A new role for flight testing

Airbus Industries has expanded its flight-testing activities to support the company's Maturity Program and achieve 98.5% operational reliability for aircraft entering service.

At 10:34 a.m. on an April day this year, the largest Airbus airliner to date, the 380-seat A340-600, climbed majestically out of the Blagnac International Airport at Toulouse, France, to begin its first flight-and the beginning of a flight-test program scheduled to see the aircraft in service by the middle of next year. Airbus will use three Rolls-Royce Trent 500-powered −600s to complete a rigorous, 1600-h international test program.

Airbus was confident that its maiden test flight would demonstrate the similarity of its handling and cockpit systems to the smaller A340, something confirmed by Claude LeLelaie, Vice President of Airbus Flight Division, who captained the aircraft: “We flew the aircraft throughout the flight envelope from minimum to maximum operating speeds, and despite its size, the A340-600 handles just like any other A330/A340 ‘family’ aircraft thanks to cockpit commonality and fly-by-wire controls.” The flight-test team, which included Gilles Robert, the Flight Division's Test and Development Director, explored the −600's handling using both direct and normal flight control laws, plus operational criteria including buffet and stall margins and maneuvering capability.