AIRBUS A350 - High Tech In The Air | Exceptional Engineering Full Documentary
Video from the channel WELT Documentary about Airbus A350, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 46:24. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
Documentary about the Airbus A350 that follows an aircraft destined for Lufthansa, named "Bonn," from the workshops in Hamburg to its acceptance flight in Toulouse and its first scheduled service between Munich and Hong Kong. It intercuts segments on its Boeing rivals, the 787 Dreamliner and the freighter version of the 777, on Boom's supersonic project, and on future air mobility concepts such as the autonomous air taxi Vahana and the Pop.Up vehicle.
Historical context
After around 15 years of development, the A350 succeeds the A340 as Airbus's long-range aircraft and competes directly with the 787. It is the commercial aircraft with the highest proportion of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) in its fuselage and wings, which required new manufacturing methods. The documentary also recalls that the Concorde entered service in 1976 and stopped flying after the Air France accident of July 2000.
Key facts
About 12,000 people work in Hamburg across a 19 km² site. There, the forward and rear fuselage sections are fitted out through module-based integration, a method exclusive to the A350 programme that eliminates overhead work. Each section leaves for Toulouse in 12 days aboard the Beluga, which carries up to 47 tonnes, with the rate reaching ten aircraft a month. The CFRP wings are built in layers at Stade and weigh 4.5 tonnes less. The Trent XWB engines, over three metres in diameter, are assembled in Dahlewitz at a rate of two per week and undergo up to 40 tests. Airbus states a consumption of less than 2.5 litres per passenger per 100 km and 30% less noise.
The acceptance flight lasts two and a half hours and includes more than 40 tests: a reduced-gravity manoeuvre after flying at about 900 km/h, 67-degree bank angles with automatic recovery to 30 degrees, and a simulated depressurisation. A noise warning on the rear cargo door is left pending repair. The flight deck has six 38 cm LCD screens and a mouse-type control inherited from the A380. On the inaugural flight, with 325 passengers and 71 tonnes of fuel, the aircraft covers about 9,000 km nonstop in ten and a half hours. New cabin features include 18.5-inch economy seats and a rest compartment for six crew members.