Rolls-Royce Airbus A350 engine flies for the first time

The Airbus A350 programme took a significant step forward last week with the first flight of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine on the A380 flying test bed, replacing one of its four Trent 900 engines.

According to an Airbus statement “The aircraft took off from Airbus facilities in Toulouse and performed a flight of more than five hours during which the engine covered a wide range of power settings at altitudes up to 43,000ft.  The aircraft handling qualities were evaluated from low speeds to Mach 0.9.  The engine not only operated flawlessly, but also demonstrated its new-generation fuel efficiency and low noise.  The Trent XWB development engine is specially fitted with test sensors to measure hundreds of parameters.”

The A350 will be the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer.  It competes with the Boeing 787 and will carry 270 to 350 passengers depending on variant.  To date Airbus has around 560 firm orders.  The maiden flight is due towards the end of this year but Airbus has refused any commitment on dates. www.rolls-royce.com/civil www.airbus.com

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