MSN 3 Joins Sister-Ships In The Air During First Test Flight

The third development aircraft of the new A400M airlifter made its maiden flight Friday, taking off at 1357 local time from Seville, Spain. MSN 3 was joined by its sister-ships MSN 1 and MSN 2, which were also in the air during this test flight. During the day the aircraft also passed the milestone of 100 test flights and 400 flight hours.

MSN 3 First Flight

Experimental Test Pilot Tony Flynn captained the flight, supported by Experimental Test Pilot Franc¸ois Barre. The crew also included Flight Test Engineers Laurent Lapierre and Jose´ Angel Corugedo, and Test Flight Engineer Ge´rard Maisonneuve.

"The addition of MSN3 to the fleet is great news and will let us push ahead even more rapidly with the flying program," said Fernando Alonso, head of flight operations for Airbus.

MSN3 is the third of an eventual five aircraft which will conduct the 3,700 hour flight-test program which will lead to first delivery. It is the first aircraft to carry a medium flight-test instrumentation load, rather than the heavy fit of the first two, and will be primarily dedicated to auto-flight development, aircraft systems development, and route-proving.

FMI: www.airbus.com