Reply With QuoteOh my God Herman! These pics are just awesome.. I will fap all day!
Thanks a freakin' lot!!
Oh my God Herman! These pics are just awesome.. I will fap all day!
Thanks a freakin' lot!!
looks good but unfortunatley it looks like its missed the boat due to the delays.
French Order could be reduced to 35....
http://secretdefense.blogs.liberatio...e-combat-.html
Don't derail the thread! Awesome pics are awesome! (Originally Posted by Chimera
)
Third A400M takes to the air
By Craig Hoyle
Airbus Military has enjoyed two notable firsts in its A400M programme, with the debut flight of development aircraft MSN003 having been achieved while its first two aircraft were also airborne.
Flown from the company's San Pablo final assembly site near Seville, Spain, MSN003 took off at 13:57 local time with a crew of five, including experimental test pilots Tony Flynn and Francois Barre.
"The addition of MSN3 to the fleet is great news, and will let us push ahead even more rapidly with the flying programme," says Airbus head of flight operations Fernando Alonso
As of 9 July, the A400M test fleet had logged 100 test flights and a combined 400 flight hours, the EADS company says. This represents continued steady progress since last month's Berlin air show, where MSN001 made its show debut after around 250h had been amassed by the fleet.
Airbus Military will have five test aircraft available by mid-2011, with these required to fly a combined total of 3,700h during development testing of the A400M. The transport is expected to enter service around late 2012, following a delivery delay of around three years.
Carrying a medium instrumentation load, MSN003 will be dedicated to tasks including proving the A400M's autopilot and navigation systems. The aircraft will be assigned to test duties conducted from Airbus's Toulouse site in France.
MSN001 will arrive in the UK on 16 July ahead of its weekend participation in the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The aircraft will then take part in the daily flying display at the Farnborough air show from 19-22 July.
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...o-the-air.html
Germany is supposedly reducing the number of A400M following budget cuts
This project is starting to look like... well, fail.
53 instead of 60 is not dramatic... or not as bad as cancelling everything like SA did .. traitors
I hope the UK pulls out if possbile. I believe the RAF is cutting back on the number of types of airframes they're flying, and I'd much rather they just forget about this one rather than lose something the F3's. The C130's still have a long way to go.
They might still buy some in the future... just can't commit now. I think that goes for some other countries too.. right now it's not very popular to take big commitments but that doesnt mean the need has gone away.53 instead of 60 is not dramatic... or not as bad as cancelling everything like SA did .. traitors
A400 has been specifically designed based on current needs. The order will go ahead, but for 22 rather than the initial 25. The UK also needs the workshare from this project.
A400m is NOT a C130 replacement. Rather different aircraft filling a rather different need.
Well what do we need it for on top of the C17 and different C130's? It can't be a replacement tanker or nimrod. What role does it have that is unique enough to bring it into the RAF keeping in mind they are ready to cut back on the amount of aircraft types we fly?
edit: it seems the RAF ordered more c17's due to the delays and issues with the a400M which leads me to believe they serve a similar role. Which takes us back to my first questions. Why ad the a400m to the arsenal?
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