Airbus has reportedly delivered the first A350-1000 to Qatar Airways, following successful FAA and EASA Type Certification on 21 November.
This stretched version of the aircraft is 7 m longer than the A350-900 and carries an additional 40 seats.
The company was congratulated by Hexcel, a major supplier of materials for the A350 XWB program including its Hexcel’s HexPly M21E/IMA carbon fiber/epoxy prepreg which has been used to manufacture all composite primary structures of the aircraft, including the fuselage panels, keel beam, wing and empennage. The lower wing cover is the biggest single civil aviation part ever made from carbon fiber and spans 32 m long. Carbon fiber reinforced plastics has also been used in other structural components such as the pylon upper spar and door surround. For the first time on an Airbus aircraft, Hexcel’s HexMC carbon fiber/epoxy molding compound has also been used for the A350-1000 fuselage crutches.
This story is reprinted from material from Hexcel, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
