the program instead.

“The crew started the engine and began the taxing maneuver when it received the organizers' instruction to return to the static parking area and to stop the engine,” a Kamov spokesperson said.

A source in the Russian delegation said the "organizers explained this by the fact that the French prime minister was visiting the air show at the moment." The source said that if the European helicopters had flown after the Ka-52, they would have attracted less attention.

Later in the day, the Alligator finally made it to the skies, though the exhibition was already closing and many of the guests had already left the show. A demonstration flight of a Yak-130 trainer took place on schedule.

The airshow at the Le Bourget exhibition center takes place from June 17 to 23, and opens to the public on June 21. The event brings together over 3,000 aircraft manufacturers from 44 countries: 1,040 French, 350 American, 124 German and 115 Italian. Forty-six of these companies, including Sukhoi, are Russian.

Last year’s Le Bourget airshow saw a record $100 billion in contracts signed; organizers expect at least $125 billion to be signed this year.

Some 70 percent of the more than 140 aircraft being exhibited are civil, and the rest are military. Around 40 aircraft will give flight demonstrations.


Images gleaned off internet, not my work happy to credit owners on request. No copyright infringement intended .Just leave a comment.

The Sukhoi Su-35 (NATO classification: Flanker E), Russia’s newest, super-maneuverable, multirole fighter jet has conducted its first training flight at the Paris Air Show, and aircraft industry experts were reportedly wowed by the jet’s performance.

“The plane easily passes from low-speed super-maneuverability mode to high-speed combat flight,” test pilot Sergey Bogdan said. Bogdan will pilot all Su-35 flights at the Paris Air Show. The engines are so powerful that the plane could be pulled out of any complicated situation, like a spin, at pilot’s will, he explained: “All you need is to get with the plane on the same wave, to caress and stroke it because, you know, it is a living being.”

There will be little competition for the Su-35 at the Paris Air Show, primarily because sequestration in the US Military’s budget has left Le Bourget without any US Military airplanes present, either for displays or show flights. The Su-35 has become the first Russian fighter jet to take part in the Paris Air Show since 2001, while this is the first time 1991 the US has not presented a fighter jet at Le Bourget.

This 4++ generation aircraft uses fifth-generation technology, and its advanced avionics, new engines, and remarkable weapons array mounted on 12 external hardpoints outperform any existing fourth-generation fighter.

It has top speed of 2,400 km/h, a 3,600 kilometer range, an 18 kilometer ceiling, and an advanced radar system to detect large targets from as far as 400 kilometers.

Probably the only major feature that the Su-35 lacks - and which prevents it from being labeled fifth-generation - is limited stealth capability, as only some parts of its airframe are made of composite material. Nonetheless, it can detect stealth aircraft such as the US’s F-35 at a distance of over 90 kilometers.

The aircraft’s thrust/weight ratio is unique at a kilo of thrust per kilo of aircraft weight, thanks to a pair of brand new 117C jet engines.

Pugchev's Cobra

This enables Su-35 to perform all current maneuvres/ stunts, including Russian specialties such as Pugachev's Cobra, the Frolov Chakra, the Dead Leaf, and the unprecedented Pancake, which is an horizontal 360-degree made turn without losing speed. The Pancake is performed only by the Su-35.

Frolov Chakra

With these characteristics, the Su-35 surpasses practically all modern fighter jets such as France’s Rafale, Sweden’s Gripen, the Eurofighter 2000, and the modernized US F-15, F-16, and F-18. It is on a par with the fifth-generation US F-35 and F-22A, neither of which are currently on the market.

The Su-35 is generating so much interest that the airshow organizers have assigned it a spot right in the middle of the main avenue of the exhibition.

The Russian Air Force currently has 10 Su-35s, to be increased to 48 by the end of 2015.

The first country to buy a Sukhoi Su-35 could be China, as Beijing is already in talks with the manufacturer: “We have signed an intergovernmental agreement on the supply of Su-35 planes to China," Aleksandr Mikheyev, deputy head of Russian arms corporation Rosoboronexport told reporters.

"As of today we have a legal base with China. An agreement on the protection of intellectual property has been signed," Mikheyev added. Beijing reportedly intends to buy 24 Su-35s, with a contract due to be signed by the end of 2013.

Airbus was forced to abandon the public debut of the A400M, the troop carrier running four years late and developed at a cost of more than €20bn (£17.6bn) for Britain, France, Germany and four other nations.
The flypast, scheduled for today, would have been one of the highlights of the week-long show but the gearbox problem in one of the huge turbo-props is the latest setback for a project plagued by delays and squabbles which have extended to a row over the name.

Airbus has nicknamed the plane "Grizzly" but an indignant RAF intends to call the aircraft Atlas to reflect its endurance capabilities when it makes its debut at Farnborough next month. Air Chief Marshall Sir Stephen Dalton has said "Grizzly" would be accepted "over my dead body."

