Having qualified on both the 757/767 and 777, I can attest that while they have different underlying architectures, they are remarkably similar from the pilot’s perspective. Smith, who flies the 757/767 for a US freight carrier, remarked how the flows and overall feel of the 787 reminded him of his regular Boeing ride.įrom a training and qualification standpoint, Boeing was leading the industry when it earned a common type rating for the 757 and 767. While sidelined with an injury in 2012, I rode with Paul Smith during his evaluation flight of the 787 for Flightglobal.īoeing had sought and obtained a common type rating for the 777 and 787, and in both the 787 simulator cab and cockpit I felt completely at home. As a reporter for Flightglobal I was able to “fly” a 787-8 simulator prior to its delivery to Continental Airlines (now United Airlines), in 2010. The newest Seattle product I was qualified to command was Boeing’s big twin, the 777. Throughout my civil aviation career I have primarily flown Boeing products ranging from the 737 to the 747 Classic. Not long after the A350’s service debut, Flightglobal was invited to Toulouse to sample firsthand how Airbus’s biggest twin would fly. Trailing-edge flaps provide variable camber function in cruise However a third A350 derivative, the A350-800 “shrink”, is in limbo, having effectively been replaced in the Airbus line-up by the re-engined A330neo. The Qatari carrier is due to debut the A350-900’s big brother, the -1000 stretch in mid-2017. Launch customer Qatar Airways put the new big twin into revenue service on 15 January 2015, between Doha and Frankfurt. Some 15 months after its first flight on 14 June 2013, the baseline A350-900 received EASA certification on 30 September 2014, with US Federal Aviation Administration approval following on 12 November. According to Airbus, the XWB’s passenger cabin is 12.7cm (5in) wider than the Dreamliner’s, allowing nine-abreast economy layouts with seats, Airbus is proud to point out, that are 45.7cm wide at the armrests – 1.3cm more than 787.įlightglobal took the controls of A350-900 MSN002 (above), which wears a distinctive "carbonfibre" scheme The all-new A350’s “Xtra Wide Body” moniker points to its hoped-for marketing advantage, a wider fuselage than the 787 (which itself had greater girth than the A330, whose cross-section was directly derived from the original Airbus, the A300B). And while at first glance the two cockpits appear a world apart, the fundamental Airbus philosophy is unchanged and Airbus reports that A330 crews quickly feel fully at home in their new surroundings.Īuthor Michael Gerzanics (left) at the controls alongside Airbus chief test pilot Peter Chandler The challenge facing Airbus as it made its back-to-basics rethink was to create all-new airliner offering technology to match or better the all-new Dreamliner but retaining significant flightcrew commonality with the aircraft it was expected to replace – the A330. As that aircraft’s conception saw it evolving away significantly from the type upon which it was based, and still not satisfying the needs of many customers, Airbus took the brave decision to abandon the original plan and adopt an all-new approach with A350 XWB, powered by advanced generation Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. When Airbus conceived the all-new A350 XWB almost a decade ago, it did so after first attempting to create a challenger to the Boeing 787 based on its existing “big-twin”, the A330. Airline Business special: CEOs to watch in 2021.FlightGlobal Guide to Business Aviation Training and Safety 2021.EDGE: A new global force in aerospace and defence.Shell Aviation: What will it take to Decarbonise Aviation?.What does the future of aviation look like in 2022?.Guide to Business Aviation Training and Safety 2022.What will it take to Decarbonise Aviation?.
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