Flight Test Means for the A400M Programme

Authors
Denis Lafourcade, Head of Data Processing, Flight and Integration Test Centre, Airbus.

Abstract

With the A380 programme, a new standard of Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI) architecture has emerged. Fully networked, this architecture puts the instrumentation world into a new era.

Having to be certified also as a civilian aircraft, the A400M programme re-uses most of the A380 flight tests means. Additionally, as any military programme, a lot of constraints have to be taken into account, among them:

• Specific work sharing with two flight test centres in Spain and France which must be interoperable;
• FTI easily removable from cabin for dropping operations or low A/C weight tests;
• Ability to perform tests with rear door opened;
• Specific military systems implying dedicated features, e.g. high speed cameras or classified data segregation.

The paper describes the organisation put in place and the technical solutions designed to fulfil all these requirements in a very challenging economical environment.