KL911 From Ireland, joined Jul 2003, 4979 posts, RR: 14 Posted (6 years 6 months 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 3899 times:
The A380 is undergoing the final series of tests with the Rolls Royce engines. It flew over Dubai last week on its way to China. Then it will fly to Johannesburg from where it will cross the South Pole to Sydney. On its final leg, the superjumbo will fly from Vancouver to Toulouse via the North Pole.
"By December 13, we expect to receive the Air Worthiness Certificate from both US regulators Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)."
In essence, this means that the aircraft model is certified and technically fit for commercial flights.
Airbus has so far assembled 26 A380s as part of the delivery plan, in which the engineers will have to re-wire the cables as per the certification. Despite the cancellation of 10 A380Fs by Federal Express, the new firm orders for the superjumbo now stands at 166, up from 159.
Osiris30 From Barbados, joined Sep 2006, 3182 posts, RR: 26 Reply 3, posted (6 years 6 months 4 days ago) and read 3566 times:
Quoting KL911 (Reply 2): If they get the certificate dec 13, why would the first plane not fly commercially before the end of 2007 as is stated in other articles?
Type certification != production certification.. and we haven't heard boo about production certification yet.
I don't care what you think of my opinion. It's my opinion, so have a nice day :)
Osiris30 From Barbados, joined Sep 2006, 3182 posts, RR: 26 Reply 6, posted (6 years 6 months 4 days ago) and read 3529 times:
Quoting KL911 (Reply 4): ''In essence, this means that the aircraft model is certified and technically fit for commercial flights.''''
Correct. The a380 is 'safe' to carry commercial traffic, but Airbus isn't 'safe' to manufacture them reliably.
The production certifcate is required if you want to sell the Aircraft without needing a full review of each frame off the line (and by full review I mean audit.. VERY VERY VERY time consuming).
So the 380 as tested is a safe frame/design. However, Airbus isn't able to sell anything off the line (without the aforementioned audit) until they get the production certificate. The reason is that Airbus needs to guarantee that what comes off the line is within tolerances of the tested(certified) frame.
I'm generalizing all the above.. you should check the FAA and related sites for specifics.
I don't care what you think of my opinion. It's my opinion, so have a nice day :)
Osiris30 From Barbados, joined Sep 2006, 3182 posts, RR: 26 Reply 7, posted (6 years 6 months 4 days ago) and read 3529 times:
Quoting Brendows (Reply 5): Eight conversions of options from Qantas, and nine conversions of options from SQ, for a total of 17 new orders (7 if you subtract FX.)
SQ is still an LOI is it not?
I don't care what you think of my opinion. It's my opinion, so have a nice day :)
Stitch From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 26728 posts, RR: 83 Reply 8, posted (6 years 6 months 4 days ago) and read 3521 times:
Quoting Jdevora (Reply 1): Where come those 7 (or 17 if you take away the FeEx orders) from?
The article could be counting SQ's add-on LoI as firm orders?
Quoting KL911 (Reply 2): If they get the certificate dec 13, why would the first plane not fly commercially before the end of 2007 as is stated in other articles?
In a nutshell, Airbus has been flying around a "generic" interior cabin and this cabin will be certified. It's important in that it proves the HVAC, life-support, plumbing and other passenger systems work, which are generic to any customer configuration (more or less).
However, each airline's individual configuration will need to be certified. Right now, SQ's bird outfitted in their specific cabin configuration is being re-wired in TLS. Once that is complete, then it will need to be certified. Once that certification is complete, then SQ can take delivery. And right now, the re-wiring and cabin certification program is not expected to be completed until late 2007.
Indeed, it is, but I was just trying to show how Gulfnews came to 166 orders. They are obviously not distinguishing orders and commitments (well, the cancellation hasn't shown up in Airbus' order books yet either.)
Through the 31st of October, Airbus has 159 orders for the A380, and that won't change before the 7th of December.
