Thanks, Equivocator, for that response to the Green Knight. I agree with what you say, and would only add that GK’s statement
it is not the engine, nor the software that is holding up the "first flight"
seems to be disproved by the 18 June statement of Europrop International technical director Karsten Muehlenfeld. He said that EPI only had a further 300h of ground tests to conduct ahead of the certification of its TP400-D6 turboprop. Six examples had completed more than 3,000h of testing, while a seventh had logged 35 airborne hours on a C-130 testbed. A further 500-600h of engine testing would lead to operational readiness.
The EPI consortium would deliver flight-standard full-authority digital engine control software for the A400M late June for ground testing, and negotiations would continue with Europe's EASA certification agency over permission to fly the A400M in advance of it completing all auditing tasks. "I don't think that anyone has any doubts that the software can fly," says Muehlenfeld.
So it seems clear that what we are waiting for is related to engines and not to airframes.
Finally, I was interested to note that the Green Knight hails from a “Western Co, USA”. Could that be a certain Seattle company?
airsound