AIRBUS A400 M

Dubai 09: PICTURES - Airbus Military runs A400M engines
By Andrew Doyle

Airbus Military (stand A140) has run all four engines on the prototype A400M, putting it on track to fly the delayed airlifter before the end of the year.

The European manufacturer has meanwhile revealed that Riyadh is the favoured location for the in-country modification of five of the six A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transports ordered by Saudi Arabia.

After the four engines on the first A400M were run one by one on 15 November, Airbus Military said at the show it was expecting to run all four engines at the same time by today.





Airbus Military


"We are quietly confident that we will be able to do the first flight this side of the new year," Airbus Military vice-president defence capability marketing, Peter Scoffham, said at the show yesterday.

The next steps before first flight will be low- and high-speed taxi trials. Airbus Military aims to bring the A400M to the Berlin air show in June 2010, says Scoffham.

"I think this aircraft will sell itself as soon as people see it in the sky," he adds.

The first "green" Airbus Military A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport for Saudi Arabia has been delivered to the manufacturer's Madrid, Spain conversion centre.

It arrived in Madrid from Airbus's Toulouse assembly line on 10 November, and the modified aircraft is due to be handed over to the Royal Saudi Air Force in 2011.

The additional five aircraft ordered by Saudi Arabia will be converted in Riyadh in partnership with a yet-to-be-selected local partner. Jeddah had been under consideration as the location for the in-country modification centre.

All three A330 MRTTs ordered by UAE will be converted in Madrid, with the first aircraft due to arrive from Toulouse in January 2010. These aircraft will also be delivered from 2011.

A400M-L'Allemagne opposée à une modification du contrat /Source

L'Allemagne s'oppose à toute modification contractuelle du projet A400M, a-t-on déclaré mercredi de source gouvernementale allemande.
Le ministre de la Défense allemand Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg sera à Paris dans la journée pour rencontrer le ministre de la Défense Hervé Morin et il est probable que la question de l'A400M sera évoquée.
EADS, la maison mère d'Airbus, négocie un compromis avec sept pays européens qui ont commandé cet avion de transport militaire, au coeur d'un contrat de 20 milliards d'euros.
Ces sept pays sont la Belgique, la Grande-Bretagne, la France, l'Allemagne, le Luxembourg, l'Espagne et la Turquie.
Un responsable français avait déclaré samedi que le contrat pourrait être remodelé en tranches, les besoins urgents étant traités en priorité, une collaboration entre Etats s'installant si nécessaire et certaines livraisons étant reportées à une date ultérieure.
Mais l'Allemagne semble peu disposée au compromis.
"Pas de modifications contractuelles", telle est la position allemande, a-t-on dit de source gouvernementale à Reuters.
Le Handelsblatt rapporte mercredi que le ministre allemand de la Défense s'oppose à toute modification contractuelle pour satisfaire Airbus.
Une réunion des pays commanditaires de l'A400M doit se tenir jeudi à Berlin au niveau des secrétaires d'Etat pour discuter du dossier.

France et Allemagne veulent un geste d'EADS sur l'A400M

publié le 19/11/2009 à 04:51, Reuters

PARIS, 18 novembre (Reuters) - La France et l'Allemagne veulent un "geste financier" d'EADS sur l'A400M, le programme d'avion de transport militaire européen en retard de près de quatre ans sur le calendrier initial, a déclaré mercredi le ministre de la Défense allemand.

S'exprimant à l'issue d'un rencontre avec Hervé Morin, son homologue français, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg a ajouté que les deux pays avaient défini une position commune sur le dossier et qu'ils étaient tombés d'accord pour dire que le contrat devait être respecté.

"Nous nous sommes beaucoup concertés ces quelques jours. Nous avons réussi a définir une position commune que nous défendrons demain a Berlin", a-t-il déclaré.

"La fidélité au contrat n'est pas que de la sémantique", a poursuivi Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.

EADS, le géant européen de l'aéronautique, de la défense et de l'espace, négocie avec les sept européens (Allemagne, Belgique, Espagne, France, Grande-Bretagne, Luxembourg, Turquie) qui ont passé commande pour l'appareil pour tenter de sauver un contrat de quelque 20 milliards d'euros.

Une réunion des pays commanditaires de l'A400M doit de tenir jeudi à Berlin au niveau des secrétaires d'Etat pour discuter du dossier.

PICTURE: A400M completes first ground run of all four engines
By Craig Hoyle

Airbus Military’s delayed A400M transport has been edged closer towards its planned flight debut before year-end, with the type having run all four of its engines simultaneously for the first time.

Achieved at EADS Casa’s San Pablo site near Seville, Spain, the 18 November milestone saw aircraft MSN001’s Europrop International TP400-D6 turboprops run at ground- and flight-idle settings over a 4h period. The engines “performed flawlessly”, says Airbus, with subsequent inspections showing “that there had been no hot-air or fluid leaks”.