There are doubts about whether Atlas will be cleared for take off in time for the British air show following the discovery of the gearbox problem. Domingo Urena-Raso, Airbus Military chief executive, said that "flight test requirements are very demanding at the moment."

The long development delays have exasperated politicians and air forces while engineers have wrestled with the technical challenges posed by the advanced turbo-prop technology. The programme was on the brink of cancellation last year but Britain and other buyers reluctantly agreed to stump up another €3.5bn to get the plane into service.

Airbus A350 Takes to the skies

Airbus A350 First Flight

(Reuters) - After the Dreamliner, the Hushliner?

Europe's latest extra wide-body passenger jet, the Airbus A350, made its maiden flight on Friday and its chief salesman, opening a new front in a battle with U.S. rival Boeing declared it so quiet that airport residents won't even notice it.

The lightweight carbon-plastic jet flew over the Airbus plant in Toulouse to salute production workers before wrapping up a four-hour inaugural flight that Airbus officials said had achieved more than expected.

Watched by 10,000 staff and spectators, the aircraft's curled wingtips sliced into clouds above the factory in southwestern France and flew over the Pyrenees.

The sortie caps eight years of designing and development costing an estimated $15 billion.

Airbus's ebullient New York-born sales chief, John Leahy, lost no time in talking up the plane's benefits moments after its two Roll-Royce (RR.L) engines hoisted the A350 from the same runway where the supersonic Concorde took its first ground-shaking run 44 years ago.

"Did you hear how quiet it was? We are going to set new standards ... People round airports won't even know we are taking off," Leahy said.

It is a milestone for the EADS (EAD.PA) unit as it seeks to catch Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in sales of a generation of lightweight jets designed to save fuel and do less harm to the environment.

Boeing was first off the mark with the use of revolutionary carbon-composite materials and its Dreamliner has so far outsold the A350, with sales reaching 833 aircraft to 57 customers.

With sales of 613 planes to 33 customers, Airbus hopes to catch up and also mount a challenge to the U.S. manufacturer's larger, metallic 777, thanks in part to the A350's low noise.

"READY TO FLY"

British test pilot Peter Chandler, who commanded a crew of six pilots and test engineers wearing helmets and parachutes over orange jumpsuits, was elated about the plane.

"It was ready to fly and it wanted to fly. It was clearly much happier in the air," Chandler said.

French co-pilot Guy Magrin, a former air force pilot, took the controls for the take-off at 10:01 local time

Competition for wide-bodied jets is expected to dominate next week's Paris Airshow, where the A350 has its sights on another fly-by when French President Francois Hollande visits the event on Friday, if tests continue to go well.

"I am talking to airlines about placing orders in the very new future. I think you may see some announcements very soon," sales chief Leahy told Reuters.

Airbus is finalizing orders from Singapore Airlines  , Kuwait Airways and Air France  and hopes to add a new customer at the June 17-23 show, analysts say.

Boeing sees a market worth $1 trillion for one category of mid-sized long-haul passenger airplanes over the next 20 years and the A350 and 787 are chasing the lion's share of that.

More expensive than other aircraft at about $300 million apiece at list prices, the A350's business case relies on fuel savings of some 25 percent compared with ordinary airliners.

But aerospace manufacturers are also under pressure to cut emissions and noise to comply with tougher global regulations.

EDGE ON NOISE

Airbus and Boeing both claim the edge on noise levels, which remain politically explosive at airports like London's Heathrow.

Airbus said the A350 is up to 16 decibels below international requirements. Boeing said its 787 has a smaller noise footprint than other widebody aircraft, and is equivalent to the sounds of heavy traffic when standing at a roadside.

"We welcome any moves towards quieter planes, but let's not run away with the idea that the A350 is a quiet plane. It is simply less noisy than its predecessors," said John Stewart, chair of a residents' group opposing the expansion of Heathrow.

The A350's maiden flight is the start of a 12 to 13 month test program that will include putting it through the harshest possible conditions around the globe.

Airbus says it is on track to put the aircraft into service with Qatar Airways in the second half of 2014, but the timetable remains "challenging".

Project leader Didier Evrard, a former missiles boss credited with preventing a repeat of the disarray on recent Airbus programs, has a major job to produce four more test aircraft and could not relax during the flight.

"I will still be nervous until it comes back. I'm an engineer so I have to be connected to the ground and make sure everything is fine," he told reporters.

Evrard said Airbus would soon add a customer in the United States, where industry sources say United Airlines is negotiating to expand an order for 25 jets.

Airbus initially dismissed new mid-sized aircraft like the 787 as it focused on building the world's largest airliner, the A380 superjumbo, in the last decade.

But faced with burgeoning Dreamliner sales, it changed tack and overhauled the design of the 270- to 350-seat A350 by adopting similar composites technology in 2006.

To boost sales, Boeing is expected to soon confirm plans to build a larger version of its Dreamliner. It is also overhauling its 777 with new engines and wings.