Airbus A350 Thread

protog777

Everything to do with the A350; Orders, News, Photos etc. can go here

Such a nice looking plane:)

Comhrá

A350-900 seems to have gotten off to a good start:

http://airnation.net/hangar/threads/latam-airlines-places-7bn-order-for-27-airbus-a350-900-planes.14035/

Tenger

tippman1 wrote: »

A350-900 seems to have gotten off to a good start:

http://airnation.net/hangar/threads/latam-airlines-places-7bn-order-for-27-airbus-a350-900-planes.14035/

Its been doing well for quite a while now..... that LATAM order brings it up to just under 800 orders.

smurfjed

Had a look at a couple of Airbus presentations during the week, it is an incredibly impressive aircraft.

Tenger

Here's a link to the Airbus site which allows you to plot the range of the A350-900: http://www.airbus.com/aircraftfamilies/passengeraircraft/a350xwbfamily/a350-900/performance/


Also the first fully painted customer A359 (in Qatar livery) is in TLS:
http://www.airbus.com/galleries/photo-gallery/#open=galleries/photo-gallery/dg/idp/40258-qatar-airways-a350-xwb-1/?backURL=galleries/photo-gallery/

joegriffinjnr

When is the first plane expected to be delivered?

Tenger

joegriffinjnr wrote: »

When is the first plane expected to be delivered?

Currently planned for Dec 2014 I think.

Finnair and Aer Lingus were to be the first 2 European customers....but of course EI have deferred their order several times over the last few years.

joegriffinjnr

Amazing piece of technology right there!





Im not a big fan of the mask around the cockpit windows, I know there is a reason behind it. Maybe it will grow on me over time.. Beauty of an aircraft though.

man98

Is the A350-800 going ahead? I remember seeing that they'd convert them into A330NEOs or -900s, not sure.

owenc

joegriffinjnr wrote: »

Amazing piece of technology right there!





Im not a big fan of the mask around the cockpit windows, I know there is a reason behind it. Maybe it will grow on me over time.. Beauty of an aircraft though.

Very impressive. It looks more like a Boeing aircraft than an airbus.

Shimmy Jimmy CocoPop

owenc wrote: »

Very impressive. It looks more like a Boeing aircraft than an airbus.

In what way? It looks like an airbus to me apart from the silly black paint on the cockpit windows. It would look even more like an Airbus without the black paint imo

owenc

The front of the fuselage.. Airbus aircraft always have a different nose shape.
http://airchive.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/787-9-full16.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KSCcZia4-rs/UmsvDug5v0I/AAAAAAAAAAA/OYakxy-zXaM/s1600/Qatar_A330-200F_cargo_aircraft.jpg

joegriffinjnr

With and without the controversial mask:

Stinicker

The raccoon plane!

Shimmy Jimmy CocoPop

Certainly does look more like an airbus without the mask. Similar window layout as the A380. I dont see the likeness with the 787.

Frynge

What is the purpose of the mask?

owenc

I'm referring to the front of the plane.

joegriffinjnr

Something to do with glare afaik. The black paint is anti glare paint.

Tenger

Frynge wrote: »

What is the purpose of the mask?

Looks **** cool like a super hero!!

owenc wrote: »

The front of the fuselage.. Airbus aircraft always have a different nose shape.....

I do see your point. However the A320, A300/A330, and A380 all have different nose's.

In a similar vein the B737, B747, B757, B767 all have different noses. Personally I think the B777 nose is reminiscent of the A330.
And the B787 was quite a variation on previously Boeing nose's.

man98 wrote: »

Is the A350-800 going ahead? I remember seeing that they'd convert them into A330NEOs or -900s, not sure.

A350-800 is not officially dead yet but it will happen. I think they only have 4-5 airlines with a total of under 30 airframes to 'persuade' to convert their order to A330neo or A359. Hawaiian had a 7-10 order, they were the biggest stumbling block. (I think Aeroflot also has A358 on order)

billie1b

Reminds me very much of the 757, not a big Airbus fan but really like this aircraft

Tenger

A350 has received its type certification from EASA today. Expect FAA to follow suit within the next week. On schedule for Airbus, bodes well for EIS before the end of the year.

ETOPS obviously has to be granted.
Dual type rating with the A330 for flight and cabin crew is a welcome point.

http://www.airbus.com/newsevents/news-events-single/detail/airbus-a350-900-receives-easa-type-certification/

BonkeyDonker

The A350 looks like a great plane from Airbus. And unlike the B787 everything seems to be going to plan, or better. A smooth EIS will be a great boost.

Cookiemunster

Here's a vid of the formation flight.

