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Airbus A400M: First large components delivered to Spain
By Karl Schwarz
The Beluga freighter aircraft of Airbus have a new job. Apart from carrying large components for the civil aircraft types, in future they will also have to fly wings, fuselage and other components of the A400M military transporter right across Europe. At the end of February, Beluga No. 2 made a stopover for the first time in Seville in southern Spain. There, gates matched precisely to the freighter fuselage have been built into the side of the huge, 540-metre long final assembly hall for unloading of components.
Nothing was delivered during this visit though. The cockpit section of the A400M loaded on board in Saint-Nazaire was destined for the EADS CASA plant in Getafe near Madrid where serial number "5000" has to undergo static load tests.
Nearly a month after the nose, the first fuselage also arrived in Getafe on 19 March. This had been loaded on the Beluga at the Airbus plant in Bremen on 17 March. This 29-meter long section is fitted with four tons of test equipment and 100 kilometres of cable connecting approximately 4000 measurement points to the test computers. The structures will be loaded with weights of up to 70 metric tons in order to simulate stresses in operational service.
While the cockpit section and fuselage are assembled directly in Getafe the second wing set built in Filton was shipped first to Seville for assembly and will then be transported to Getafe. The complete static test airframe is due to be ready by November for the structural tests which will then last until February 2010.
"We will go about these tests in a very conservative manner so that the results are valid in every case for the series-built aircraft which will have modified structures in many areas," explained Juan Carlos Martinez Saiz in an interview with FLUG REVUE. The aeronautical engineer who is the Airbus Executive Vice President responsible for military programmes knows what he is talking about as he was formerly head of the A400M development team in Toulouse.
According to Martinez Saiz "a whole series of drawings have already been released" for the weight reduction programme although he prefers to speak of the "necessity for certain optimization measures." There was no large intake of additional engineers for this task; the number of employees working on the A400M programme at Airbus and partner companies at present is hovering around the 5000 mark. The first aircraft to be adapted with the modifications will be MSN07 which will also be the first aircraft to be delivered to a customer.
However, things are not that far advanced yet. The next target is due in June with the start of final assembly of the first aircraft in Seville, which is the first flying version of the A400M. This is about three months later than originally planned but Martinez Saiz sees the modification of the plan positively, because it ensures that the large components can be supplied "in good shape and really fully equipped", including the comprehensive test instrumentation. The aim is to avoid expensive reworking such as occurred with the A380.
"Our plan is still to be flying in January 2008," stated Martinez Saiz in an interview in mid-March. "But if its February that doesnt bother us too much". The crucial thing is to meet the delivery deadline at the end of 2009, and theres still over 30 months to go until then. "At any rate were doing everything we can to achieve this and Im optimistic that we can keep to the deadline".
After the first aircraft the other test aircraft are scheduled to take to the air at intervals of about two months, according to Martinez Saiz. The Airbus test crews, supported by the pilots from EADS are already busy preparing themselves for their task in the simulator.
At present, flight tests are also being prepared with the new TP400D-6 engine for the A400M. The latest date for testing of a power plant on a C-130 Hercules is now July/August. "That still gives us enough time to verify the data gathered in ground test runs in flight as well," stated Juan Carlos Martinez Saiz reassuringly.
At the beginning of the year, though, there were reports from the Europrop partner companies (ITP, MTU, Rolls-Royce, Snecma) that testing on the test beds was running slightly behind schedule. For this reason two additional engines are to be included in the programme and an additional test bed put into operation. However, there was assurance that the specifications with regard to weight and fuel consumption would be fulfilled. "The tests to date have not revealed any increased vibration, so that does not appear to be a problem," Martinez Saiz also confirmed.
He is already looking ahead beyond the forthcoming trial phase. If the responsible European defence procurement agency OCCAR puts out an invitation to bid in the middle of the year for operational support and servicing of the A400M, Airbus Military will submit a bid in close cooperation with EADS. Air France Industries and Lufthansa Technik have also indicated their interest in taking over the "complete supply of equipment for all A400M operators worldwide". However, a major question as regards operation and maintenance of the new military transporter is how closely the customer countries are willing to cooperate. From the point of view of the German Luftwaffe there must be a service centre in Germany and they are only interested in an overall contract.
From FLUG REVUE 5/2007
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