A340-600 unveiled

The 380-seat A340-600 made its maiden flight in April from Blagnac airfield in Toulouse, France.

Airbus Industrie has rolled out its longest and largest airliner to date—the high-capacity, long-range A340-600. The aircraft can carry 380 passengers in a standard three-class configuration over distances of up to 7500 nmi. The aircraft's program was launched along with its sister aircraft, the A340-500, in December 1997. Both aircraft will be powered by the Trent 500 engine series from Rolls-Royce.

The Trent 500 series engine ran for the first time in May 1999; a certification thrust level of 60,000 lb was achieved within a week. Subsequent testing produced thrusts up to 68,000 lb, and engine certification was achieved in December 2000. The first production Trent 500 arrived at Airbus in March 2000 where it was fitted to an A340-300 flying testbed for in-flight handling and performance evaluations.

The Trent 556 engine from the series was selected for the A340-600. The engine shares the same fan diameter as the Airbus A330's Trent 700, which has accumulated about 1.1 million flying hours since entering service in March 1995.

In April, the A340-600 took off on its maiden flight from Blagnac airfield in Toulouse, France. The flight marked the beginning of a comprehensive flight test campaign, which will involve three aircraft for 1600 h of flight testing.

The A340-600 weighed in at over 300 tonnes for its maiden flight, which lasted 5 h and 22 min. The aircraft was fitted with around 36 tonnes of equipment, comprising water ballast tanks and around 14 tonnes of flight-test instrumentation capable of recording the thousands of parameters necessary for a full and thorough analysis of the aircraft's in-flight performance.

Vice President of Airbus' Flight Division Claude Lelaie ran the test flight with co-pilot Ed Strongman. "We flew the aircraft throughout the flight envelope from minimum to maximum operating speeds, and despite its impressive size, the A340-600 handles just like any other A330/A340 family aircraft thanks to cockpit commonality and fly-by-wire controls," said Lelaie. "The innovative systems introduced on this aircraft, such as the latest-generation LCD displays and taxi cameras, worked well."

The team explored the aircraft handling using both direct and normal flight control laws as well as various operation criteria such as buffet and stall margins and maneuvering capability. Handling checks with the undercarriage up and down, and with various slat and flap settings, were also covered.

The aircraft is scheduled for certification and entry into airline service in mid-2002.

- Frank Bokulich

Coatings facility wins engineering award

A new robotic coatings facility at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, GA, will be used in the application of radar-resistant coatings for the F-22 aircraft.

Lockheed Martin's F-22 Robotic Coatings Facility in Marietta, GA, has won an Honor Award in the American Consulting Engineers Council's 35th annual Engineering Excellence Award. Completed in August 2000, the facility features an advanced robotic system designed to apply special radar-resistant coatings to the F-22 Raptor as well as innovative environmental controls to ensure quality application.

The company hired the consulting engineering firm of Burns & McDonnell to serve as design consultant and general contractor for the facility. The firm employed advanced 3-D modeling and sophisticated analysis of heating, ventilation, and cooling needs in the development of the coatings facility. The building features two bays equipped with a robotic system for applying coatings to the aircraft and an environmental control system that produces and maintains a favorable temperature, humidity, and flow conditions for six different operating modes.

To apply the final exterior finish to the aircraft, the system follows an embedded cable located in the bay floor, which allows a track-guided robot to move around the perimeter of the aircraft and apply paint and coatings. Because of the precision required to coat the entire airframe, the robotic system offers many advantages over manual coatings application.

- Frank Bokulich