Airbus A350XWB (partie 1)

The first A350 XWB wing lower cover (WLC) has been transported from Airbus’ composites manufacturing site in Illescas, Spain, to Airbus’ wing assembly site in Broughton, United Kingdom, where it will be installed on to the wing of the first A350 XWB to fly, MSN001. The wing lower cover was recently produced at Airbus’ Centre of Excellence for composite materials in Illescas, Spain; the part measures approximately 32 metres long by six metres wide, making it the biggest carbon fibre part ever produced in civil aviation.
“This is a major milestone for the A350 XWB programme and for Airbus in Spain”, said Rafael González-Ripoll, Head of Airbus’ Centre of Excellence Empennage & Aft -fuselage, “The delivery of the first flying A350 XWB wing lower cover pays tribute to the tremendous achievements made by a highly qualified, technical team. We have again demonstrated our expertise in designing, industrialising and manufacturing primary structures in carbon fibre with the A350 XWB, building on past experiences with other Airbus programmes.”
The wing cover will be fitted into the A350 XWB wing in Broughton and afterwards will be transported to Bremen (Germany) where the movable parts will be fitted. Later on, the sub-assembly will go to A350 XWB Final Assembly Line in Toulouse, where it will be joined to the fuselage.
The A350 XWB Family consists of three passenger versions with true long-range capability. In terms of capacity, the A350-800 will offer 270 seats; the A350-900 holds 314 seats while the A350-1000 will have 350 seats respectively. The Family concept allows airlines to best match their A350 XWB fleets to route capacity demands, guaranteeing optimum revenue potential. To date, 35 customers have ordered 567 A350 XWBs. Airbus forecasts a demand over the next 20 years for around 5,800 new twin-aisle mid-size passenger aircraft

Air Lease Corporation chief executive Steven Udvar-Hazy has echoed concerns expressed by Gulf carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways over the performance of the revamped Airbus A350-1000, speaking to Air Transport Intelligence at the ISTAT Europe finance conference in Barcelona.
"Airbus is going to have to work really hard with Rolls-Royce to come up with the right recipe to make this airplane really competitive," said Udvar-Hazy, referring to competition with the Boeing 777-300ER. Airbus outlined performance changes to the A350-1000 at the Paris air show in June, with the main one being a higher-thrust Rolls-Royce Trent XWB powerplant.
"The concern we have now is the planned engine for the -1000 is not interchangeable on the -900XWB - there is a lack of commonality," he said.
In common with the Gulf carriers, Udvar-Hazy is concerned over the performance of the A350-1000, especially in hot-and-high conditions such as those in the Middle East.
"Airbus has to tackle payload range [with the -1000] not only in the context of a full passenger load but it also needs good freight capacity because airlines need that revenue in the belly," he said.
It is critical that the -1000 does not fall short of the 777-300ER, which is the performance benchmark in this category, he said. "Boeing has the incumbent advantage because it can keep improving the existing 777."
Udvar-Hazy, who has worked closely with the manufacturer since it began studying a new aircraft in this market segment several years ago, is encouraging Airbus to make improvements to the A350-1000.
Concentrating on the larger -1000 and delaying the service entry of the smaller A350-800 is a "wise" move, he said.
In addition, high oil prices have somewhat spiked the case for the -800. For Udvar-Hazy the existing Airbus product in this category is still a valid option. "A330s can do a lot of what the -800 can do for a lower capital cost," he said.
"Airbus is taking a more cautious course," said Udvar-Hazy. "If it doesn't get the -1000 right it doesn't have anything between the -900 and the A380."
"The A350 is the big volume widebody market for Airbus [in terms of units]," he said. "It is the backbone of their widebody strategy going forward."
According to Udvar-Hazy, the priority for Airbus is to develop the A350-900 and -1000 family to compete effectively with Boeing's 787-9 and 777 families.

PARIS, 21 septembre (Reuters) - Le directeur commercial d'Airbus John Leahy a répondu mercredi aux critiques dont le futur A350-1000 fait l'objet en assurant que l'appareil recevrait un accueil "massif" en terme de commandes d'ici un an. Le match entre l'A350-1000 et le Boeing 777-300ER, ou son successeur, est considéré comme la prochaine grande bataille qui animera le secteur, après celle qui a porté sur la prochaine génération remotorisée des A320 et B737.

"Nous sommes ravis de la performance de l'A350-1000 qui affichera un rayon d'action et une capacité de chargement supérieurs au 777-300ER, avec 25% de carburant en moins", a déclaré John Leahy dans une interview à Reuters.

"Je prévois que d'ici l'an prochain à la même époque, nous aurons eu une réponse massive en terme de commandes", a-t-il ajouté.

L'avionneur européen prévoit de livrer l'A350-1000 à partir de la mi-2017. A ce jour, il a enregistré 75 ventes, contre 533 pour le 777-300ER du grand concurrent américain. (Tim Hepher, Gilles Guillaume pour le srevice français, édité par Jean Décotte)

J'aimerais bien savoir ce que pourrait donner un A350-1000 à 268t avec le train à double bogie simple et la structure pour le XWB basique...?
Là comme ça je prédit -5/6 t de d'OEX (-2.4 pour "redescendre à 298t, l’allègement du train, etc etc) et 6500 Nm de distance franchissable, une sorte de 787-10
Quand on voit les déclinaisons de la famille A330/340 et même 777, on peut réver de la cohabitation de version non ER et ER

irbus has flown the first A350 XWB nose section from partner Aerolia, in Meaulte, France, to its site in Saint Nazaire, the European plane maker announced Tuesday.


The nose section consists of three main sub-assemblies: the cockpit and the upper and lower forward fuselage parts, which incorporate door one and the nose landing gear bay. It is made of 40 percent composites, 55 percent aluminium/aluminium-lithium and 5 percent titanium.

After it is assembled and equipped, Airbus plans to join the section to the forward fuselage to form the front fuselage.

The A350 is Airbus’ answer to Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, the first of which was delivered Monday. It is scheduled for first delivery in late 2013.

Airbus aerostructures partner Premium Aerotec has successfully put together the first forward fuselage for the A350 XWB at Nordenham, Germany. The impressive all-composite fuselage is 13 metres long and comprises four panels and the floor grid. Structural assembly work will continue over the coming weeks before it is transported by boat to Airbus’ Hamburg site for systems installation.

As a result, the six assembled sections of the center fuselage, at 64.6 ft/19.7m long and 22 ft/6.7m in diameter, will weigh a mere 9,000 lb/4,082 kg.

Another aspect of this design is variable camber. The A350 will be the first Airbus aircraft capable of this function, which will rely on a wing flap system that allows for differential inner and outer flap settings. A gearbox and motor are mounted between the outer and inner flap, enabling differential control of each flap’s angle after they have been retracted. The center-of-lift position also can be changed for load management. For example, the inner flap can be set slightly down, shifting the center of lift inboard for heavy weight situations. It is also possible to move both flaps together up or down a small amount, which improves wing performance by tuning the peak-lift-over-drag ratio. During cruise, the flap functions will be controlled automatically by the flight control system computers, which continuously sense data from the flight management system.
The overall result is an extremely efficient wing that produces more lift with less weight and is capable of advanced load handling performance that also helps to reduce the aircraft’s fuel burn.

Depuis son arrivée à Toulouse, les équipes sont mobilisées pour monter et adapter le Rolls Royce Trent XWB sur l'Airbus A380 MSN001.

C'est chose faite et un autre grand moment pour l'A350XWB. Le Flying Test Bed est désormais armé de son nouveau moteur et subir une batterie de tests intensive au sol avant son premier vol en fin d'année.