Avionics And Other Systems Powered On A Year Before Its First Flight

Airbus has successfully powered-up the flight-deck of A350 XWB “MSN1” for the first time, following the initial application of electrical power to the aircraft’s front fuselage. This significant milestone was passed only two weeks after this section was delivered to the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse, France. Moreover, it gives a promising indication of the A350 XWB’s progress in pre-FAL and the readiness of the aircraft’s systems.

Flight-deck power-on is an important step on the route to complete aircraft power-on and first flight, because it enables most systems functional checking to be undertaken. Having achieved this nearly a year before first flight will allow early identification and resolution of potential issues and thus help to protect the aircraft’s development schedule. Testing of the front fuselage section will proceed during this summer.

The flight deck test will be followed by the power-on of the entire fuselage later this year.

There are three planned variants of the A350. The 314-passenger A350-900 is scheduled to enter service in the second half of 2014, then the -800, which will carry 270 passengers in mid-2016, and finally the 350-passenger -1000 in 2017.

FMI: www.airbus.com