Airbus reveals A400M final assembly delay
According to Flightglobal, Airbus is reporting a 3 month delay to the final assembly of the A400M;
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/04/05/213106/airbus-reveals-a400m-final-assembly-delay.html
First flight of the TP400-D6 power plant is also delayed.
It got me wondering how the A400M compares to the Shorts Belfast of 40 odd years ago to see how much technology has advanced in the intervening period.
They both have a similar max payload (37 tonnes for A400M, 36.3 tonnes for Belfast).
The A400M has 4 x 11,000hp and the Belfast has 4 x 5730hp.
Range at full payload is 1,782nmi for the A400M and 970 miles for the Belfast.
Empty weight is 70 tonnes for the A400M and 59 tonnes for the Belfast.
Ferry range is 5,022 miles for the A400M and 5,200 miles for the Belfast.
MTOW is 130 Tonnes for the A400M and 104.3 tonnes for the Belfast; 11 tonnes of the difference is the empty weight so the rest is presumably fuel which seems to explain the difference in range.
Belfast could accommodate 150 fully equipped troops and the A400M will be able to accommodate 116.
A400M cruises faster and higher than the Belfast which presumably gives a better productivity but that's not surprising given that it has almost twice the installed power.
Sources;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Belfast
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A400M
With modern technology engines and propellers, composite materials, FBW, computers, advanced aerodynamics etc I had expected to see a far greater advance with the A400M. Maybe the Belfast was a much better platform than it was given credit for? A hypothetical question, but I wonder what the performance figures would be for a Belfast with TP400-D6 engines?
Porrohman