The second flying prototype of the Airbus A350 XWB took to the air for the first time last week.
For five hours Airbus test pilots Frank Chapman and Thierry Bourges flew the A350 XWB test aircraft while flight-test engineers monitored the progress of the flight.
The A350 XWB has now logged some 330 test hours during almost 70 flights. The test regime has included identification and freeze of all flap and slat configurations, loads and aeroelastic testing and evaluation of handling characteristics and systems operation throughout the operational envelope. Plans five A350 test aircraft to fly 2,500 hours before expected type certification.
In commercial form Airbus landed its first order from Japan and Japan Airlines jointly, the $9.5 billion order covers 18 A350-900s and 13 A350-1000s and includes options on another 25 of the mostly composite widebodies. Airbus now won firm orders for 725 A350s from 37 customers worldwide and plans to deliver the first production example to Qatar Airways in the second half of next year.
We follow the evolution of this aircraft as await news of VIP variant orders of the ACJ350