Airbus A350 XWB Long-Range, Extra-Wide-Bodied Airliner, Europe

Airbus announced the A350 aircraft, a longer-range and lighter derivative of the A330 aircraft, in 2004. Following a reassessment of market requirements, Airbus announced the larger and heavier A350 XWB extra-wide-bodied aircraft in December 2006.

The aircraft will be available from 2013. The passenger versions are being developed in three variants: the A350-800 for 270 passengers; A350-900 for 314 passengers; and A350-1000 for 350 passengers in a typical three-class seating arrangement. An ultra-long-range version, the A350-900R and a freighter version, the A350-900F are also being developed. The aircraft will also be offered in an Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) variant, the A350 XWB Prestige.

By January 2008, Airbus had received firm orders for 338 A350 XWB aircraft, 135 for the -800, 163 for the -900 and 40 for the -1000. Customers include: Aeroflot (22), Afriqiyah (six), Air Europa (ten), Alafco (12), Bangkok Airways (four), China Airlines (14), CIT (seven), Emirates (70), Finnair (11), ILFC (20), Kingfisher (five), Pegasus Aviation (two), Qatar (80), Singapore Airlines (20), TAM (22), TAP (12), US Airways (22) and Yemenia (ten).

A350 XWB CONSTRUCTION

The aircraft is of 45% lightweight high-strength composite construction, and 55% low-density aluminium lithium alloy, steel, aluminium and titanium. The wings are of metal-ribbed, three-spar, Carbon Fibre-Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) construction. The wingspan is 64m and the wing sweep is 35°.

The A350 XWB fly-by-wire system is similar to that on the A320, A340 and A380 aircraft families. The handling and flight deck commonality allows airlines the benefit of cross crew qualification and mixed-fleet flying with smooth introduction into service. The aircraft is fitted with Moog primary flight control actuators and a Rockwell Collins horizontal stabiliser activator.

FLIGHT DECK

The flight deck accommodates two pilots and is fitted with a head-up display, an A380 onboard information system, an onboard airport navigation system, a dual integrated standby instrument system.

In January 2008, Thales was selected to provide the A350 XWB avionics and cockpit systems, to include the integrated modular avionics suite, interactive control and display systems and air data and inertial reference unit

Honeywell was selected in March 2008 to supply the Flight Management System (FMS) and Aircraft Environment Surveillance System (AESS). The AESS combines Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), mode-S transponders and RDR-400 weather radar.

The RDR-4000 has also been selected for the Airbus A380 and for the US C-17 and Japanese C-X military transport aircraft. It uses pulse compression to provide simultaneous long-range and high-resolution performance and provides 3D volumetric scanning, using ground clutter extraction of the weather and terrain ahead of the aircraft.

A350 CABIN

The modular cabin layout can be reconfigured overnight to allow airlines flexibility to adapt for seasonal needs.

The cabin is laid out with twin aisles, typically with eight abreast and six abreast seats in economy and in first class. The cabin is 5.36m wide and 46m long in the A350-800. The rest area for the eight cabin crew is installed above the rear bulk cargo hold.

Honeywell has been selected to provide the environmental control management systems for cabin heating, cooling and pressurisation.

CARGO

The A350-800 will carry underfloor cargo of 26 standard LD3 containers or up to eight pallets and two LD3 containers. The total cargo volume is 115m³.

The A350-900 will carry underfloor cargo of 11 pallets or 34 standard LD3 containers and the total cargo volume is 147m³.

TRENT XWB ENGINES

Rolls-Royce has developed the Trent XWB engine for the A350 XWB. Like its Trent engine predecessors, the Trent XWB is configured with a three-shaft design. The fan is expected to be of approximately 3m in diameter and the bypass ratio about 11.

The engine has an integrated health-monitoring and engine-management system. The integrated Engine Health Monitoring (EHM) system for the XWB engine has additional sensors compared to the Trent 1700 and Trent 1000.

The engines provide a thrust of: 333kN for the A350-800; 387kN for the A350-900; and 422kN for the A360-1000.

Goodrich has been selected to supply the engine nacelles and thrust reverser systems for all variants of the A350 XWB aircraft.

The fuel capacity is 150,000l. The fuel tanks are fitted with a nitrogen-inerting system. Parker Aerospace has been selected to supply the fuel system and the hydraulics power and distribution systems.

LANDING GEAR

In December 2007 Airbus announced that Messier Dowty had been selected as supplier for the main landing gear and Liebherr-Aerospace for the nose landing gear. The main landing gear for -800 and -900 versions will have four-wheel bogie and dual side stay, with six-wheel bogie for the -1000 variant. The main landing gear will be chrome and cadmium-free and make increased use of advanced materials such as titanium.

Messier-Bugatti will supply the electronic and hydraulic landing and braking control systems.

POWER GENERATION

Hamilton Sundstrand will supply the aircraft's power-generation system which comprises four 100kVA, 230V variable frequency generators with control units.

Honeywell is responsible for the design and supply of the HGT1700 Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), the APU installation kit and the APU starter generator.

A350 PERFORMANCE

The 270 passenger A350-800 has a maximum take-off weight of 245t, a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.89 and a range of 15,400km.

The 314 passenger A350-900 has a maximum take-off weight of 265t, a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.89 and a range of 15,000km.

The 350 passenger A350-1000 has a maximum take-off weight of 295t, a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.89 and a range of 14,800km.

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