The A400M programme staff with the Navy Air Programs unit of the Defence and House division has kicked off its check flight marketing campaign with Sustainable Aviation Gas (SAF) this summer time. A primary check flight utilizing a load of 29% SAF in considered one of its engines proved profitable; additionally in army aviation Airbus strikes ahead on its dedication to get cleaner skies. A combination of nerves and pleasure was felt among the many staff members on the tarmac of Airbus´ San Pablo plant, in Seville, on a particularly sizzling day in July. Certainly, there was lots to be enthusiastic about, because it was a day of `firsts´: the primary check flight with SAF was lastly occurring with an Airbus A400M.
The MSN4 or ´Grizzly 4´, as it’s recognized among the many staff, entered the runway with considered one of its engines, particularly engine quantity 2, with a blended load of 29% SAF. “For this primary flight, we’re utilizing a sort of SAF known as HEFA (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids) which is fabricated from residuals of oils, greens and fat, and in addition freed from aromatics and Sulphur, so it is extremely environment friendly and good for the engines”, defined Ana Belén Blanco, Technical Chief for SAF in A400M. “It’s a drop-in gas, so there isn’t any want to switch the engines´ programs and there aren’t any technical limitations”, she stated. For this primary check flight, using SAF was restricted to 1 engine to higher analyze the gas system´s conduct feeding a single engine.
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“This flight is a major step ahead, and counting on the experience of our mother or father corporations, we’re assured that TP400-D6 strong design will allow us to achieve the very best SAF requirements”, stated Stephan Schlisske, Head of Design Organisation of Europrop Worldwide.
“Throughout the flight, we carried out an in depth comparability between engine quantity 2, the one utilizing SAF, and the opposite 3 engines utilizing commonplace gas Jet A1, so we had an excellent alternative to check the efficiency of the completely different fuels. The outcomes we obtained confirmed that utilizing this blended SAF doesn’t have an effect on engines or plane efficiency, so the A400M can obtain the entire potential of it when it comes to environmental profit”, stated César González, Flight Check Engineer at Airbus Defence and House.
The flight, which took off from the San Pablo plant runway in Seville, headed in the direction of the North of Huelva after which landed again safely in Seville, making a visit of greater than an hour in complete. The satisfaction of the crew was already evident on their faces whereas they disembarked the plane, able to share the result. SAF is a confirmed various gas that may scale back life cycle CO2 emissions by as much as 85% in comparison with typical gas. This primary flight of an A400M utilizing SAF demonstrated that each the plane and its TP400-D6 engines, not examined earlier than with SAF, are aligned with these new gas necessities with a mix of fifty% licensed SAF for a extra sustainable army aviation.
SAF is a confirmed various gas that may scale back life cycle CO2 emissions by as much as 85% in comparison with typical gas. This primary flight of an A400M utilizing SAF demonstrated that each the plane and its TP400-D6 engines, not examined earlier than with SAF, are aligned with these new gas necessities with a mix of fifty% licensed SAF for a extra sustainable army aviation. Airbus and EuroProp Worldwide, which is answerable for TP400-D6 turboprop’s engine design, improvement, manufacturing and help, have agreed to determine the roadmap in the direction of 100% SAF certification collectively, making this primary flight a step ahead in the direction of this purpose.
For such an essential mission, probably the most skilled Airbus “warriors” was wanted. The “Grizzly 4”, on obligation since twentieth December 2010, was the one chosen among the many “troops” to carry out this primary check flight with SAF amongst Navy Air Programs at Airbus. And so the MSN4 finds itself guiding its successors into the long run: the decarbonization of army aviation. MSN4 has been used for all types of checks by the years. Amongst others, it was determinant for the event and certification of AAR capabilities as a tanker and receiver and in addition for cargo and parachute drops. This primary flight with SAF is quantity F994 within the MSN4´s impeccable service report, so it is just six extra flights away from a well-deserved “retirement” after practically 2,000 flight hours.
