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Maiden flight of first production A400M airlifter

7th March 2013

By: Keith Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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Airbus Military’s A400M military airlift aircraft programme reached another key marker on Wednesday when the first production aeroplane made its maiden flight in Spain. The aircraft concerned is designated MSN7 by the European company and is destined for the Armée de l’Air (AdlA – the French Air Force).

Already painted in French markings, the aeroplane took off from Seville at 11:38 local time (10:48 Greenwich Mean Time). It flew for five hours and 42 minutes, landing back at Seville.

“The performance of the aircraft was as expected and we had a very smooth flight, confirming the great handling capabilities of the aircraft,” reported company experimental test pilot Hugues van der Stichel. “The result of this first flight gives us full confidence for the on-time delivery to the French Air Force.”

Last month, Airbus Military signed an initial In-Service Support (ISS) contract which will provide an 18-month support services package to the AdlA. This will cover the aircraft’s entry into service with the French. Longer term ISS is likely to be covered by an joint contract between the company on the one side and the AdlA and the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) on the other.

France has 50 A400Ms on order and the RAF is acquiring 22. MSN7 should be delivered to the AdlA in late May of early June, while the RAF should receive its first aeroplane in September next year.

Also last month, the production standard development A400M aircraft MSN6 successfully underwent another series of cold weather tests in northern Canada.

On Monday, Airbus Military and Thales UK together signed an 18-year contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to supply A400M training for the RAF. This will be done through a joint venture company, A400M Training Services, which will build a training centre at RAF air station Brize Norton. This centre should be completed during the northern spring next year.

Major components of the A400M are manufactured in South Africa. State-owned Denel Aerostructures has designed and makes the aircraft’s top shells for the centre fuselage section and the wing/fuselage fairings. Private-sector Aerosud is likewise responsible for the nose fuselage linings, cargo hold linings, and cockpit linings, the cockpit rigid bulkhead, the nose fuselage galleys and the wing tips.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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