It's immaterial anyway, which is why I sought to deflect this train of thought.
[snip]
Having a working prototype was not part of the RFP
I'm not saying having a working prototype was material to the RFP. It was material to the statement that I quoted (post 343). While it absolutely made sense to test the boom from a 310, that's not the same thing as a mated A330+mission system+fuel system+transfer system test, which is what I initially inferred from the statement
"The NGC/EADS Airbus is flying and has made fuel transfers, end -of-story!".