A400M MSN01

[richelieu]

A Farnborough 2010 .....



..... come agilità non sembrerebbe poi tanto male .....



Visioni IR ..... A400M & altri .....



Impressionante la "firma" dei caccia .....

[MarcoGT]

A400M supera il test di wing load.
Il wing tip è stato spostato verso l'alto dalla sua posizione di riposo di 1.41m.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... -test.html

Visto che in certificazione aeronautica sono ignorante
i test statici e dinamici vengono condotti in parallelo?

[87Nemesis87]

..... come agilità non sembrerebbe poi tanto male .....

alla faccia!!

[MarcoGT]

Airbus welcomes European agreement on A400M (fonte: flightglobal.com)

EADS and Airbus have reported significant progress in their contractual discussions with the seven European buyers for their Airbus Military A400M transport, after a fresh round of talks in France.
“The agreement, finalised today in Toulouse in the presence of the French defence minister Hervé Morin, the national armament directors and other representatives from all customer nations, is the long awaited further detailing of the principle agreement reached in March 2010,” Airbus says.
The discussions also involved Europe’s OCCAR procurement agency, which is responsible for the contract to produce an expected 170 A400Ms for Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK.
Airbus says that “while the overall economics of the March agreement remain unchanged, the government payments are now more back-loaded than previously expected”.
The earlier agreement outlined a €2 billion ($2.8 billion) increase in the A400M’s previous €20 billion programme value for the development and production of 180 aircraft, plus provisions for the member nations to invest a further $1.5 billion. The latter sum will be provided under a so-called export levy facility intended to support future international sales efforts. Airbus says a final agreement on the new contract should be reached before the end of this year.
“The A400M flight test programme is making excellent progress and demonstrates the soundness of the product,” says Airbus Military managing director Domingo Ureña. The company expects to be in a position to launch series production of the type in late 2010, he adds.

[FAS]

....

[MarcoGT]

....

Bellissimo!

[MarcoGT]

Ecco qualche notizia sui flight test di A400M:

Fonte: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/ ... el=defense

Despite being nearly three years behind schedule, the A400M military airlifter test program is progressing through its final year amid a surprisingly calm atmosphere.

Test personnel recognize there is still ample time for hiccups to occur, but the head of flight-test operations at Airbus Military, Fernando Alonso, says, “we are in pretty good shape,” even if “we are still prone to find things” as the trials unfold. The program has logged 2,500 flight-test hours, with 3,700 hr. expected for the entire campaign.

That is not to say that the A400M development is running to the revised program schedule. Developers may miss two key 2011 targets: garnering the A400M’s type certification and flying the fifth test aircraft. Both events could slide into 2012, though Alonso argues that “what is really important is the entry into service,” and that remains likely to occur late next year.

Contractual issues also remain a concern. For instance, France has expressed displeasure at the initial in-service support offering put forward by industry.

But developers are largely satisfied that no major engineering hurdles are staring them in the face at the moment, especially now that two of the main technical problems the program encountered this year—both linked to the TP400D turboprop engine—have been addressed. Fixes are being implemented.

One problem manifested itself in June, when a flight-test aircraft suffered an inflight engine shutdown because of a component failure. Analysis found that the fatigue crack in the gear-tooth fillet radius was caused by resonance in the idler gear at cruise propeller speed, says Simon Henley, president of the Euro­prop International engine consortium.

The idler gear has been redesigned to shift the frequency at which the resonance occurs and thereby avoid the material fatigue. In addition to making the adjustment for new engines, the component will be replaced on current powerplants. Engineers also have developed an algorithm to help identify early signs of failure to prevent an inflight shutdown.

The other issue is linked to the high-pressure compressor, which prompted the removal of three engines owing to problems that occurred on the ground.

Henley says blade fatigue was found to have been caused by wake separation from an upstream variable inlet guide vane, compounded by an acoustic resonance. The problem arose only in a tight speed range, he notes.

A double fix has been developed: One adjusts the full-authority digital engine control to ensure the compressor does not run at the speed at which the problem occurs; the second involves a redesign of the variable inlet guide vane to eliminate the wake separation.

Overall, engine performance is ahead of specification, with current TP400Ds already beating by 1% the specific fuel-consumption target for the entry-into-service standard powerplants, says Martin Maltby, TP400 program technical director. Assembly of the engines for the first customer aircraft, MSN007 for the French air force, is scheduled to start by year-end, with delivery to Airbus Military by the second quarter of next year.

