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March 19, 2011 - Airbus partner, Premium AEROTEC, has
successfully completed the curing of the largest A350
XWB fuselage panel made from carbon fiber at its site in
Nordenham (
Located on the forward right-hand side of the fuselage
and measuring 93 square meters, the panel will undergo
ultrasonic inspection, trimming and drilling in the
coming days prior to being joined with the other panels
that together will become the forward fuselage (Section
13-14).
Airbus opted for large fuselage panels for the A350 XWB
design as they can be tailored in terms of their
thickness according to the different loads required at
each part of the airframe. This approach enables Airbus
to optimize the airframe overall which results in
enhanced performance, greater robustness and less
weight. |
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The Airbus A350 is long-range, mid-size, wide-body family of jet airliners under development by Airbus. The A350 will be the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer. It will carry 270 to 350 passengers in three-class seating, depending on variant. The A350 is being designed to compete with the Boeing 777 and the Boeing 787. Airbus says that it will be more fuel-efficient, with up to 8% lower operating cost than the Boeing 787. The launch customer for the A350 is Qatar Airways, which ordered 80 aircraft of all three variants. Development costs are projected to be US$15 billion (?12 billion or ?10 billion). The airliner is scheduled to enter into airline service during the second half of 2013. TAM Airlines, and Singapore Airlines are also to be among the first airlines to operate it.
In 2010,
A350 XWB production got underway and significant progress was
made at Airbus and its partners? sites around the world.
Highlights at Airbus sites include, in Illescas ( |
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