A400m Roll Out Options

[galaxy]

Take a look at this special bird :
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Airbus-Indu...400M/1366706/L/

Technical specifications :
http://www.airbusmilitary.com/specifications.html

" The aircraft is the first four-engine plane in which the inside and outside propellers on each wing rotate in opposite directions. That means that if one engine is shot out or fails, the plane remains stable and does not lose balance, its designers say. "

" The A400M was designed as Europe's answer to the ageing Lockheed C-130 Hercules, a powerful workhorse made to ship troops and equipment into the world's most rugged hotspots.

The sale of 180 A400M's to a block of seven European nations -- Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey -- in 2003 was the continent's biggest ever single arms order. Exports to South Africa and Malaysia brought the total of aircraft sold to 192, but a sale of the plane to Chile was cancelled. "

Read full article ;
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/0...-EADS-A400M.php

[dash8q300]

Quite a different looking aircraft. I hope Australia gets a few to replace their C-130's. Many air force fleets around the world need some new aircraft.
dash,

[ChillSpiller]

For those who didn't know it yet, the new A400M military transporter of Airbus had its rollout in Sevilla/Spain on thursday. Although Airbus had to delay the program for about one more year, I am happy to see this new bird in its complete look. Its maiden flight is estimated to be around some time this fall.
I think there has already been a discussion about its operating specs, so I'm not going to write them down again. But anyhow I am happy to see another child of Airbus coming to life. And what I suspect it too will become a success once it's in the air. Maybe I should go and watch the maiden flight. Hope I'll get some holidays for that purpose.

Some pics

[ChillSpiller]

Ok, so I wasn't the first one to post it here. Thanks for pointing it out Kilrah ;)
But what did astonish me, is that there is only one pic of it on airliners.net. A good one though. Never the less, there must have been more people around that took some pictures. Although it looks almost alike its predecessors, its a beauty. Luckily it only looks alike but differs in its operating specs. It doesn't look that much bigger but can carry 37 tons! And you just have to love those propellers.

[galaxy]

To merge both topics is the best to do.Don't know if the mods can do that.

[Kilrah]

Of course, there.

[Hamilton]

Ok, the bird looks good and congrats to Airbus! So, when is the first flight? My question is, why go for a prop rather than a jet engine? Has prop got any advantages over jet engines, especially in the military transport category?

Regards,
HamiltonAir

[Kilrah]

Has prop got any advantages over jet engines?

Efficiency.
Turboprops can't fly as fast as jets, but in their speed range they are more efficient. Military transport planes usually don't require flying at great speeds, so I guess they prefer to lower fuel consumption and thus increase useful range and airborne time for long missions.

[ChillSpiller]

The advantage of Turboprop engines to normal turbines is their propulsion efficiency. They pick up spead faster, and that's exactly what is needed for take offs and landings on little dirt strips. Another reason might also be FOD. It might be easier changing a propeller than a turbine stage or the entire engine.
The A400M maiden flight was actually supposed to take place this summer, but due to development problems of the engines at Europrop Int. it is delayed for another while. The engines are now supposed to be tested in flight in at least 3 months. The entire program is some estimated 6 months behind scedule , so we might expect its maiden flight to take place coming spring.