A400M Refuelled in Flight for First Time
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An Airbus Military A400M has received fuel in-flight for the first time, with one of the programme's three development aircraft having achieved the milestone behind a French air force Dassault-Breguet C160 Transall.
"There were no problems for the aircraft," says A400M project pilot Tony Flynn, who describes the first wet contacts as having gone "perfectly" during a trials activity performed from Seville, Spain in late November. The work successfully validated a new set of air-to-air refuelling (AAR) flight control laws referred to as "D6R-P", he adds.
"This is the first time we have had a satisfactory control law for the whole [receiver] task," Flynn says. This follows an extensive rewriting process, which was initiated following early trials performed behind a Vickers VC10 tanker in 2010. "To begin with, things didn't go well," he says. Cockpit video footage of the second dry contact made behind the now-retired Royal Air Force type shows the A400M pitching up and down, before climbing violently towards the tanker's T-tail as the crew abandoned the connection.
Meanwhile, Airbus Military says it will deliver its third production A400M "before Christmas". Turkish air force aircraft MSN9 is awaiting handover at the airframer's San Pablo final assembly site in Seville. [via]
