Airbus A350: the countdown is activated
Wednesday, April 14 at Nantes, a stone's throw from the airport by a cool sunny morning. Representatives of airlines, the future Airbus A350 XWB (extra wide body) were invited by Didier Evrard, program director for a route point. The program includes site visits and workshop "composite" which have already left the four panels of carbon fiber for the first aircraft and MSN 1 MSN 2, the five who will participate in test flights from 2012 .
Since the program started in 2007, Didier Evrard regularly inform the 33 airlines that have ordered 530 copies of the long-haul new generation. No way to disappoint after repeated delays of the superjumbo A380.
30% to 35% of the activity term
Nantes Why? Because that's where it all begins lorsqu'Airbus manufactures aircraft.Ironically, the site where you never see it because the factory is specialized in large parts, called simple. Once assembled, they form the center wing box, also called "section 21" which will set the wings and the beam waist, the keel beam that runs throughout. These two major structural elements bear the expenses of the aircraft and the aerodynamic forces.
Nantes, with its 2,000 employees, is also one of three centers of excellence composite aircraft manufacturer with Stade in Germany and Illescas in Spain. It was here that made the first piece of carbon fiber series December 4, 2009. It is also here that are developed – in conjunction with teams from Technocampus, integrated industrial site – prototypes capable of "dress" the applicant signs the "carbon fiber plies.The A 350 count 53% composite materials, and even 80% off systems, against 45% for the 380. "The composite can not only divide the weight by three parts but also reduces noise by 30% leaving the engine through a composite panel made from a single block. A unique expertise in the world, "said Michel Plantard, head of production.
In Nantes, which works upstream – 1.5 to 2 years – the final assembly as in all European plants of the manufacturer, the countdown has begun. "The timetable is tight. We must deliver the first caisson in Saint-Nazaire in the first quarter 2011 so that the Toulouse final assembly begins in the third quarter of 2011 and the first customer to be delivered mid-2013, "says Jean-Claude Schoepf, director of Nantes site.In Saint-Nazaire, the section 21 will be assembled in section 15, the composite central pavilion, a room of 32 meters long, whose manufacture has been outsourced and entrusted to the American Spirit, while the German factory in Hamburg deliver elements of the fuselage.
Once kitting is complete, the device will be assembled in Toulouse in a brand new warehouse to be delivered in September. "The issue is important because the A350 is expected to represent 30% to 35% of activity for both Airbus and our website, where just under 500 million euros have been invested for the A 350, "insists Jean-Claude Schoepf.
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