The A350 XWB, featuring an airframe made of over 50% composite materials, completes its first flight.

the Airbus A350 XWB completed its maiden flight from Toulouse Blagnac Airport in France, marking the start of the flight test campaign for Airbus’ new long haul wide body aircraft built with a majority composite airframe. The aircraft that flew that day was the A350-900 prototype, registered F WXWB. Powered by two Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines, the aircraft took off at 10:00 local time and remained airborne for approximately 4 hours, landing back in Toulouse after completing initial handling and systems checks. The test crew included Chief Test Pilot Peter Chandler, Test Pilot Fernando Alonso, and flight test engineers Emanuele Costanzo, Manfred Birnfeld, and Benoit Defforge. Launched in 2006 and formally redesigned in 2008 as the A350 XWB, with XWB standing for Extra Wide Body, the aircraft was developed to compete in the long haul segment with new generation twin engine jets. More than 50 percent of the A350’s airframe is made from composite materials, primarily carbon fiber reinforced polymer, including the fuselage and wings. The design also incorporates advanced aerodynamics, a new wing with a wingspan of 64.75 meters for the A350-900, and a two pilot cockpit derived from earlier Airbus fly by wire aircraft. The A350-900 variant typically seats between 300 and 350 passengers depending on configuration. Following a flight test program involving five aircraft, the A350-900 received certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency on 30/09/2014 and from the US Federal Aviation Administration shortly thereafter. It entered commercial service with Qatar Airways on 15/01/2015. The first flight on 14/06/2013 initiated the validation of a new composite based wide body platform that would later include the longer A350-1000 variant and accumulate orders from airlines worldwide. #A350 #A350XWB #Airbus #MaidenFlight #CompositeAircraft