The Airbus A330neo family still has them under the fuselage

The delivery of the first A330-900 TAP Portugal marks a milestone for the Airbus A330neo family. On this occasion, Franois Kubica, Chief Engineer of the A330neo program at Airbus, returned to the certification of the first member of the family and its next evolution.

While the A330-900 issued its type certificate on September 24th from EASA, it is also the first commercial aircraft to have been certified under the new ICAO Chapter 14 standard for aircraft noise. . obviously, for Franois Kubica, a very big part of this victory comes obviously from the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000, but not only, the arodynamic refinements appeared on this family (sails, sharklets, carnage of junction of wing, canoes …) also making their contribution, just like the nacelles produced by Safran Nacelles (zero-splice, acoustic treatment).

The chief engineer of the A330neo program also announces that the aerodynamic improvements have also made it possible to optimize the lift / trane ratio, which translates into a normal cruising speed (Mno) of now Mach 0.83 (against 0.82 for the A330ceo family). With the A330neo, you extend the optimum longer he explained to us.

Regarding the ETOPS regime, Franois Kubica explains that the results of the Trent 7000 endurance tests on the bank this summer by the British engine manufacturer at the John C. Stennis Space Center of NASA (Mississippi) allowed Airbus to land the ETOPS 180mn just before the delivery of the first A330-900 TAP Portugal. Some have also been surprised by the temporary limitation of the 500 cycles imposed by the EASA to the reactors to be able to perform this type of flight. For Franois Kubica, this is a very normal process, with the engine manufacturer continuing to badyze the engines that participated in the endurance tests at its Derby site before the final approval, which should take place quickly. He further explains that the Portuguese airline is hardly concerned by this temporary limitation with regard to the structure of its network. However, the long-awaited FAA certification is expected by the end of the year (it is also linked to the FAA certification of the Trent 7000) and will allow the American company Delta Air Lines to take delivery of its first A330- 900. As a reminder, the American company will be one of the main global operators of the A350-900 with 35 copies now on order.

But the A330neo family will already evolve with the arrival of the versions having a maximum mbad at take-off carries 251 tons, as well for the A330-900 as for the A330-800. This new increase of MTOW will increase the range of action of the two members of the family of 650 nautical (1,200 km), respectively 7,200 nm (13,334 km) and 8,150 nm (15,094 km) for A330-900 and -800. Franois Kubica explains that this new increase in maximum take-off weight obviously requires structural reinforcements at the wing and fuselage, as well as on the main landing gear and front landing gears in order to be able to handle the load increase in case landing hard (hard landing). He also specifies that the undercarriages will now be able to absorb a vertical speed of 14m / s against 12m / s today.

The strengthening of the landing gear will increase the service intervals of ten twelve years , he specifies. But Franois Kubica also explains that all these reinforcements will be zero mbad, that is to say that the additional 300 400 kg induced will be compensated for elsewhere by the same order of magnitude elsewhere. He cites in particular the removal of one of the two tanks of water present on the family A330 (-100kg), the reduction of the mbad of the IFE, the use of new plastic materials …

Franois Kubica also announces that the production of the first long cycle parts for the MTOW 251t variants has already begun, with a first device expected to enter the final badembly phase next year for a mid-2020 introduction. But the chief engineer of the A330neo program also tells us that some additional margins have been identified for a potential future increase in MTOW without major changes, although the gains may not be as strong.