Airbus A350 first flight for the new 350-passenger - The Messenger

ROME – First test flight for the new Airbus A350 XWB, the new medium-sized aircraft for the long haul that will have a transport capacity from 270 to 350 passengers. The new aircraft is resting today at 14:06 on the runway of the airport of Toulouse-Blagnac, in the southwest of France, after a four-hour flight before.

During the flight the pilot Peter Chandler let it be known that everything was taking place in the best way: “The plane reacts very well,” he said. Today is a milestone in the program with which the European manufacturer aims to recover the benefit of the American Boeing aircraft on the market for long-haul flights.

The first flight of the A350 – is Airbus said in a statement – marks the beginning of the campaign verification and testing of the aircraft that provides about 2,500 hours of flight articulated on a fleet of 5 aircraft specially equipped. The conclusion of this process is obtaining th e certificate of flight of the A350 version A350-900 by EASA, the competent authority of the European Union, the FAA and the competent authority of the United States. The new aircraft will enter service in the second half of 2014 with Qatar Airways.

The A350 XWB is the new mid-sized aircraft developed by Airbus for the long haul that includes three versions with capacities ranging from 270 to 350 passengers in a three-class configuration. Compared to existing aircraft in its class, the A350 XWB allow a 25% reduction in both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The plane has already totaled 613 firm orders from 33 customers worldwide.

The new Airbus A 350 uses the Rolls Royce Trent XWB. Rolls Royce began to develop the engine in 2006 and four years later took the first test at the counter. Since then it has been tested all over the world even in extreme conditions, from 42 degrees Celsius in Al Ain in the UAE up to 23 degrees below zero in Iqaluit, Canada. The turbin e engine is almost 3 meters high and absorbs up to 1.3 tons of air per second during take-off. The force exerted on the blade of a turbine during take-off is equivalent to nearly 1000 tons, the same exercised by a freight train hanging from each turbine. The vanes of the high pressure turbine within the engine run at 12,500 revolutions per minute, with the ends traveling at nearly 2000 km per hour, double the veliocità sound. For each take-off the turbine blades 60 generate a power of about 900 horsepower to the turbine, similar to that of a formula 1.