Tag: A300

Airbus Fly-By-Wire Visionary Bernard Ziegler Passes Away

May 5, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Toulouse, France 5 May 2021 – Airbus (OTC: EADSY) is saddened to learn of the passing of Bernard Ziegler, at the age of 88. Ziegler, one of Airbus’ engineering pioneers, was instrumental in the introduction of the world’s first digital Fly-By-Wire (FBW) and side stick controls in a commercial passenger aircraft with the A320 in 1988.

Ziegler’s career spanned some four decades. He realised the full potential that digital FBW could bring, including flight envelope protection incorporated into the control software. Ziegler’s legacy lives on with digital FBW on all current generation Airbus aircraft, and its adoption as the standard on all modern passenger aircraft globally.

Born in 1933, in Boulogne sur Seine, Ziegler graduated from the French “Ecole Polytechnique” in 1954 and, later, from several engineering and flight training schools (Ecole Nationale de l’Air, Ecole de Chasse, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique, Ecole du Personnel Navigant Essais). For ten years, he was a fighter pilot in the French Air Force.

During the early 1960s he studied aeronautical engineering at ENSA (l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l’Aéronautique) in Toulouse, which is now ISAE-SUPAERO. He then attended prestigious flight test pilot school EPNER, before taking up a career as a military test pilot.

Ziegler joined Airbus as its chief test pilot in 1972 and was given the task of setting up a new flight test division. He put together a team that shared the objectives of both the design office and the partner countries, fostering collaboration between flight test crews and design engineers.

As a test pilot, he flew the first flight of the first A300 in 1972. The programme was later on an early testbed for FBW which transfers the pilot’s commands to the aircraft via digital signals. FBW provides significant benefits through commonality, improved flight safety, reduced pilot workload, fewer mechanical parts, and real-time monitoring of all aircraft systems.

He also flew the A310, A320 and A340-200. In June 1993, Ziegler participated in the longest flight ever undertaken by a civil aircraft, when an A340-200, dubbed the “World Ranger”, flew around the world from Paris with just one stop in Auckland in just over 48 hours.

Up until his retirement in December 1997, Ziegler was Airbus Senior Vice President of Engineering.

Collins Aerospace Celebrates Airbus Nacelle Delivery Milestone

May 30, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

— Delivery of the 1000th nacelle for A320neo program out of Foley, Alabama

— Delivery of the 9000th V2500 nacelle

— Continued support for the A220 nacelle program ramp-up

FOLEY, Ala., May 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Today Collins Aerospace Systems celebrated its 45-year relationship with Airbus by delivering the 1,000th nacelle for the A320neo program, delivering the 9000th V2500 nacelle, and continuing to support the ramp-up of the A220 nacelle program. These milestones were commemorated at a ceremony hosted by Collins Aerospace at its Foley, Alabama facility. More than 900 employees at the facility were joined by leaders from Airbus in the U.S., as well as Alabama Congressman Bradley Byrne, to mark the milestones. Collins Aerospace is a unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTX).

The relationship with Airbus dates back to the A300, the first Airbus aircraft. The milestones achieved are due to the strong collaboration and hard work from both companies.

“This celebration and the work we do with Airbus goes far beyond Foley today. Teams across our worldwide sites are working with pride and commitment to provide on-time delivery and quality, and ensure that our relationship with Airbus remains strong for years to come,” said Jim Pollock, Collins Aerospace Vice President of Airbus Programs. “We’re now integrating A320neo engines with our advanced nacelle systems on three continents and continuing to introduce new manufacturing innovations — such as robotic painting systems and advanced fastening tools — to meet the increasing global demand for air travel.”

In support of the Airbus A320neo program, Collins has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to expand manufacturing capacity at six global sites.

Collins Aerospace’s innovative nacelle system for the Airbus A320neo is performing with 99.99% percent dispatch reliability. There are currently more than 750 Collins nacelles operating on A320neo aircraft with 32 airlines.

