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Old 28th Feb 2013, 11:49
  #1067 (permalink)  
deptrai
 
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Airbus knows when it potentially has a tool to beat its competitor over the head with. Not in an overt way mind you - there will be subtle reminders...
Leahy already jumped on it, in a not so subtle way (quoting from CONF iture's link):

When Airbus redesigned the A350 seven years ago to create the all-new XWB, Leahy admits that he pushed the engineers to follow Boeing's lead on all-electric architecture. But he is pleased he was overruled. Airbus engineers went "back and forth" three times about whether to equip the XWB with electric brakes before deciding to stick with conventional hydraulic architecture. "I'm guilty as the commercial guy for pounding the table saying 'look [the 787's] all-electric - it's game-changing'," Leahy admits. But trade-off studies by Airbus engineers could not justify adopting the technology. Leahy says: "They told me: 'You're not going to like the reliability - it's going to be complex, heavy, and hard to maintain'."

Last edited by deptrai; 28th Feb 2013 at 11:49.
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