Airbus A350XWB (partie 1)

Stork Fokker wins contract for A350 XWB flaps

Stork Fokker AESP has signed a contract with Airbus for the development and manufacture of the composite outboard flaps for the A350 XWB family of aircraft.

During serial production, Fokker intends to produce 140 sets of composite A350 XWB flaps annually. Outboard flaps increase the surface area of the wing during take-off and landing.
Development activities, scheduled to last 18 months, have already started in Papendrecht, the Netherlands, in close collaboration with Airbus in Bremen, Germany, with first hardware deliveries in 2011.
Fokker and Airbus have an existing business relationship. Fokker is a supplier to the Airbus A380 of Glare fuselage panels and the thermoplastic leading edge.
Fokker, a specialist in complex lightweight aerostructures, recently won the contract for the JSF flaperons and already produces the inboard flaps for the Boeing 747-8 and the flaperons for the F16.
Stork Fokker (to be renamed Fokker Aerostructures on 1 January 2010) is a company of the Fokker Aerospace Group.

A350-800 to be developed as -900 shrink

By David Kaminski-Morrow

Airbus has opted to develop its A350-800 as a shrink version of the -900, an adjustment aimed at simplifying the programme.By
optimising the A350 around the -900 as a baseline the airframer is
adopting a similar strategy to its development of the A330-200/300.It
will potentially provide the -800 with a 3t increase in payload or
extend its range by 250nm - although it will also raise the fuel-burn.Airbus
chief operating officer for customers John Leahy disclosed the plan at
a briefing in Seville today, stating that definition freeze on the -800
had been completed.Designing the -800 as a derated version of
the -900 will enable Airbus to avoid accommodating changes, for
example, to the landing-gear.Leahy says: "The more we looked at [changes on the -800], the more we thought: 'Why?'"He
admits that the decision would increase the -800's fuel-burn by "a
couple of percent" but insists this would still keep the twin-jet in
the "same competitive region".There would be no change to the entry into service date.Airbus has orders for 182 A350-800s, plus 248 -900s and 75 for the larger -1000.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/01/12/337033/a350-800-to-be-developed-as-900-shrink.html

A350 XWB schedule holds, but are there early signs of trouble?
By Jon Ostrower on January 13, 2010 4:09 PM |

While there are no overt red flags that came out of the Airbus press conference on Tuesday in Seville, the event marked a rhetorical course correction two and a half years out from first delivery of the A350 XWB.


Airbus has maintained that the A350-900 set to delivery to Qatar Airways in mid-2013 following a 15-month flight test program with five aircraft. A mid-2013 (May-August) delivery puts the A350's first flight somewhere in the February to May 2012 time period, 25 to 28 months from now.


Tom Enders, Airbus CEO, established watch areas for parts of the aircraft's design that are currently requiring additional (manpower) resources. While not a direct indication of any future issues, Enders has said the composite paneled fuselage and wing require extra attention:

We have today, more than 3000 Airbus engineers working on the program, plus another 3000 engineers with our partners. It is clear we need further ramp up in resources, we need further reinforcements, particularly in the fuselage and wing areas. We have important milestones ahead of us. Manufacturing has started, as you would imagine, as such a stage that program has a lot of challenges for us: New materials, processes, weight, schedule, just to mention the usual suspects.

Ultimately the time frame remains unchanged for first delivery, but Bloomberg/Newsweek reported that, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bregier said that the company has used "some of its margin" on the schedule of first deliveries.


According to the report, "challenges" have centered around "composite wings and fuselage, including systems installation and incorporating lightning strike protection."


While not entirely unrelated, Airbus has also decided to alter its design strategy for the smaller A350-800 by offering a shrunken -900 rather than differentiated structure that would've optimized the weight of the aircraft. However, Airbus has opted to have a common landing gear, wing and fuselage while offering a 6000lb higher maximum zero fuel weight 250 nm increase in range, in exchange for "a couple of percent" fuel burn penalty with the added weight.


With resources needed on the wings and fuselage design of the -900, it is not entirely unsurprising that Airbus has chosen to focus on that design first rather than turn significant attention to removing unneeded structure from the -800.


