2012-09-02 by Robbin Laird When I attended the Airbus Media Event in May 2012, one briefing addressed the delivery schedule of the A400M. An issue discussed was the need to deal with a gear box issue which emerged in the flight of the aircraft back from its Asian tour. And…
7/9/12: by Robbin Laird Building new platforms in the 21st century is challenging. caroThe challenge in part is that it has been so long since new air platforms have been built that an entire generation has grown up as the recipients of the work of the 50s and 60s and…
By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake This year’s Farnbourgh Airshow is occurring at an interesting juncture in history. On the financial side, there is the Euro crisis, and various dynamics such as the fate of the Chinese and American economies. On the defense side, there is the end of a…
06/21/2012: Airbus Military has successfully demonstrated the loading of NH Industries NH90 and Eurocopter EC725 helicopters onto the A400M new generation airlifter. In a series of tests at Holzdorf air base in Germany and at Toulouse, France respectively, the NH90 and EC725 were loaded onto, and unloaded from, the Grizzly…
6/11/12: By Robbin Laird One of the more interesting presentations at the Airbus Military Trade Media Brief 2012 was by the head of training at Airbus Military. Ian Burrett, Head of Training and Aircrew Operations, Customer Services, provided an overview of the approach and the standing up of the baseline…
6/8/12: The A400M is being built with the 21st century approach to fleet management in mind. Ranging from Unique Identification Tags built in, to multinational training, to providing for global support, the A400M has the advantages inherent in advanced manufacturing. As we argued earlier: It was clear notably with the…
6/1/12: The A400M flight tests are coming into the final legs. The delivery of the first aircraft to a customer -- the French Air Force -- is expected at the end of 2012. There was a problem with the engine on the return from the Asian tour -- with a…
05/25/2012: Two A400Ms were operational during the visit to Toulouse by the Trade Media visitors on May 22, 2012. The first is seen taking off from Toulouse and headed for grass and dirt landing tests. The second is seen taxing onto the tarmac. [slidepress gallery='a400ms-at-the-trade-media-2012-event'] The first picture shows the…
