Yesterday, the second Airbus A350 XWB (MSN 3) successfully completed the first flight. It landed at Toulouse-Blagnac airport shortly after 14: 30, local time, after operating a flight of 5 hours.
The aircraft was piloted by Frank Chapman and Thierry Bourges, Airbus test pilots. They were joined in the cabin by flight engineers: Gérard Maisonneuve, Tuan Do, Robert Lignée and Stéphane Vaux. They all had the mission to monitor the evolution of the MSN 3 aircraft in the first flight.
(source photo: theflyingengineer.com)
MSN 3 it has a structure similar to MSN 1, ie without the cabin configured, but provided with complex aircraft monitoring equipment.
4 months ago, on 14 June 2013, the first Airbus A350 XWB rose from the ground in the applause of Airbus officials, the press, but also special guests. To date, MSN 1 has accumulated 330 flight hours in 70 test flights. During this time, the aircraft was subjected to all the possible scenarios that an airplane may encounter in flight.
In addition to MSN 1 and MSN 3, other 3 aircraft will enter the test fleet, with the plan being to accumulate a total of over 2500 flight hours in tests.
Airbus A350 XWB received orders for 725 aircraft, from 37 customers worldwide. The first delivery is planned for the second half of 2014, and the launch air carrier is Qatar Airways.