Airbus flies new plane for the first time

Re: First Flight Challenges

wasn't reused components so much as Pave Blue (and F117) are so un-aerodynamic the electronics are essential to keeping the craft the right way up. That the flight control and design worked well speaks volumes about _real_ engineers pushing the boundaries of current practice but not leaping into unknown.. It also suggests that the source of the endless mirth and mockery of the flying flimflam AKA F35, has too much clever code instead of much developed code.. Now if I could just remember the pithy appellation used about the F35 another commentard used I would be a little less depressed.

"but the first flight of the first A350 was just as uneventful. And the A330."

Several things have helped, many of them IT related.

AFAIK all bit aircraft will be done on CAD systems and they can do automatic clearance and fit checking, Part of the original purpose of rollouts was to find what had not been done right and "shim" it together/apart as needed.

The mfg by "hogging out" large lumps of alloy or laying up large pieces of composite eliminates a shedload of fasteners and their accumulation of tolerance IE all the little bits being slightly out adding up to a whole part that's a lot out.

CFD (certainly below M1) is pretty good so any suspect features that may make handling difficult can be tested and either redesigned or flight rules adjusted so they are not a hazard (at least in early testing).

This results in generally much less drama with new types.

However you can get new problems as well. Airbus had issues when their 2 design centres had different versions of the same CAD SW. IIRC the datum points (where exactly is "0" in the X, Y, Z dimensions relative to each drawing) was just a bit out. This caused months of delay.

Possibly the ultimate case of "More haste, less speed." (-:

Re: First Flight Challenges

"if you're still out in Germany, some of them may not be as favourably remembered as they are on this side of the channel."

Maybe, but I think Herman Goering was secretly a fan of British wooden planes...

Re: First Flight Challenges

"Indeed. But (Mr Clark) if you're still out in Germany, some of them may not be as favourably remembered as they are on this side of the channel."

I don't know, Hermann von Goering was very complimentary about them.

Basically, carbon fibre and kevlar composite is just improved designer plywood. Carbon chains in a flexible polymer matrix. We've just helped natural selection on quite a bit. Grass even includes silica particles in its matrix.

Re: First Flight Challenges

The X15 gets my nod for fearless test pilots. The whole shebang could have blown at any second, it leaked, the avionics were naff, the ejector seat was "probably work up to a speed, after that better to be blown up". It had 3 control systems depending on your speed, each with a different joystick and "throttle" and "forward" headrest for deceleration! More over, many of its pilots instantly qualified as astronauts based on height achieved. It still holds the record for fastest manned powered aircraft.

remarkable little spaceplane.

" all things considered and the markets for which it's really suitable are still growing: pilgrimages to Mecca from around the world"

There's a certain sad irony in the cutting edge science and technology used to design and build the aircraft ultimately allowing sheeple to walk around a black box in circles praying to their invisible sky fairy. Perhaps the plane could just loop around it instead a few times and save them the trouble of landing?

Re: Wake me up when Concorde returns.

>Fairford was a good few miles away

There's a Heathrow approach corridor about five miles south of the M4. You could always hear Concorde inbound at least five miles either side of it.