Airbus is due to fly its A350F freighter for the first time tomorrow from Toulouse, opening the flight-test campaign for its new large cargo aircraft.
The first test aircraft, MSN700, registration F-WXLD, is scheduled to take off from Toulouse-Blagnac airport at 10:20 local time on September 29, having completed two high-speed rejected-takeoff runs in the final ground-test phase. A five-person crew of two pilots and three test engineers will fly the sortie.
The maiden flight will focus on aerodynamic performance, handling qualities and the autopilot. A wider certification campaign will follow, using two A350Fs and about 400 flight-test hours over roughly nine months.
The flight follows a long build-up at Toulouse, where Airbus completed the first test aircraft’s wings and integrated the freighter’s large main-deck cargo doors, which are made from composite materials with electric actuation and sit in the rear fuselage to balance the aircraft during loading. The main-deck doors are about 15ft (4.5m) wide and 14ft (4.3m) tall.
Airbus says the A350F will carry a payload of up to 111 tonnes (about 245,000lb) over a range of up to 5,400 miles (8,700km), with roughly 70% of its structure made from carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, titanium and aluminum. The company says that makes it about 46 tonnes lighter than competing large freighters and cuts fuel burn and operating cost per tonne of cargo.
The A350F is the freighter variant of the A350 widebody family, which entered airline service in 2015, and shares much of its airframe and systems with the passenger jets, whose flight-test heritage includes the A350-1000’s long-range testing. Certification and entry into commercial service will follow the flight-test program.
The A350F has drawn a substantial order book as cargo operators look to renew aging freighter fleets and meet tighter efficiency and emissions requirements.
