Airbus grooms five A400Ms for intense flight-test duties
With its first A400M in the air, Airbus Military is embarking on an intensive flight trials campaign, with the aim of clearing the baseline common standard
With its first A400M in the air, Airbus Military is embarking on an intensive flight trials campaign, with the aim of clearing the baseline common standard aircraft (CSA) configuration for service in 2012. As political controversy surrounded the airplane, with Airbus threatening to stop funding, the flight test team made good progress. By the end of the fourth flight in mid-January, the normal operational flight envelope had been completely cleared.
Airbus is building five flight-test airframes to support the A400M, in addition to several ground rigs for testing fatigue and loads, hydraulics and systems, and avionics. The initial plan called for six flight-test aircraft, but one (MSN005) was cancelled to save costs.
