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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Ian Morton on January 22, 2015, 08:56:22 PM

Title: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Ian Morton on January 22, 2015, 08:56:22 PM
For anyone who has an interest in aircraft, this is a must-see.

Airbus flew all five A350-900 prototypes in formation and videoed it...

http://www.chonday.com/Videos/fivebujawe2 (http://www.chonday.com/Videos/fivebujawe2)
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Sprintex on January 22, 2015, 09:22:07 PM
Hope they're built better than the A320s then - Tesco Value plane! ;D


Paul
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: bridgiesimon on January 22, 2015, 09:30:19 PM
Impressive flying with such big aeroplanes!!

Thank you for posting!

Simon
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Bealman on January 22, 2015, 09:38:19 PM
Very, very cool! Music got on me nerves a bit, like.  :D
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Mr Sprue on January 23, 2015, 08:50:32 AM
Nice video......amazing how the modern day on board computers can handle all the vortices & wake each aircraft was creating for each other! 

Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Agrippa on January 23, 2015, 08:57:54 AM
Great video, shame about the background racket.

A similar display with B52s or Tu95s next !
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: ScottyStitch on January 23, 2015, 09:01:28 AM
Aviation pornography.

I'm a Licensed Aircraft Engineer, and I never tire of this stuff!!!  :bounce:
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Trainfish on January 23, 2015, 01:56:18 PM
They could do with some coloured smoke like the red arrows. Maybe they can do it again with the smoke?  :o
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: ScottyStitch on January 23, 2015, 02:24:52 PM
I've just noted the caption says "Jumbo Jets"........................................ :headbutt:
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Tom U on January 23, 2015, 03:10:18 PM
I would have thought that five A350s in close formation would be called a tupperware party  ;)
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Luke Piewalker on January 23, 2015, 05:34:22 PM
Did know one tell them footage of airliners in flight has to be accompanied by Jean Michelle Jarre?
And preferably be of Concorde?
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Izzy on January 23, 2015, 07:28:35 PM
Quote from: Sprintex on January 22, 2015, 09:22:07 PM
Hope they're built better than the A320s then - Tesco Value plane! ;D


Paul

I take it you've not experienced the A380 then? Waitrose by comparison with anything else I've sat in.

Izzy
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Dancess on January 23, 2015, 07:52:36 PM
Only on the upper deck. Will be on lower deck next month though!!
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Skyline2uk on January 23, 2015, 11:10:23 PM
The 6th A350 is now flying in revenue earning service between Doha and Frankfurt for Qatar Airways.

Should anyone care to look at the other aircraft doing that route for that airline, interesting comparisons may be about to be made......

QuoteNice video......amazing how the modern day on board computers can handle all the vortices & wake each aircraft was creating for each other! 

Computers actually have not a huge amount to worry about doing this sort of formation flying. Several very serious organisations with many many clever people are looking the implications of regularly flying formations of passenger jets across the Atlantic. The fuel savings are significant, for exactly the same reason that Geese and other wild birds fly in "V" formation.

Skyline2uk 
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Pete @ EGLM on January 23, 2015, 11:36:34 PM
Quote from: ScottyStitch on January 23, 2015, 09:01:28 AM
Aviation pornography.

I'm a Licensed Aircraft Engineer, and I never tire of this stuff!!!  :bounce:

That makes two of us then!

Pete @ EGLM
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Bealman on January 24, 2015, 01:27:22 AM
Quote from: Skyline2uk on January 23, 2015, 11:10:23 PM
The 6th A350 is now flying in revenue earning service between Doha and Frankfurt for Qatar Airways.

Should anyone care to look at the other aircraft doing that route for that airline, interesting comparisons may be about to be made......

QuoteNice video......amazing how the modern day on board computers can handle all the vortices & wake each aircraft was creating for each other! 

Computers actually have not a huge amount to worry about doing this sort of formation flying. Several very serious organisations with many many clever people are looking the implications of regularly flying formations of passenger jets across the Atlantic. The fuel savings are significant, for exactly the same reason that Geese and other wild birds fly in "V" formation.

Skyline2uk

Never knew that! Most interesting!
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: DesertHound on January 24, 2015, 02:25:28 PM
Being a "Waitrose" pilot myself (formerly of the Tesco variety and I'll add the A330/340 and we'll call that Sainsbury's) then let's hear it for the guys at the front.  :wave: Great job!

These formations would most likely have been manually flown, judging by the break-outs etc.

A lot of planning would have gone into this, with an emphasis on staying in formation and knowing where you are in the formation. Visual references are key, as shown in the video. Flight computers aren't really involved in formation flying (since airliners aren't designed to fly as such) and wouldn't act any differently than on a normal flight (there are various re-configurations of the flight computers, and these can be degraded in order to achieve certain effects, although in essence the flight computers are regulating what we call "the flight envelope" of the aircraft). The flight computers wouldn't be linked so as to fly the aircraft on autopilot at a set distance from each other, since there isn't really a need for this. I'm not saying that the technology is not there, but it's not a function on present day Airbuses (or Boeing's for that matter).

I hope I'm not ruffling feathers, rather just trying to explain that although there are flight computers processing pilot inputs, these guys were the "flight computers" on this occasion.

I've never undertaken formation flight although these guys would have been in such a formation so as not to encounter each other's wake. In the right conditions you could pick up wake easily 5-6 miles away so at these close quarters it would be absolutely critical that they didn't enter each other's wake.

Just my tuppence worth. Great video and thanks for posting.

Dan
Title: Re: Five Airbus A350's Flying In Formation
Post by: Bealman on January 24, 2015, 04:10:32 PM
Extremely interesting,  Dan. Thanks for the "inside info!"  :beers: