Originally Posted by
dragartist
Airbus did take it all quite seriously in the beginning. Every nation had competing needs. There was quite a lot of customer engagement. They even employed a good few knowledgeable staff from those customers. Regular working groups were held in Bremen to discuss things such as the air deflectors, parachute step, the seating, the Loadmasters workstation and the cargo handling system. (Latches and Roller floor) and the parachutists oxygen system. One group had engagement over the use of CFD (computational Fluid Dynamics) to try to predict the airflow around the back with those big whirling bananas. The Airbus party line was always it will alright on the night. They were fighting against aircraft weight growth and had to make compromises. Our UK experience developing parachute and airdrop systems for the C130J should have given sufficient warning that this was a more complex issue on the A400M.
Sounds rather like design by committee, pace ‘The Pentagon Wars’ etc. An old story, especially in aviation, but certainly not restricted to that field of military procurement - just look at the mess of the Army’s Ajax programme. Ah well - lack of paradrop capability in one aircraft type is probably not the greatest challenge facing the country at the moment, but (with feet firmly planted on the sod), I shall continue to follow with interest. Thanks for all patient explanations.