Early long flight test programme aims to get feedback on how well cabin works
The Airbus A380 operated its first fully representative "passenger" flights last week when around 1,900 people travelled on the ultra large aircraft during the four- flight early long flight (ELF) test programme.
The ELF programme began at 09:58 on 4 September, when development aircraft MSN002 (F-WXXL) took off from Toulouse with 474 passengers on board. The first flight lasted 7h, and flight time was gradually increased during the three successive flights last week, culminating in the 15h operation that was due to be completed on 8 September (see table).
During the flights, each of which operated with a full load of passengers as round-trips from Toulouse routeing over Europe and the Mediterranean, the occupants - Airbus employees and cabin systems specialists - put the cabin through its paces. The flights operated as a standard airline service, with flight attendants provided by Lufthansa.
The third trip, lasting 12h, was a night flight. The 15h ELF flight four routed via Trondheim in Norway, the Canary Islands and Crete (see map).
Between 20 and 30 cabin specialists from Airbus and equipment manufacturers were on board each flight to monitor the functioning cabin systems such as air conditioning, lighting, acoustics, in-flight entertainment, galleys, electrics, toilets and water waste systems. Airbus purposely kept the flights closed, without any VIPs or customer guests on board. The ELF trials are designed to offer early feedback on the performance of the cabin systems etc, ahead of the mandatory route-proving programme required for certification later in the test programme.
"The flights have all gone very well," says Claude Lelaie, head of Airbus flight operations.
The average cruise speed during the tests was Mach 0.85 (850 km/h), with the A380 operating up to its cruise ceiling of 43,000ft (13,100m).
According to the Airbus deputy media relations manager David Voskhul, who travelled on the third test flight, the A380 passenger experience was good: "The aircraft felt quite stable and the cabin was quiet in the cruise. I hardly noticed that we had started taxiing." Voskhul adds that the boarding and disembarking process was "very quick" despite the need to use airstairs.
"Door 1 left was used by the upper deck and main deck first class passengers, while door 2 left was used for the rest of the main deck passenegers, who were mostly economy."
A380 MSN002, which joined the flight test programme in mid-2006, is the first aircraft to incorporate a fully furnished cabin, which features a three-class configuration with a total of 474 seats. MSN007, which is the second fully furnished A380, will operate the route- proving programme that is due to take place towards year-end.
Source: Flight International