In the flight-test program as a whole, much of the focus in recent months has been on completing certification work. Alonso says the work is on track, but he will not project when it will be finished.

One reason Airbus is finding it difficult to predict when the type certification will be achieved is related to weather conditions. For instance, only 40% of the anti-icing campaign has been completed, largely because of benign weather in Europe in the last couple of months. With winter approaching, however, much of the work could be completed soon in only four flights.

Airbus Military has redesigned the wing deicing system after flight trials identified buffet problems in an earlier setup. Now it will deice the No. 1 leading edge (LE1) slat, the third leading edge (LE3) slat and part of the fourth (LE4). The previous plan called for LE3, LE4 and LE5 to be deiced.

Otherwise, Alonso says, 100% of the performance trials and 70% of the work linked to flight controls and handling qualities are completed.

As with the deicing tests, crosswind trials have been hampered by lack of suitable conditions. But Ed Strongman, chief test pilot for Airbus Military, notes that in tests with takeoffs at 25 kt. crosswind gusting to 37 kt. and landings at 26 kt. gusting to 34 kt., the engines performed without problem.

Moreover, certification authorities have just validated the minimum control ground velocity (VMCG) with an engine failure on takeoff for the airlifter, achieving a speed of 88.9 kt. and beating the 90-kt. target, says Strongman. The figure is particularly critical for the short runway performance of the airlifter.

To meet VMCG requirements with its powerful TP400D turboprops, Airbus Military has devised a system where the opposite engine automatically spools back up to 25% of thrust depending on the speed at which the failure occurs. That assures the aircraft remains within the allowed 10-meter (33-ft.) variance from centerline.

Also completed last month were trials at the French flight-test center at Istres in which the A400M passed through a water bath to ensure the spray from the wheels is not ingested by the engine to cause a flameout. The A400M passed that test, although Airbus identified a small design problem when the water wake penetrated a cavity associated with a main landing gear door and caused some damage. That component will now have to be redesigned.

High-energy rejected takeoff and passenger and crew evacuation trials have been completed, too.

Flight-testing has demonstrated that the A400M can forego the active noise suppression system for the cabin, which developers expected to include. Lower noise in the cabin means saving more than 200 kg (440 lb.) by eliminating the need for the active system.

The pending 2011 milestone in addition to achieving type certification, first flight of MSN006, is on hold. Alonso notes that the aircraft is basically ready to fly, with engines in hand, but the focus for MSN006 will be on function and reliability testing next year. That entails a 300-hr. flight-test program in which the aircraft has to demonstrate it is ready for service. The question now is whether to fly the aircraft soon and upgrade it later in preparation for the endurance trial or wait for some final configuration elements to be ready, install them and then begin trials in the proper standard.

A number of activities are on the agenda for next year, though Strongman says not all the work needs to be completed for entry into service, so some could be deferred if the schedule gets tight. Those agenda items are:

•A renewed focus on validating military elements of the airlifter, including flare and chaff ejection, performance of the defensive aids sensors, and closer scrutiny of the communications suite and mission management system. Strongman notes that some risk-reduction activities have already been undertaken, including dry air-to-air refueling contact and flying with night-vision goggles and military loads.

•Climate envelope expansion, with hot-and-high performance likely to be tested in La Paz, Bolivia, in the spring. Those trials were planned for this year but delayed by a self-imposed flight-test restriction because of TP400D issues. Further cold-weather tests are also planned, this time using MSN006, which has the most production-representative cabin.

•Air drop of paratroopers and gravity loads.

•Validating ground loading and unloading using different cargos.

•Actual air-to-air refueling to build on the 15 dry contacts already completed. Airbus Military identified some adjustments it wants for the flight control laws in refueling to optimize handling. First refueling trials with helicopters are also coming into focus, as well as using the A400M as a tanker with its refueling pods.

•Flights from unprepared runways— those made of grass, dirt and gravel.

But even if there again appears to be some schedule margin, the pressure is still on to bring testing to a close. With Europe’s spending in decline, the Middle East is seen as a hot growth market, though the A400M will be absent from this week’s Dubai air show. Asked if the aircraft will participate, Alonso says “forget it. We have put a veto on air show flying this year. The priority is certification.”

[giragyro]

che ritardo ha rispetto alle previsioni iniziali per le prime consegne ?

