Maiden flight get the go-ahead (26/4/05)

The maiden flight of the first Airbus A380 is expected to take place tomorrow (27/4/05)

The A380 will perform its maiden flight at Toulouse-Blagnac international airport in Toulouse with a six-member test flight crew on-board tomorrow (27/4/05). The multi-national crew has undergone its own thorough pre-flight preparations to be ready for this momentous occasion, including a “virtual first flight campaign” using a simulator with actual A380 on-board computers and real cockpit systems.

Sharing command of Airbus’ flagship will be Captain Claude Lelaie, Senior Vice President, Flight Division and Chief Test Pilot Captain Jacques Rosay. Both captains are highly-experienced pilots who have completed a combined total of more than 13,000 hours of flight tests and performed the maiden flights of numerous Airbus aircraft including the A318, A340-500 and A340-600.

During the A380’s first flight, the pilots will undertake numerous manoeuvres to test the aircraft as a whole. Fernando Alonso, Vice President of Airbus’ Flight Test Division, will be the flight test engineer responsible for monitoring the flight controls and overall aircraft structure during the mission. He will be joined by fellow flight test engineers Jacky Joye and Manfred Birnfeld whose respective tasks are to monitor the engines and the fuel systems, and systems behaviour.

Also on-board will be test flight engineer Gérard Desbois who will remain on the flight deck of the first A380 during its entire test programme as he needs to know be aware of any modifications made to the aircraft during the programme.

Quoted from Airbus4u online magazine.