Sun, Nov 22, 2009
Ground-Idle And Flight-Idle Power Tested, Takeoff Power
Soon
Airbus Military achieved a key milestone in the A400M military
airlifter program, when all four Europrop International (EPI) TP400
turboprops on the aircraft were run simultaneously for the first
time on Wednesday.
The event was the culmination of a series of tests in the
previous 72 hours in which the engines and propellers were first
turned using ground power with no fuel in the fuel-lines, in a
process known as dry-cranking. Then they were turned with fuel in
the lines but without starting the engines, known as
wet-cranking.
All four of the engines on aircraft msn 01 were successfully run
for four hours beginning in the early evening during an operation
that lasted for 6.5 hours including preparation. The engines ran at
low power settings in ground-idle and flight-idle modes and will be
run up to maximum take-off power in further runs planned to take
place shortly.
The operation at Airbus Military's Seville, Spain facility was
part of the procedure known as destorage of the engines following
the handover to the flight-test team at the end of the previous
week.
After the first full run, during which the engines performed
flawlessly, the engine cowls were opened and inspections showed
that there had been no hot-air or fluid leaks. On the subsequent
runs the test team will continue exploring the behavior of the
engine itself and also that of the aircraft systems that are
powered by the engine. Additionally the auxiliary power unit (APU),
a separate small engine mounted on the aircraft itself and designed
to provide electrical power to the aircraft systems, was tested. It
was used to start the engines for the main engine run.
Airbus CEO Tom Enders, who personally witnessed the first full
engine run-up, said: "I wish to thank and congratulate the teams
who worked extremely hard to reach this very important milestone
which paves the way to the A400M First Flight in the weeks to
come."
Fernando Alonso, Head of Flight Operations, added: "This is the
first time we completely powered up the aircraft using the engine
power and the first time that the aircraft has been operated
completely autonomously."
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