[MarcoGT]

France's first A400 enters FAL

Fonte: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ly-365204/

Airbus Military has started final assembly work on the first of at least 174 A400M military transports, with the aircraft due to be delivered to the French air force from late next year.

Pictures released by the manufacturer on 23 November show aircraft MSN7's nose and wings arriving at its San Pablo site near Seville, Spain by Airbus A300-600ST Beluga freighter earlier this month, with their delivery having been followed by its main fuselage section.



Both images © Airbus Military

"The integration of the central box and outer wings has already begun," the company said, with the aircraft's horizontal and vertical tailplanes scheduled to arrive within the next two weeks.

"France will receive its first A400M around the turn of the year 2012-2013," Airbus Military said. Structures for the programme's next eight series production aircraft are also now in varying stages of the production process, it added.

Launch operator France will receive a total of 50 A400Ms, with the remaining examples under contract to be delivered to European partner nations Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK, plus first export buyer Malaysia.

The planned delivery of the first production aircraft will follow a programme delay of roughly three years.

[MarcoGT]

Airbus Military "Grizzly" near civil certification

Fonte: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... on-363962/

Flight test activities with the Airbus Military A400M ­transport remain on track for completion by the end of 2012, with fixes having recently been agreed to ­resolve two separate ­engine issues which affected the programme earlier this year.

Updating the progress made using four "Grizzly" development aircraft for the first time since the type's restricted appearance at the Paris air show in June, Airbus head of flight operations Fernando Alonso said the fleet had logged 784 flights and 2,380 flight hours by 20 October.

Recent highlights included ­clearing water ingestion testing, making take-offs and landings under high crosswind conditions and performing the first low-level flights, down to 330ft (91m) at 280kt (518km/h).

Water ingestion testing proved that the highest wake experienced - at about 80kt - would not reach the aircraft's Europrop ­International (EPI) TP400-D6 engines. However, a minor design tweak will be required, as a link on the main landing gear door structure broke after water forced its way through a gap between the structure and a rub pad.



© Airbus Military

The European airframer's chief test pilot military Ed Strongman said the A400M's crosswind handling has been demonstrated to 25kt, ­gusting to 37kt on take-off and 26kt and 34kt respectively on landing. "The engines behaved immaculately," he added.

Such tests are being performed as Airbus Military works to complete the tasks required before securing civil type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency - a target which it had previously set for completion ­before the end of this year.

"We are advancing very quickly towards the end of [civil] certification testing," Alonso said at the company's flight test centre in Toulouse, France. "I cannot say if we will finish on 10 December or 10 January [2012]. We will finish as soon as we can."

But the A400M's overall ­schedule - to complete 3,700h of core flight testing before deliveries can commence - has been threatened by several issues. The first arose in late 2010, when artificial ice shapes installed on the wing leading edges of aircraft MSN1 caused a large amount of buffeting as disturbed air hit the horizontal tail. This required a ­refinement of the sections of the composite wing which would need anti-icing equipment installed to take bleed air from the engines. Alonso said the work took about six weeks to complete, and was "really penalising on the programme."

The new configuration will be installed on MSN2 early next year, followed by all production aircraft. MSN1 has been held ready since August to complete the four more flights needed under natural icing conditions.

Engine supplier EPI has also resolved two engine issues, one of which was behind the decision to limit the A400M to making just one brief public ­flying ­appearance at Le Bourget.

EPI president Simon Henley revealed that the uncommanded in-flight shutdown of one of MSN1's engines on 6 June was traced to a fatigue crack in the tooth fillet radius on an idler gear, and caused by a resonance issue. A new software algorithm will alert the crew if an engine approaches the same conditions in flight again, and an upgraded idler gear design will be installed from November.



© Airbus Military

A high-pressure compressor blade fatigue fault also required three test engines to be removed from A400Ms earlier this year. The problem occurred at ground idle due to wake separation from the engine's variable inlet guide vane. A software patch will prevent a repeat occurrence, and an upgraded inlet vane design will be used on production aircraft.

EPI is to launch series production of the TP400 late this year, and deliver the engines for the programme's first customer aircraft in early 2012. A crucial enabler for handing this A400M over late next year will be the availability of a fifth and last Grizzly. MSN6 had been expected to fly recently with a production-standard cargo hold, but Alonso ­confirmed Airbus Military is ­assessing whether to delay this until early 2012. "Our priority is to get it in a configuration for ­testing," he added.

