Airbus is completing the construction and installation of A321XLR test equipment at the final assembly line (FAL) in Hamburg, in preparation for the model’s first flight. According to the manufacturer, the first unit of the type (MSN11000) will be delivered to the test team «in a very short time». In parallel to this, the European giant is conducting ground tests to be ready for the start of the flight test and certification programs.
One of these tests will be the «virtual first flight», the overall objective of which is to prepare the aircraft’s new systems, flight control computers, and crew for the first take-off. This part of the A321XLR development is being carried out at the avionics test laboratory located in Toulouse.
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This flight simulator, unlike those used for pilot training, does not move. Behind the cockpit are workstations with the same displays and interfaces that engineers will use during the actual flight. In addition, the avionics modules used by this simulator are identical to those being installed in the bays of the three A321XLRs that will be used for test flights.
Vincent Claudel, Laboratory Products and Flight Test Team Leader, commented about the campaign: «The virtual flight test, which began in March, will culminate in a virtual flight «rehearsal». For this exercise, the entire flight crew (pilots and engineers) will sit in the simulator and perform all the tasks that they will later carry out in the real aircraft.»
The simulator can also be connected directly to an aircraft and control it. For the A321XLR development, only the tail rudder will be tested, in order to validate the new «eRudder» electrical architecture being introduced on the A320 family.