“In more than a million fleet hours since the A320neo’s entry into service, there have been less than 10 delays and zero cancellations associated with the Collins nacelle,” said Pollock. “This type of reliability is a testament to the commitment and dedication of the program, engineering, and airline support teams.”

About Collins Aerospace

Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTX), is a leader in technologically advanced and intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defense industry. Created in 2018 by bringing together UTC Aerospace Systems and Rockwell Collins, Collins Aerospace has the capabilities, comprehensive portfolio and expertise to solve customers’ toughest challenges and to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global market. For more information, visit CollinsAerospace.com

Airbus Celebrates Delivery of its 12,000th Aircraft

May 20, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Airbus celebrated the delivery of its 12,000th aircraft ever in its 50-year history. The aircraft was an A220-100, assembled in Mirabel, Canada and handed over to U.S.-based Delta Air Lines.

The aircraft is the 12th A220 delivered to date to Delta Air Lines since the carrier received its first A220 in October 2018. The A220 started scheduled service with Delta in February 2019. Delta is the first U.S. airline to operate the A220 and is the largest A220 customer, with a firm order for 90 aircraft.

This milestone delivery of a Canadian-made Airbus aircraft to a U.S.-based airline highlights the growing presence of Airbus in North America. Since Airbus’ leadership of the A220 programme became effective on 1 July 2018, ground was broken in January this year in Mobile, Alabama for the construction of a second A220 final assembly line, set to start deliveries to U.S. customers in 2020.

Airbus delivered its first aircraft, an A300B2 to Air France, back in 1974. Fast forward to 2010, Airbus handed over its 6,000th aircraft, 36 years after its first. The pace continued to accelerate, taking Airbus just nine years to double that number, reaching 12,000th Airbus aircraft delivery on May 20, 2019.

@Airbus #A220 @Delta

Boeing Crushes Airbus On Farnborough Freighter Orders

August 2, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Boeing scored a crushing victory at the 2018 Farnborough Air Show with orders for a total of 88 freighters. In comparison, Airbus had total freighter sales at the show of zero! This highlights the almost complete lack of competition for customers on the freighter front. The issue has caught the attention of Eric Schulz, the chief commercial officer at Airbus, and he has acknowleged that it’s time for his group to address the space.

Airbus does offer the A330-200F, which is a derivitive of its A330 jetliner family. Build at the factory as a freighter, it offers high efficiency operation andh less noise and emissions than other mid-sized cargo aircraft in service today. It also offers full operational commonality with the entire family of Airbus fly-by-wire airliners. Etihad Airways recently announced that it will be selling its five A330-200F cargo planes in an effort to focus on what it’s referring to as “core” routes out of Abu Dhabi.

Airbus also offers to convert A330’s from a passenger aircraft to freighter, called the A330P2F. The final offering in the linup is the A300-600ST. More commonly referred to as the Beluga, the plane has a modified cargo bay designed to transport oversized payloads. The 5 Beluga’s currently in service are all operated by Airbus to transport sections of Airbus aircrafft being assembled from one fatory to another.

Airbus had originally accepted orders for a freighter version of it’s flagship A380 aircraft. The plane boasted the largest payload capacity of any cargo aircraft in production, with the exception of two Antonov An-225 Mriya’s. Production of the A380 freighter was suspended in 2006 as the initial passenger aircraft delivery schedule was slipping due to manufacturing issues and the aircraft coming in over weight. Dubbed the A380F, the aircraft had attracted 27 orders after first being announced. Later, 20 of these orders were cancelled, with the remaining 7 being converted to the passenger version. The A380F was later completely removed from the Airbus website in 2015.

Image from www.airbus.com

Airbus Fly-By-Wire Visionary Bernard Ziegler Passes Away

Collins Aerospace Celebrates Airbus Nacelle Delivery Milestone

Airbus Celebrates Delivery of its 12,000th Aircraft

Boeing Crushes Airbus On Farnborough Freighter Orders

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