On 14 June 2013 IABG expects delivery of the centre fuselage section of the Airbus A350 XWB at its Erding site. Together with the wings, it will soon after be subjected to 86,400 simulated flights using 88 servo-hydraulic cylinders.
The fuselage section commenced its journey to Erding from the production site St. Nazaire in France. Transport to Munich was first made by an Airbus Beluga; from there the wing travels to IABG’s test hangar.
The transport dimensions required an advance planning and preparation phase of many months. The transportation route had to be carefully selected. Routes where bridge constructions would have obstructed the transport had to be ruled out. Following transport the IABG and Airbus experts will begin with the final assembly and complete the experimental setup. First test series are to commence at the beginning of 2014.
Objective of the structural tests is the verification of strength, fatigue and damage tolerance of the aircraft’s primary structure which is almost completely made from composite materials.
The tests will be accomplished in IABG’s test hangar in Erding. The test facility is characterised by an innovative, modular and mobile infrastructure and is thus optimally suited for the challenging structural Airbus A350 XWB tests.
