Airbus has commenced flight-testing with the higher-thrust Rolls-Royce engine developed for the A350-1000.
The Trent XWB-97 powerplant has been installed on the inboard left-hand pylon of an Airbus A380 testbed.
Airbus says the first flight, from its Toulouse base, lasted 4h 14min.
During the initial sortie the powerplant’s performance was assessed across a “wide range” of thrust settings, the airframer states.
It was flown at cruise altitudes up to 35,000ft and tested across a speed spectrum up to M0.87.
Airbus says the first flight of the A350-1000 will follow in around nine months’ time.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