The aircraft will perform key military tests, including equipment loading, cold weather operations in Sweden and high-altitude testing in La Paz, Bolivia, before completing 300h of ­"functioning and reliability" testing. Other work to be performed using the development fleet next year should include grass landings in Germany, gravity load drops and receiving fuel in flight for the first time.

Alonso is confident that the A400M will meet its service entry goal. "We are delighted with how the aircraft is performing," he said. "We have removed most, if not all of the risk."

[JT8D]

Initial Type Certification EASA per l'A400M:

http://www.md80.it/2012/05/05/la400m-ri ... iale-easa/

Paolo

[MatteF88]

Tutti e 5 i primi esemplari in volo assieme, mica male!



http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aircr ... 58505.html

[ciccioxx92]

Quì, il video dei 5 esemplari in volo di formazione.

[SuperMau]

Quì, il video dei 5 esemplari in volo di formazione.

CHE GIOIELLINO !!! la Lockheed ci fa un baffo.....

[sidew]

Spettacolare il video, specie la virata in formazione, che fa tanto WWII... Ma anche il taxing che fa sembrare come se facessero il ponte aereo per Berlino...

[richelieu]

Problemi ai motori ..... l' Atlas ..... perchè ora è questo il suo nome definitivo .....

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... as-373861/

..... soltanto in mostra statica a Farnborough .....

FARNBOROUGH: Fresh engine issue restricts A400M Atlas to static display 
Print

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ay-373954/

FARNBOROUGH: Gearbox issue to have no bearing on A400M service entry, says EPI boss

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ss-374244/

Una nuova gatta da pelare per Avio ?

[richelieu]

Il sito dell' AFA riporta questa mattina, nel consueto "Daily Report", qualche informazione sul nuovo battesimo dello A400M e ricorda di quando, un paio di anni fa, il CSM della RAF, l' Air Chief Marshal Stephen Dalton, si espresse molto criticamente nei confronti del nome "Grizzly" .....

"It's absolutely appalling," he told Reuters.
"It has no provenance, no acceptance and it will enter RAF service with that name over my dead body."

Farewell, Grizzly; Hello, Atlas .....

The seven partner nations sponsoring the development of Airbus Military's A400M airlifter officially christened the aircraft the "Atlas," announced (1) the company.

"Atlas is going to be a major capability for defense, and the Royal Air Force is looking forward to Atlas joining our world-class fleet of air mobility aircraft," said RAF Air Chief Marshal Stephen Dalton, reported (2) Aero News Network on July 13.

The naming ceremony was held on July 6 at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, Britain.

Airbus test pilots unofficially dubbed the prototype A400M the "Grizzly," two years ago, leading Dalton to famously quip that the airlifter would enter RAF service under that name over his "dead body," reported (3) Reuters at the time.

Last week, Airbus announced (4) that it has begun final assembly of the first A400M for Turkey.

The company is scheduled to deliver (5) the first completed Atlas to the French air force early next year.

The remaining A400M partner nations are Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and Spain.

Links ....

(1) .... http://www.airbusmilitary.com/LatestNew ... -RIAT.aspx

(2) .... http://www.aero-news.net/emailarticle.c ... 2a1bf347bd

(3) .... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2010/07/2 ... SV20100721

(4) .... http://www.airbusmilitary.com/LatestNew ... urkey.aspx

(5) .... http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArch ... embly.aspx

[bigshot]

Sono stati spesi sicuramente tanti soldi...
però non so dire se li hanno spesi per migliorare effettivamente l'A400M o per convincere questo Air Cheif Marshal

[richelieu]

MSN9 ..... il primo esemplare destinato alla Turchia in assemblaggio in Spagna .....

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ly-374525/

[richelieu]

Airbus è fiduciosa .....

The Airbus Military A400M may still be undergoing flight testing, but the company is confident it can deliver four aircraft to customers in 2013 .....

Fonte ..... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 478049.xml

[SuperMau]

Airbus è fiduciosa .....

The Airbus Military A400M may still be undergoing flight testing, but the company is confident it can deliver four aircraft to customers in 2013 .....

Fonte ..... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 478049.xml

Sono fiducioso anche io...

a Siviglia adesso funzionano tutte e due le postazioni FAL, e ti posso confermare che POTRESTI assemblare fino a 4 aerei contemporaneamente (per come e' fatta la FAL).
Il problema (ridicolo a dirsi) e' che non hanno abbastanza gente specializzata per farla girare a pieno regime...