The A350-800 is a total of 10 structural frames shorter (21 feet) than the -900, with six removed forward of the center wing box and four from the aft.

Honeywell completes initial ground tests of A350 APU

Honeywell has completed ground testing of the HGT1700 auxiliary power unit (APU) designed for the Airbus A350 XWB.
The company says the APU passed the first engine to test (FETT) phase in October of 2009.
Honeywell explains that unlike its predecessor APUs, the HGT1700 features variable speed during ground operation to cut fuel burn by up to 10%, a new hydraulic bleed valve to improve reliability, an improved combustor to reduce clogging and improved durability. The A350 XWB APU also features new materials to reduce weight. Honeywell also says at 1700 shaft horsepower (SHP), the HGT1700 is the largest APU it has developed.
"The engine weighs less but provides more power," says Honeywell, "allowing it a 13% power-to-weight improvement over 331-500/-600 APUs." Additionally, Honeywell says a starter generator system is designed into the A350 XWB's APU, saving weight and simplifying design while supplying electrical power for the aircraft's system at altitudes of up to 43,100ft (13,137m).
Airbus in September of 2007 awarded Honeywell a $16.5 billion contract covering the A350 XWB's APU and air management system.
Honeywell won a follow-on $1.5 billion contract in March 2008 to supply the aircraft's flight management and environmental surveillance systems.

Airbus A350 : pas de retard

Airbus dispose de moins de marges de manoeuvre pour développer son futur long-courrier Airbus A350 en temps et en heure, mais l'avionneur continue de prévoir un début des livraisons à la mi-2013, a déclaré mardi Louis Gallois, président de sa maison mère EADS.

Concernant l'A350, "nous avons consommé une partie de nos marges de manoeuvre temporelles, ce qui signifie que le programme constitue plus encore un défi", a déclaré M. Gallois lors de la conférence de presse des résultats annuels du groupe européen d'aéronautique et de défense.

"C'est un programme très complexe", a-t-il expliqué.
"Mais nous restons sur notre prévision d'une première livraison en juillet 2013", a-t-il ajouté.

L'A350 XWB est un long-courrier largement conçu en matériaux composites, destiné notamment à concurrencer les Boeing 777 et 787 "dreamliner".
L'assemblage du nouvel Airbus est prévu à partir de 2011, à Toulouse, avec un premier vol d'essai en 2012 avant une livraison à la mi-2013.

Airbus posied to reveal details of A350 XWB catalogue

By Mary Kirby

Airbus intends to reveal more detailed information about its Airbus
A350 XWB catalogue following an airline customer event next month, the
airframer tells ATI."The development of the A350 XWB customer
catalogue is at a mature stage but of course under constant review with
customers and the extended enterprise partners. It is designed to also
incorporate future innovations," says an Airbus spokesman."After
our next A350 XWB customer event mid of April we will provide more
detailed information on the catalogue and its content."Airbus
has already begun announcing partnerships with various in-flight
entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) and interiors suppliers to the
A350. The airframer's joint venture with SITA, the in-flight
connectivity service provider known as OnAir, was recently selected to
be linefit offerable on the aircraft.Airbus also intends to make
Panasonic Avionics' IFEC solutions - including its Ku-band
satellite-based eXConnect system - line-fit offerable on the A350, once
Panasonic shows it meets the airframer's architectural requirements for
the widebody twinjet.In the interiors space, Airbus has signed a
contract with Recaro with the intention of offering the aircraft seat
manufacturer's lightweight Comfort Line CL3620 economy class seats on
the A350. A version of the seat is already installed on Qantas' Airbus
A380s.Once the A350 catalogue is defined, airline customers will be required to select economy class seating from the catalogue."The
economy seating is following the catalogue offer. First class and
business class configurations can be outside of the catalogue offer,
but have to come from Airbus contracted suppliers," says the Airbus
spokesman.
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/03/11/339365/airbus-posied-to-reveal-details-of-a350-xwb-catalogue.html

