It flies! Airbus' hulking A400M has maiden flight

The Associated Press / AP hosted by Google ^ | Friday, Dec. 11, 2009 | Emma Vandore

[wolf78]

SEVILLE, Spain — The A400M military transport plane that has been causing Airbus and European defense ministers budgetary and logistical headaches finally took to the skies for its maiden flight on Friday.

But even as the hulking gray airlifter took off from the Spanish city of Seville, defense officials are meeting on the sidelines of the event to decide how to continue with the much delayed and over budget project.

Louis Gallois, head of Airbus parent EADS, said he found the takeoff "more moving than I expected. It's enormous. We've been waiting a long time."

[...]

The 127 ton (140 short tons) plane took off 15 minutes late after a few glitches with the flight instruments, said Fernando Alonso, head of Flight Operations at Airbus. It headed southwest, over the Spanish region of Extremadura.

At a briefing an hour after lift-off, Alonso said that "everything is going fine" and the crew "feel very comfortable with the airplane."

The crew, dressed in orange jump suits, are equipped with parachutes and helmets just in case.

"It's only after they land that we will be able to party," Alonso said.

EADS has asked governments to renegotiate the initial contract, which was agreed along the lines of Airbus' standard fixed price commercial contracts, rather than a risk-sharing military deal.

Enders has slammed the contract agreed by his predecessor, which saddles the European planemaker with most of the costs of delays.

[wolf78]

[wolf78]

ping!

[NCCarrs]

The Euros turned the C17 into a Prop Plane ; - )

[Jeff Head]

More pictures:

Thye have 184 orders so far, including 60 for Germany, 50 for France, 25 for England, etc.

There will be cargo transport, troop transport, Medical evacuation, aerial refuelling, and electronic surveillance versions.

Nice aircraft.

[Red Badger]

The crew, dressed in orange jump suits, are equipped with parachutes and helmets just in case.

Hehe,heh,heh............................confidence in their own design is underwhelming.................

[Dallas59]

They’ll need it to airlift Europeans out of Europe when Islam finally takes over.

[missnry]

Youtube video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX-kIUYRyDk

[Red Badger]

Call them and tell them we can haul it for them in a C-5 Galaxy..............

[wolf78]

Uhm, everybody does that on the first test flight. Expect more orange jumpsuits when the 787 finally takes to the sky soon.

[Overtaxed Patriot]

Fully loaded, I would think it would take a runway the length of Kansas to get off the ground.

[P8riot]

Didn’t they first roll this plane out last year? What has kept it on the ground?

[6SJ7]

[19th LA Inf]

Looks like engines 1 and 3 turn clockwise, and engines 2 and 4 turn counterclockwise? I have never seen that setup on a 4 engine aircraft. Several twins have had counter-rotating propellers to simplify engine-out handling problems though.

[Freedom4US]

But... but.. How many palm trees were harmed in the making of this plane?

[wolf78]

What has kept it on the ground?

AFAIK mostly engine troubles. The EuroProp TP400 is a very ambitious design, the second-largest turboprop there is, highly efficient and not slow at all. But it had its share of teething problems.

Didn’t they first roll this plane out last year?

You have to remember that the Boeing 787 rollout took place in summer 2007 and that aircraft still hasn't flown yet. I'm not dissing Boeing at all, it rather seems to be a sign of an industry-wide trend that new aircraft programs have gotten so complex these days, with such elaborate supply-chains that delays are almost inevitable.

[deadrock]

Prop? Isn’t that a step back?

[Red Badger]

Seeing that it took off from Spain, I’m surprised they weren’t pink................

[Red Badger]

Didn’t they first roll this plane out last year? What has kept it on the ground?

Gravity.............

[wolf78]

See: Focus on innovation: Down-Between-Engines (DBE)

[bikerman]

They’ll need it to airlift Europeans out of Europe when Islam finally takes over

Islam is taking over here in the states where are we going to fly to??