By Agence France-Presse on Monday, June 24th, 2013
Airbus shows off new military transport plane
The new Airbus military transport plane, much delayed and lots more and plenty needed by European defence forces, flew in to the Paris Air Show on Friday with the French President on board.
The plane, offering a great range of capabilities, was a highlight of the fifth day of the 50th Paris Air Show when the gates were also thrown open to the general public.
French President Francois Hollande, flew in to the show in a single of the primary Airbus A400M military transport planes.
Hollande came from a base west of Paris to the Le Bourget business airport were the show happens every two years, but was to go back to nearby Paris by road later inside the day.
The A400M is about to go into service with the French Air Force within weeks, following years of troubled development owing partially to issues of its powerful turbo-prop engines.
The plane, a celebrity at Le Bourget, was built to move 37 tonnes of personnel, armoured vehicles or helicopters as much as 3,300 kilometres (2,000 miles) to rustic landing strips near battle or disaster zones.
Delays in production meant that the aircraft was not available to move French troops when Hollande sent forces into Mali.
“It is set and should be a terrific success,” Hollande forecast, both in military terms and commercially, generating badly-needed jobs for the French economy.
The French leader vowed that the plane would honour its “rendez-vous on July 14,” the national holiday when military aircraft of all stripes take part in an aerial parade above the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
Airbus expects to sell 400 of the cargo planes within the next 30 years, 174 of that have already been ordered by Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey.
It is four years delayed however, and has exceeded its initial budget by 6.2 billion euros ($8.2 billion), or about 10 percent.
As Hollande strolled throughout the show, two women activists from the Femen movement bared their breasts to focus on the plight of 2 others jailed since May 29 in Tunisia for having also demonstrated topless.
They were quickly handcuffed and brought away by the president’s security detail.
– New Airbus ‘Hushliner’ A350 flies over –
Another professional highlight of the show was a short flyover by the recent Airbus A350 passenger jet, inside the air for just the third time since its maiden flight every week ago.
Airbus spokesman Alan Pardoe insisted the flyby was “not choreographed” but part of the extensive flight tests, that are to total 2,500 hours, that every one new planes undergo before they are often dropped at clients.
Dubbed the “Hushliner,” the plane passed in front of an effectively hushed crowd, followed by eight screaming jets of the Patrouille de France precision military flying team.
“It’s very elegant,” approved Genvieve Lefranc, a pensioner from the southern Dordogne region who came to Le Bourget with friends to work out the A350.
“Handsome and majestic,” commented Jacques Juillet, another of these who made the trip, before adding: “Our pride and joy.”
Pardoe said Airbus was undecided when the plane first flew over Toulouse, southern France, “whether there has been any prospect of having it here,” noting that “the weather has kept us on our toes.”
Heavy thunderstorms which have drenched the show this week will not be the type of atmosphere that test officials like to begin with, he explained.
Airbus has booked 613 firm orders for the plane, 53 percent of which consists of titanium and advanced aluminium alloys, and which has an inventory price that starts at $254.3 million for model that has 270 seats.
It is predicted to chop fuel consumption by about 25 percent compared with most modern long-haul airliners, competing directly with the Boeing 878 Dreamliner.
The public showed that they were highly impressed by the aircraft, as they milled about with cameras, folding chairs and strollers at the first day the show was open to the general public.
Gray skies did little to dampen the mood as crowds gathered to determine every kind of aircraft, from combat helicopters and jets to tiny drones which will stream high-definition images to smartphones and iPads.
Show organisers broadcast snippets of conversations with the A350 cockpit and punctiliously selected musical backgrounds, while the drones danced in formation to the soundtrack from “2001: an area Odyssey” and Tony Bennett singing “Fly Me to the Moon.”
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