Julian Moxon/PARIS
Airbus Industrie is about to begin flight testing a specially equipped A340 to show that the new A3XX can fly with less static and dynamic stability than its current fly-by-wire aircraft.
Engineering and product vice-president Robert Lafontan says the consortium is also considering a fly-by-wire flight control system with no mechanical back-up for the 555-seat A3XX. "In my mind there is no problem with it," he adds.
The reduced natural stability tests are aimed at enabling a 5% reduction in the size of the 200m2 (2,150ft2) horizontal tailplane - comparable to an A310 wing - to save weight, reduce drag and bring the aircraft closer to the 15% lower direct operating cost target over the Boeing 747-400.
"We are very close," says Lafontan. "If we count all of the potential we have in hand, we will be beyond it." He adds that all A3XX design decisions will be taken by "the end of the third quarter", in preparation for presentation to several airline customers a few months later.
Choices made include the basic design of the flightdeck. It remains firmly within the Airbus cross-crew qualification system, with a likely nine-day transition time between the A340 and A3XX (similar to that for A320 conversion to the A340), and the cockpit will have eight identical multifunctional liquid crystal displays.
Lafontan rejects using aluminium lithium, at least for initial versions of the A3XX, "because of availability problems". A decision on use of the new Glare carbon fibre/aluminium composite will be taken later. For the first time, many of the fuselage sections will be welded instead of riveted.
The A3XX's flightdeck will be based on that of the other fly-by-wire types
Source: Flight International