Peregrine

Some websites reporting that Airbus is aiming to make the first A350 delivery to QR in a few weeks.

Tenger

Nimr wrote: »

Some websites reporting that Airbus is aiming to make the first A350 delivery to QR in a few weeks.

Sounds right as delivery in Q4 2014 was the target.

Tenger

Did a little looking, delivery due in just over a week.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/qatar-narrows-a350-900-delivery-window-404795/

Qatar Airways is preparing to take delivery of the first Airbus A350-900 from 8-10 December, says chief executive Akbar Al Baker.......

....The Oneworld alliance carrier is the launch customer for the A350-900, with 43 on order alongside a contract for 37 A350-1000s.

Fabio

Sorry guys what is EIS? Estimated Initial Service?! I've no idea.

Anyway, looks like a beautiful aircraft. I read the piece in Vanity Fair about the Air France pilots involved in the tragic loss of the A330 enroute from Brazil to France a few years ago and I keep wondering about the Airbus control systems...any one know if they were modified after this and are now in a slightly better form in the A350? I'm not blaming the control systems by the way, the article made clear to me that the pilots were not in full control and therefore it was their fault really.

eatmyshorts

Fabio wrote: »

Sorry guys what is EIS? Estimated Initial Service?! I've no idea.

Entry Into Service

Tenger

Fabio wrote: »

......I read the piece in Vanity Fair about the Air France pilots involved in the tragic loss of the A330 enroute from Brazil to France a few years ago and I keep wondering about the Airbus control systems...any one know if they were modified after this and are now in a slightly better form in the A350? I'm not blaming the control systems by the way, the article made clear to me that the pilots were not in full control and therefore it was their fault really.

My understanding is that the issue with the AF447 incident was more due to the training of the flight deck than the actual control systems. Airbus and many airlines have incorporated the lessons learned into their SOP's and training programs.

roundymac

From what I remember the control problems were that one pilot was able to pull back on his column while the other was able to push forward at the same time.

basill

Fly by wire has nothing to do with the AF catastrophe. Let's start with....

- flight into a known area of thunderstorm activity
- no track deviation even when other aircraft in area are doing so
- stall the aircraft at high altitude by pulling back on the side stick demonstrating little if any airmanship and a fundamental lack of understanding of how an aircraft can sustain flight

The cancelling of the flight controls due to dual inputs was the least of their worries and the aircraft was effectively doomed by that stage anyway so a moot point.

The One Doctor

basill wrote: »

- stall the aircraft at high altitude by pulling back on the side stick

You could argue that there's no way a (for example) 767 pilot would do that as it would take a large amount of strength to hold the control column all the way back for a long time. The accident was a stupid combination of badly trained pilots and improperly thought out flight controls, for instance, the stall warning stopping above 30 alpha - that's just moronic design.

And I'm an Airbus fan btw.

Idbatterim

the stall warning stopping above 30 alpha - that's just moronic design.

what exactly those that mean one doctor?

The One Doctor

Idbatterim wrote: »

what exactly those that mean one doctor?

Sorry, that's Airbus terminology. 30 alpha means 30 degrees angle of attack, or well above the angle that the wing would stall at. The stall warning stopped when the wing was still stalled, which indicated to the pilots that the situation was resolved. It wasn't, and 300 tonnes of perfectly good plane and 200 lives were lost because those pilots didn't remember how to fly a plane properly.

Zonda999

http://www.tg4.tv/index.html?s=F%C3%ADorsc%C3%A9al&l=en

Random shout here guys, but this episode of TG4's Fiorsceal(Broadcast 02/12/14) has a bit about it on the use of carbon fibre in the A350(As well as bits all about OLED and bioplastics). Might be worth a look!

dogmatix

Possibly the ugliest airbus ever (with the exception of the Beluga) - the nose is the worst feature, it looks short and squat, a bit like a Dash-8. The main fuslage looks a bit dumpy - like a Boeing 767 (and I always felt the 767 was the ugliest of the boeing jets). Compare the nose shape with the original A300/310 which was a thing of beauty. And the wing is unattrative looking too, as is the B878's wing. I always thought Airbus beat Boeing hands down in the looks area - but the A350 is the most boeing-looking airbus ever.

No doubt all of the visual features are a necessary design to maximise economy and efficiency.

Similar thing happened to the A380 - the original design had a nose very similar to the A330/310 series (see A3XX), but the production version saw the cockpit moving position slightly giving the aircraft nose area a 'swollen forehead' look.

Tenger

Personally I like the look of the A350, the nose was a bit of a surprise however. I think it has a similar length/height/width ratio to the B757 which is often seen as a very nice looking aircraft. Almost doesn't look like a widebody. It will be interesting to see one in actuality and be able to compare it to the other aircraft around.

