The Airbus A400M close to / ready for the first flight… (recap)
(BRUXELLES2) We've been waiting for it for months. The Airbus A400M, Europe's new all-terrain military transport aircraft, is expected to make its maiden flight this week. December 11 normally... the day of the European summit, in the presence of a whole assembly.
If the promise is kept - and the test flight goes well (fingers crossed) - it could be the end of a real nightmare for EADS Military. The last time we talked about a first flight was over a year ago (1). By dint of postponement, problems, in full renegotiation with its customers - in particular Germany and the United Kingdom (2) and while a customer from South Africa has already canceled his order (3) -, this will allow to give the aircraft manufacturer an oxygen tank.
The plane had already made a small turn on the ground, not only by turning its engines off, but by making a round trip at different speeds on the taxi lane on the ground... (photo) Sign of its confidence in the event, Airbus has opened a "first flight" video space where you can follow the event or (re)see the movement of this new European aircraft, quite recognizable by its big black "nose" and its big look duck - and small wheels - view from behind...
(NVP)
Excellent news !
It will therefore be available when the European States decide – finally – to repatriate definitively these poor soldiers and other agents deployed in this furnace of AfPak for a hopeless mission!