[richelieu]

Consegne iniziali tuttora previste per l'anno prossimo ..... nonostante i problemi che hanno interessato l'apparato propulsivo .....

A400M ‘On Track’ Despite Engine Issue .....

..... the aircraft maker is reassuring initial customers that first deliveries remain on track for 2013 despite additional issues with the A400M's turboprop engines, the latest of which prompted a precautionary withdrawal from the flying display at the recent Farnborough air show.

Fonte ..... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 480326.xml

[richelieu]

Prime consegne ..... si profila un ulteriore ritardo .....

First A400M delivery suffers fresh slip .....

Airbus Military has slipped its delivery schedule for Europe's first A400M transport, with the French air force now expected to receive aircraft MSN7 during the second quarter of 2013.
It had been contractually due to hand over the aircraft by 31 March 2013.

Fonte ..... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ip-376002/

[sochmer]

Airbus è fiduciosa .....

The Airbus Military A400M may still be undergoing flight testing, but the company is confident it can deliver four aircraft to customers in 2013 .....

Fonte ..... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 478049.xml

Sono fiducioso anche io...

a Siviglia adesso funzionano tutte e due le postazioni FAL, e ti posso confermare che POTRESTI assemblare fino a 4 aerei contemporaneamente (per come e' fatta la FAL).
Il problema (ridicolo a dirsi) e' che non hanno abbastanza gente specializzata per farla girare a pieno regime...

accettano persone con un diploma?

[SuperMau]

Airbus è fiduciosa .....

The Airbus Military A400M may still be undergoing flight testing, but the company is confident it can deliver four aircraft to customers in 2013 .....

Fonte ..... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 478049.xml

Sono fiducioso anche io...

a Siviglia adesso funzionano tutte e due le postazioni FAL, e ti posso confermare che POTRESTI assemblare fino a 4 aerei contemporaneamente (per come e' fatta la FAL).
Il problema (ridicolo a dirsi) e' che non hanno abbastanza gente specializzata per farla girare a pieno regime...

accettano persone con un diploma?

Soch, penso di si.....quello che gli manca sono un sacco di meccanici specializzati per la FAL, non saprei dirti se lo spagnolo e' obbligatorio o meno.....


Ciao
M.

[MarcoGT]

Si, magari col diploma si, ma serve una specializzazione per la FAL.

Lo spagnolo non è magari obbligatorio, ma nelle FAL è difficile trovare qualcuno che parli inglese (parlo proprio degli operai specializzati, gli ingegneri invece lo parlano (o meglio, dovrebbero)

[richelieu]

In vista il rispetto del calendario delle consegne .....

A400M delivery schedule holds firm, as reliability tests near resumption .....

Airbus Military remains on track to deliver the first production example of its A400M Atlas transport to the French air force during the second quarter of next year, according to a financial update released by parent company EADS on 7 November.

Fonte ..... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... on-378721/

Inoltre ..... http://www.eads.com/eads/germany/de/pre ... sults.html


Non sarà il caso di spostare questa discussione nel settore "Aviazione Militare" ?

Grazie .....

.

[richelieu]

Il programma pende quota .....

Atlas programme gets lift, as Airbus Military resumes A400M reliability flights .....

Airbus Military has resumed its function and reliability (F&R) testing programme for the A400M Atlas transport, and says it remains on track to deliver its first production example to the French air force during the second quarter of next year.

Fonte ..... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ts-379118/

.

[SuperManufacturer]

Prende quota sì, finalmente.
C'è un forecast per una produzione di circa 15 aerei nel 2013

[richelieu]

Il primo A400M destinato all' Armée de l'Air riceve i "colori" .....

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... rs-381056/

http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx? ... 6c9c93e2ca

[richelieu]

La Francia si accinge a ricevere i primi "Atlas" ..... ma la piena operatività è ancora lontana .....

French Need A400M, Due This Year .....

Fonte ..... http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 537614.xml

First French personnel to begin A400M training .....

Fonte ..... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ng-381416/

[JT8D]

Il primo A400M di produzione ha effettuato il suo primo volo:

http://www.md80.it/2013/03/07/il-primo- ... rimo-volo/

Paolo

[JT8D]

L'A400M ha ricevuto la certificazione EASA:

http://www.md80.it/2013/03/14/lairbus-m ... ione-easa/

Paolo

[MatteF88]

Reportage della prova in volo: http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.asp ... 584439.xml

Buona lettura

[MatteF88]

c'è anche un video della "prova":