I personally think the B788 is dumpy looking, too squat. The B789 gets the dimensions right.

Tenger

QR have confirmed delivery on the 13th:
http://www.qatarairways.com/qa/en/press-release.page?pr_id=pressrelease_a350
Doha, QATAR – Qatar Airways and Airbus announce the highly anticipated date of the official delivery of the first of its 80 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft on order, set to take place in Toulouse, France..................
..................The first commercial service will be deployed on the Frankfurt route from January 2015

MSN 006/ A7-ALA has been moved to the delivery centre in TLS:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jujug/15940358021/

Pic from its last acceptance flight:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/qatarairways/15322311254/

Fabio

basill wrote: »

Fly by wire has nothing to do with the AF catastrophe. Let's start with....

- flight into a known area of thunderstorm activity
- no track deviation even when other aircraft in area are doing so
- stall the aircraft at high altitude by pulling back on the side stick demonstrating little if any airmanship and a fundamental lack of understanding of how an aircraft can sustain flight

The cancelling of the flight controls due to dual inputs was the least of their worries and the aircraft was effectively doomed by that stage anyway so a moot point.

I know . The Vanity Fair was very good at explaining it to a layman like me. I was just wondering had any controls happen to be changed since to the A350, I wasn't necessarily blaming the controls themselves although I should have made that clearer earlier.

goingnowhere

The real problem in the AF case was loss of awareness, as it was dark outside, so what way is up was unclear. The aircraft exceeded the angle of attack and at that point no amount of elevator would recover you. The AF plane was flying at basically max height for its weight so little margin even if the FBW tried to fly itself out of the problem

Its important to note the plane stalled twice. The crew safely recovered from the first incident.

The Airbus fly by wire lets you fly the plane right up to the red line in safety, pitch over on an airbus brings you 60-70 degrees and holds and returns level when released. If you pitch over on a non FBW plane you will pitch over and keep going and crash after tearing off a wing

This video explains some of the FBW voodoo quite well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKBABNL-DDM

Shimmy Jimmy CocoPop

goingnowhere wrote: »

The real problem in the AF case was loss of awareness, as it was dark outside, so what way is up was unclear. The aircraft exceeded the angle of attack and at that point no amount of elevator would recover you. The AF plane was flying at basically max height for its weight so little margin even if the FBW tried to fly itself out of the problem

Its important to note the plane stalled twice. The crew safely recovered from the first incident.

The Airbus fly by wire lets you fly the plane right up to the red line in safety, pitch over on an airbus brings you 60-70 degrees and holds and returns level when released. If you pitch over on a non FBW plane you will pitch over and keep going and crash after tearing off a wing

I don't recall the artificial horizon failing on the PFD so I wouldn't say the real problem was not knowing what way is up. The problem was bad CRM and poor training, simple as that. I still cant for the life of me understand why Bonin kept pulling back on the stick rather than forward. Lack of stick and rudder flying most likely and Airbus are right with the back to basics training for the A350.

smurfjed

Qatar Airways has decided to not take delivery of it first Airbus A350-900 this weekend. The airline stated that the “ceremonial transfer of title has been postponed until further notice. With the imminent launch of the A350 program, both entities are committed to introducing the A350 very soon.”

Source http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/qatar-airways-postpones-first-a350-900-delivery

Neither side is saying why its delayed.

Tenger

smurfjed wrote: »

Source http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/qatar-airways-postpones-first-a350-900-delivery

Neither side is saying why its delayed.

A.net posts state that an issue with interior toilet fittings was discovered. Seems a but farcical to only be spotted at this point. Obviously the toilets spec was worked out a long time ago.

Could be just Al-Bakar reminding Airbus how important QR are to them?

ozzy jr

1st A350 being delivered to Qatar at the moment, followed closely by their 4th A380 also making the trip from Toulouse to Doha,

Razor44

ozzy jr wrote: »

1st A350 being delivered to Qatar at the moment,

Cool reg A7-ALA.

Jimmy444

Slightly off topic but there is a €1,000,000 prize* for spotting the deliberate error in this news story today on RTE.IE

http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2014/1223/668719-avolon/


* May or may not be true

Jack1985

A B737MAX instead of an A330NEO? :P

Tenger

I love those Leasing company liveries that you see from time to time......

Danbo!

It's not about orders, deliveries or news, but the wife got me this for Xmas



http://www.revell.de/en/products/model-building/aircraft/civilian-aircrafts/id/03989.html

Danbo!

Mission complete

jackstaff

Looks great fair play