Berlin se dit proche d'un accord avec Airbus sur l'A350

FRANCFORT, 22 mars (Reuters) - L'Allemagne doit préciser quelques points avec Airbus (EAD.PA: Cotation) avant d'accorder au constructeur les financements nécessaires au programme A350, a déclaré le porte-parole du gouvernement pour les affaires aéronautiques.
Peter Hintze avait déclaré fin 2009 que l'Allemagne êtait prête à fournir 1,1 milliard d'euros de financements à Airbus pour faciliter le développement de l'A350, dont le coût global est estimé à 10 milliards d'euros.
Le quotidien allemand Die Welt cite lundi des propos de Peter Hintze selon lesquels le financement est disponible et toutes les conditions nécessaires sont réunies.
Les services de Peter Hintze ont confirmé ces propos.

Creuzet Aéronautique embarque sur l’A350 XWB

La PME basée à Marmande fournira des éléments structuraux de la case du train d’atterrissage de l’A350 XWB, le futur long-courrier d’Airbus dont la commercialisation est prévue pour 2013. Creuzet Aéronautique commencera à livrer les premières pièces à partir du dernier trimestre 2010 à EADS Sogerma, le sous-traitant de rang 1 d’Airbus qui l’a sélectionné comme partenaire. Le montant global du contrat, qui porte sur la durée totale du programme, est estimé à 16 millions d’euros.

Selon les deux constructeurs, ces pièces qui équipent les parties symétriques latérales de la case du train d’atterrissage figurent parmi les plus complexes de cet ensemble. Creuset Aéronautique a séduit par son ingéniosité et son savoir-faire en matière de forgeage et d’usinage : la PME a proposé une solution réalisée en une seule partie alors qu’à l’origine Airbus estimait que deux pièces étaient nécessaires. Par ailleurs, Creuzet a convaincu son client d’opter pour un alliage d’aluminium lithium, plutôt que le titane envisagé à l’origine.

Creuzet Aéronautique emploie 700 personnes et a réalisé un chiffre d’affaires de 66 millions d’euros en 2009, dont la moitié à l’export. Il compte Dassault, Safran et EADS parmi ses grands clients.

Longer-than-anticipated design activities for the A350XWB twin widebody are forcing Airbus to delay the aircraft’s final assembly start and first flight by several months.

Nevertheless, the aircraft maker still plans to deliver the first A350-900 as scheduled in mid-2013.

“Three months of buffer have been used,” says A350 program chief Didier Evrard.

The three months were lost on a variety of efforts. One was to take more time to complete detailed finite element model work, fully refining the center wing box configuration, and to optimize fuselage damage tolerance. Extra work was also needed on the fuselage electric structural network.

Under the new schedule, final assembly starts at the end of the third quarter 2011, rather than the end of the second quarter, and first flight has slipped to the third quarter f 2012.

The time also allowed developers to conduct further analysis to shave weight from the total, says program chief engineer Gordon McConnell. On one structural element alone, that effort achieved 60 kg of weight reduction.

Most of the systems development remains on schedule, Evrard says.

The schedule adjustment compresses flight testing to 12 months from 15 months. Airbus will have five test aircraft to log about 2,600 flight test hours.

Meanwhile, wind tunnel testing and computer modeling show that long-range cruise speed is slightly above the Mach 0.85 target. Low-speed performance also has improved, with 475 ft. better takeoff performance and four metric tons higher takeoff weight performance in hot-and-high conditions, McConnell says.

Airbus also has launched a program to create some additional buffer in case it is needed.

There are no changes to the -800 and -1000 schedules, Evrard notes.

Airbus also has set up a special organization to work on the -1000, the largest member of the family. Its design freeze is planned next year. Evrard says the -1000 could feature technology upgrades since the selection was made for the lead version, the -900. Evrard says there are strategic decisions to be made on the -1000 that the personnel focused on birthing the -900 cannot address. Still, the 400 people will have close ties into the overall program to keep the A350 family concept alive, Evrard stresses.

Among the issues to be looked at might be whether composites could be used in parts of the landing gear.

The first Rolls-Royce TrentXWB engine to test is now in assembly for first run at the end of May. Seven engines are to run in the first six months. The TrentXWB will be airborne in the second quarter 2011 on the first A380 (MSN001).