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World Ranger's one stop around the globe record breaking flight should stand for many years to come as a strong reminder of this ultra-long range airliner's capabilities. What's more, the World Ranger's great circle route used established airways and air traffic control procedures, and normal range flight fuel reserves. The two legs-Paris/Auckland and/Paris represent the longest flights ever undertaken by a commercial airliner
A340 World Ranger Succeeds with the Ultimate Flight
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Airbus A340 World Ranger Succeeds With the Ultimate Flight
The mood in the cockpit is tense as captain Pierre Baud begins our takeoff roll from Paris – we have a long way to go, and the world is watching us.
Our destination is Auckland, New Zealand, further than any airliner has ever flown non stop, and we’ll be airborne and estimated 21 and a half hours. When we get there, we’ll simply refuel and fly straight back to complete our one stop round the world mission.
Our flight crew – all involved in testing Airbus aircraft know the A340 World Ranger very well and have confidence in it. But our fuel reserves are limited, we may be slowed by headwinds, and we face winter weather at our destination. We are taking off at the maximum permitted weight of 257 tonnes, more than half of which some 140 tonnes-is fuel. Four hours into the flight we’ve covered 2000nm (3700km) and consumed just over 33 tonnes of fuel. We’re flying over the city of Oukhta, and the atmosphere is much more relaxed – fuel consumption is as expected and the winds are reasonable. There are 22 of us aboard, including four pilots – Pierre Baud, our captain, Bernard Ziegler, Nick Warner and Gerard Guyot and flight test engineer, Jean-Marie Mathios. We weigh just over two tonnes, including our baggage, and we’re also carrying a tonne of spares.
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