Mammoth Journey

The facility at Seville has the ability to house seven aircraft at any one time.

Taking flight

Since first flight in 2009 the A400M flight test fleet has accrued over 6,000 flight hours across more than 2,000 flights. As an indicator of the program’s momentum, 1,270 hours and 540 flights were flown in the last 12 months. Testing, now about 90 per cent complete, has taken place across the globe in a variety of harsh environments. Cold weather, hot weather and high altitude airfields; Vmcg testing and high energy rejected takeoffs; night-vision goggles (NVG) and enhanced-vision systems (EVS) approvals. As with any flight test program, the list is extensive, but in the role of a military airlifter it is also incredibly diverse. 2014 has seen the aircraft fly as a receiver in air-to-air refuelling behind an A330 and as a tanker to an F/A-18. Its extensive defensive aids system was spectacularly demonstrated with full flares jettisoned over the El Arenosillo test range in March. There were furtherair drops of men and machines and even more unpaved runway trials. The current order book has 174 aircraft contracted by the seven European launch nations and one export customer (Malaysia), while Airbus Defence & Space is actively marketing the aircraft to new potential export customers. In 2014 11 deliveries are expected to be made with the first aircraft planned for the UK in September and Germany in November. The UK aircraft will be the first delivered to the SOC (Standard Operating Clearance) 1 standard, incorporating a tactical communications management system, and allowing paratroop dropping and combat offload of vehicles. In 2015 deliveries are set to double to 22, and aircraft will be delivered to SOC 1. 5 standard with the defensive aids system fully operational and with clearance for air dropping loads and inflight refuelling. Air MSN 21 are in final assembly and the production line

The A400M has not only arrived, but it is being proven in operations.

currently extends as far as MSN 53. From 2018 aircraft will be delivered with the final SOC, allowing low-level, all-weather tactical flight.

Coming together

In Seville the giant turboprop sits in its massive hangar. On each wing two 11,000shp (8,200kW) Europrop International (EPI) engines fronted by eight scimitar blades, anxiously waiting to slice at the air. Even without its skin of military drab grey, there is no mistaking that this aircraft is built for serious business.

All around A400Ms sit in various stages of assembly as a gargantuan testament to Henry Ford’s concept taken to a whole new level. Already assigned their MSN number and the aircraft they will form, the parts arrive at the Beluga dock station having been carried on the shoulders of the new-age Super Guppy. Built upon the form of an Airbus A300-600, the transporter’s back bulges skyward as if inflated to accommodate the Airbus components it is consigned to carry.

A mass of scaffolding extends to the roof, surrounding the A400M’sform as it grows into an aeroplane. First the centre wingbox and then the wing join-up and a union of the empennage structures. From station to station the giant is moved as the nose and fuselage are joined, powerplants are fitted and systems are integrated. At Station 40 the A400M really begins to look like an aeroplane, still coated in primer and bearing sheets of protective coating. From building to building the gestation continues, growing undercarriage until finally the aeroplane is able to move outside into the sunshine and commence its flight test program prior to delivery.

Fascinatingly, through the magic of fly-by-wire, a good many tests can be performed before the aircraft is complete. Through its computers, the testbed can convince the aeroplane that it is airborne with the landing gear retracted while it is still braced in its scaffold. Then non-normal situations can be signalled to the aircraft to verify the integrity of the system and that its responses are appropriate. All this is done before a prop blade ever turns.

The A400M is powered by an all-new, specifically designed three-shaft turboprop engine developed by Europrop International, which is a consortium comprising Rolls-Royce, Snecma, MTU and ITP. The TP400 is the most powerful turboprop in production.

Even more interesting is the counter-rotation of the propellers on each wing. This facilitates symmetry of the aircraft when the four engines are operating, and leads to a reduction in adverse yaw should an engine fail. As a consequence, this permits a reduction in the size of the tail fin with a corresponding reduction in weight and drag. Additionally, the level of vibrations and therefore the noise inside the aircraft is reduced.

The whole process is seeing up to three aircraft per month roll off the production line at this stage. With each day divided into three, two shifts of workers build the aircraft while a third shift is left free to trouble-shoot should it be needed. The facility at Seville has the ability to house seven aircraft at any one time with another aircraft in the delivery process. The delivery process follows completion of the manufacturing process and a series of production flights. The customer then visits Airbus for a joint inspection of the finished aircraft, painted in its grey low-reflective paint before signing the transfer of title. Only then is the A400M the property of its new owners.

For all of the activity taking place in the assembly process, the building is incredibly quiet. The flying sparks and barking rivet guns of times past are gone, replaced by streamlined processes and new technologies. Like the aircraft itself, the construction of the A400M is reaching into the future.

People power

Those who fly and maintain the A400M also need to be trained in its ways. To this end, Airbus has developed an integrated training system to meet the requirements of its various customers. A central International Training Centre (ITC) is located in Seville. Here a fullrange of training devices is located and currently the A400M simulator is kept busy up to an impressive 22 hours per day. Additionally, these training devices have demonstrated an availability level of 98 per cent which is typical of simulators supporting established types such as the A320.

Additionally, national training centres are being established in the UK, France and Germany to support the growing fleets. For smaller operators such as Turkey, it will remain cost-efficient to use the Seville facility. The training devices are not limited to full-flight simulators either – there are full-size devices for loadmaster and payload training and high-tech computerised procedural trainers.

Particularly impressive is a 3-dimensional ‘virtual world’ device used to train maintenance staff. As effective as the technique is, regulators have limited its use to 60 per cent of the training, so the engineers still need to actually get their hands dirty on the real thing.

However, for the rest of the syllabus they can be learning their trade while the aircraft is still in the air and being productive.

A mammoth journey

The development of any aircraft is a massive undertaking and the A400M is no exception. Today the Seville assembly line is fulfilling orders and the test program is extending the aeroplane’s boundaries. The A400M has not only arrived, but it is being proven in operations.

As Airbus seeks to deliver a new breed of strategic airlifter, it is also dedicated to moving its training and support facilities into the next generation. Just as the individual A400M towers over the technicians along the assembly line, so does the extent of a program designed to deliver a versatile, far-reaching aircraft.

And one feels that this may just be the start of a mammoth journey.