At the time AIR International went to press the first Airbus Military A400M (MSN1) had completed three flights for a total of 9 hrs and 20 mins flight time. The aircraft first flew on December 7, with additional flights on December 23 (3 hrs 10 mins) and January 7 (2 hrs 25 mins). Test pilot Michael Gagneux became the third pilot to fly the transport during the third sortie, joining Nacho Lombo and Ed Strongman. The operational flight envelope has been cleared, allowing later sorties to concentrate on the transport's handling characteristics and start systems evaluations.
展开▼