Jdevora From Spain, joined Aug 2006, 350 posts, RR: 7 Reply 14, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 3287 times:
Quoting Brendows (Reply 9): Indeed, it is, but I was just trying to show how Gulfnews came to 166 orders. They are obviously not distinguishing orders and commitments (well, the cancellation hasn't shown up in Airbus' order books yet either.)
Par13del From Bahamas, joined Dec 2005, 5902 posts, RR: 8 Reply 15, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 3263 times:
Does the wing loading failure test factor into this certification? Airbus made adjustments and wanted those adjustments accepted without having to break a new wing, whats the status on that?
AirframeAS From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 14150 posts, RR: 26 Reply 16, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 3263 times:
Quoting KL911 (Thread starter): In essence, this means that the aircraft model is certified and technically fit for commercial flights.
That is a very misleading statement, IMO.
A Safe Flight Begins With Quality Maintenance On The Ground.
Stitch From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 26728 posts, RR: 83 Reply 17, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 3176 times:
Quoting Par13del (Reply 15): Does the wing loading failure test factor into this certification? Airbus made adjustments and wanted those adjustments accepted without having to break a new wing, whats the status on that?
Last I heard was the FEM (Finite Element Modeling) was accepted and a second wing-break test was not required.
Jacobin777 From United States of America, joined Sep 2004, 14968 posts, RR: 61 Reply 18, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 3159 times:
Quoting Par13del (Reply 15): Does the wing loading failure test factor into this certification? Airbus made adjustments and wanted those adjustments accepted without having to break a new wing, whats the status on that?
Adjusted the FEM, added some stringers and what not..good to go, no additional testing needed......
BoogyJay From France, joined May 2005, 489 posts, RR: 4 Reply 19, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 2194 times:
Something at the end of the article drew my attention :
Quote: He said the aircraft is performing much better than expected. "It has the quietest cabin developed ever, with fuel efficiency 17 per cent better than the B747-800," he added.
What is that ?
New figures ?
Old news that I'm not aware of ?
A typo from the journalist as it would have been 'B747-400' ?
LTBEWR From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 12338 posts, RR: 12 Reply 21, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 2064 times:
This will be one of the most important milestones that the A-380 has to make to be able to deliver. Let us hope it will happen at the planned date.
If the USA FAA has to certify, then how come the A-380 has not seen the USA airports little if at all, even though it will be a critical place for them to go to when in service? Come on Airbus, fly the A-380 soon for airport tests to IAD, JFK, LAX, SEA, DIA (for high altitude) and so on so us Americans can see it.
Trex8 From United States of America, joined Nov 2002, 3970 posts, RR: 14 Reply 22, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 2021 times:
does an OEM have to fly to the US to get FAA cert? Doesn't the FAA pretty much accept JAA cert, unless there are some regulatory discrepancies between the two agencies rules?
RayChuang From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 7696 posts, RR: 5 Reply 23, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 1939 times:
Quoting LTBEWR (Reply 21): If the USA FAA has to certify, then how come the A-380 has not seen the USA airports little if at all, even though it will be a critical place for them to go to when in service?
I'm hoping that some time in the first three months of 2007 we'll see the A380-800 test plane(s) in the USA. The likely destinations for flight tests: JFK, MIA, SFO and LAX. SFO probably wants to try out the A380 at its 80 x 80 meter gates at Concourses A and G.
Alessandro From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 24, posted (6 years 6 months 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 1903 times:
Ray do you mean 2007?
25 Trex8: no, he's on A380 production standard time
26 OldAeroGuy: EASA has replaced the JAA as the European Cert agency. Please see Reply 26 in the link below for a short discussion of the FAA/EASA Cert relationship
27 Skyhawk62507: Exactly. It's even more difficult to earn production cert than it is to get type certification... and earning a TC is hardly a walk in the park. On a
28 Corey07850: Question: Where is Airbus going to keep all these A380's that they're apparently cranking out (working on 26 already?) if within the next year only 1
29 Stitch: On the tarmacs at Toulouse and Hamburg, I imagine.
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