Airbus Military


The engine runs came at the end of a three-day test period which had started with so-called “dry” and “wet cranking” of each TP400 in turn, before progressing to use the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit. The engines “will be run up to maximum take-off power in further runs planned to take place shortly,” Airbus says.

Airbus chief executive Tom Enders visited Seville to witness the engine trial, which he says “paves the way to the A400M first flight in the weeks to come.” The company expects to fly MSN001 before the end of next month, but has yet to commit itself to a firm date, noting: “it will take place only when the [flight test] crew feels the aircraft is ready”.

Meanwhile, Airbus personnel are so busy with preparing MSN001 for its first flight that they have so far not found the time to remove the South African flag from the aircraft’s fuselage (below). Pretoria earlier this month surprised the company by cancelling its order for eight A400Ms, deliveries of which had originally been scheduled to begin next year.



Airbus Military


South Africa’s withdrawal has reduced the A400M order book to 184 aircraft for launch customers Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK, plus export buyer Malaysia. The programme’s European partners are in the process of negotiating a new contract for the delayed airlifter with Airbus via the OCCAR procurement agency.

Les pays A400M veulent une solution d'ici la fin 2009/Allemagne

Les pays qui ont passé commande l'A400M, l'avion de transport militaire européen en retard de quatre ans sur le calendrier initial, veulent parvenir à une solution permettant la poursuite du programme d'ici la fin de l'année, a déclaré vendredi le ministère de la Défense allemand.
"Les pays sont tombés d'accord pour dire qu'ils veulent trouver une solution pour poursuivre le programme A400M d'ici la fin de 2009", a déclaré un porte-parole du ministère à l'issue de discussions à Berlin entre les sept pays commanditaires.
EADS, le géant européen de l'aéronautique, de la défense et de l'espace, négocie avec les sept européens (Allemagne, Belgique, Espagne, France, Grande-Bretagne, Luxembourg, Turquie) qui ont passé commande pour l'appareil pour tenter de sauver un contrat de quelque 20 milliards d'euros.
Le gouvernement allemand va inviter des responsables des pays concernés à une nouvelle séance de discussions sur l'A400M au début du mois prochain, a poursuivi le porte-parole du ministère de la Défense.

Will the A400M fly, then?
By David Learmount on November 21, 2009 7:48 PM

The A400M's first all-engine, on-wing engine-run



Now here's a real aeroplane. It has propellers.

And yes, it will fly because we need this machine. At present there's no military airlifter between the C-130 and the C-17 unless you are in the USAF. The maiden flight is programmed some time before the end of the year. But, if it doesn't meet that deadline, patience!

At Toulouse a few months ago I "flew" one of the test simulators for it.

A400M fixed-base simulators, wired up to the "Iron Bird "

test rig for the new aircraft

For an ex Herc driver like me, getting your head around this machine takes some doing, and I'm not there yet. It's a sidestick aircraft (which I have. no probs with), and FBW, but flight envelope protection is invisible. You wanna do a barrel roll? Feel free.

I didn't do a barrel roll, but I did roll 110deg into a mock evasive descent manoeuvre (much good may it have done me in real life).

But just like the A400M's Europrop International TP400-D6 engines - which have been giving problems that have extended the programme's spectacular delays - especially the FADECs, its avionics suite and mission systems need some work yet.



Also, the sims need a lot of shaking down before they deliver. But the engines are the most powerful turboprops the Western world has ever attempted, and the avionics are incredibly ambitious.

Problems? Surprise, surprise! Remember how long the C-130J took to shake down? And that was just a simple Herc with digital avionics and upgraded engines/prop systems.

Since when did military procurement go smoothly?

Anyway, the delays associated with this programme have enabled the "Iron Bird" systems mockup of the A400M to go through many more cycles than it would otherwise have achieved before first flight.

The picture of the "bird" is below. Just so you understand what you are seeing, it's the complete hydraulic, electrical and control surface actuator rig that represents the systems on the real A400M, laid out in a hangar and powered. Imagine the layout you see as being the aeroplane flying in a direction that's laterally 2 o'clock compared with your view of the scene. The wings are against the far wall, and they continue around the corners for lack of lateral space to get all the systems in. The red objects are the control surfaces (spoilers etc), weighted to represent real inertia. The walkway down the centre is the rig for the hydraulics/electrics that follow the fuselage line, and on the left, high up, is the horizontal stabiliser with the screw-jack acuator ahead of its leading edge, and the red units representing the elevators where the trailing edge would be.

It may be rigged to one of the fixed base simulators, but the systems and control surfaces are constantly being flexed as well just to test their durability.

South Africa may have cancelled its A400M orders, but unless they have changed their defence strategy (quite probable) they'll be back. If you need an airlifter in the A400M size/performance category, there's no alternative on the horizon.