CoolPix: Airbus A350 XWB Roll Out... Well, Sorta

(click pic for hi-res) First flyable Airbus A350 airframe on 12-4-12  (photo: Airbus)

 Well, it wasn't an official roll out, but it was the first time a flight-capable Airbus A350 XWB airframe was structurally all there and looking mostly like an airplane. The airframe labeled 'MSN1' is shown riding on its wheels for the first time on a short trip from the main assembly hall (Station 40) to the indoor ground test station (Station 30) at the recently inaugurated 'Roger Béteille' A350 XWB Final Assembly Line in Toulouse, France.

 The A350 XWB (Extra Wide Body) has had an interesting journey from the point of original concept to what you see here sitting on wheels. Of course every airliner has a rather incredible journey from idea to completed machine, but the early A350 concept was ignored or even put down by potential customers a little more than usual. In the end, Airbus finally agreed that they really needed a full clean-sheet airplane (rather than a hybrid of a mostly A330 fuselage with new wings, tail and engines) to compete with what Boeing had turned into a reality with the 787. I think competition is good... and this time around it sure seems that Boeing's courage to pioneer a composite airframe really set the course for the direction of the industry.

 As an American, I'll freely admit that I'm very pro-Boeing. That doesn't mean I'm anti Airbus, but I do struggle at times to find a warm and fuzzy feeling in my heart for some of the Airbus DNA. So you can imagine I am a bit pleased to see that 2012 looks to be on track to be the first year since 2003 that Boeing will deliver more new airliners to the market than Airbus will. The numbers thru November were: Boeing with 537 and Airbus with 516. And with 787 deliveries ramping up and the the rather amazing increase in 777 production from 7 aircraft per month up to 8.3, 2013 might also see Boeing come out on top.

Illustration of the mostly-composite Airbus A350 XWB in flight  (source: Airbus)

 As an avgeek with a pretty extensive childhood history around the airline industry there's no doubt that seeing the A350 on its gear for the first time is quite exciting. The amount of thought, engineering, and labor required to get a project this far along is simply staggering. You'd have to be crazy not to respect it. And with over 550 orders on the books, the A350 is well on its way to being a successful program. I hope it is successful... I just hope the 787 is even more of a success : )

 With that in mind I thought I'd share a few observations about the A350, as compared to the 787, including some that are rather superficial. The A350 comes in with 53% of its airframe being constructed from composite materials while the Boeing 787 is right at 50%. The number for the 787 might actually go up a little as they are working aggressively to trim the overweight problems of the early production aircraft, and increased use of composite materials might be the key to getting the Dreamliner to hit its original weight targets.

 The A350 has a fuselage designed and built more like an aluminum aircraft with panels of composite material attached to a composite frame. The 787 has the fuselage sections built barrel style (wound around a form) which Boeing suggests reduces fasteners significantly and overall weight. Interestingly, the center fuselage section for the A350 is built by Spirit Aerosystems in Kinston, North Carolina. Spirit also produces the forward fuselage section on the 787 at their Wichita facility.

 The 787 pioneered the shift away from using engine bleed-air to run a number of subsystems and instead has turned to using electrical power, but the A350 is continuing the use of bleed-air. It'll sure be interesting to see how these two methods impact efficiency... as will the overall performance figures for the two aircraft with their significantly different approaches to creating a very efficient airliner. But that comparison is still a way off as the A350 isn't expected to be ready for first flight any earlier than mid year 2013. I think we all know how these first-flight targets go, so I wouldn't hold your breath on that one!

 One other major difference is that the A350 continues with the Airbus side-stick controller while the 787 has a floor mounted center control column. I know there are loads of Airbussers out there that love the side stick, but I have a pretty long list of reasons why I feel the the center control column is vastly superior in the cockpit of an airliner. According to this poll I put up a while back, I'm not the only one: Poll: Airliners, Side Stick Controller Or Center Control Column?

 Lastly, my superficial comparo definitely gives the nod to the 787. There's a grace and beauty in the lines of the Dreamliner that I'm just not seeing in the A350. Maybe that'll change when we see a fully completed airframe (with paint) flying formation with an A380, but somehow I don't think it will. The 787's smooth contour from the nose up thru the windshield, with no deviation in the shape, is truly beautiful. You might be tempted to think the A350 has a similar nose shape but it appears there really is a shape interruption at the windshield. And then those 787 wings, wow - they are truly magnificent, especially with the lack of winglets. Once the A350 is done I'll put a poll up to see which one YOU think looks better : )

 Oh, one more thing: click the pic below to check out an official Airbus 360 panoramic view of the A350 cockpit, including those pesky side-stick controllers : /

Click the pic to check out an Airbus A350 cockpit 360 panoramic view!