Airbus 320 Palma de Mallorca to Manchester England.
Length: 3:35
Description: Airbus 320 take-off and landing..
The Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range commercial passenger airliners are manufactured by Airbus. Family members include the A318, A319, A320, and A321, as well as the ACJ business jet.
First delivered in 1988, the A320 pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems in a commercial aircraft. With more than 3,000 aircraft of the A320 family built, it is the second best-selling jet airliner family of all time after the family's primary competition, the Boeing 737.
[edit] Background
After the initial success of the A300, Airbus began developing a new model aimed at replacing the world's most popular aircraft at the time, the Boeing 727. The new Airbus would be of the same size, yet offer improved operating economics and various passenger capacities. The digital technology in the A320 would herald a two-generation technological leap over the all-analogue Boeing 727 and be a generation ahead of the Boeing 737-300/-400/-500 series. The A320 was targeted at the global fleet replacement requirements for the 727 and early variants of the 737.
Aer Lingus A320 At Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
The planform of an A320 is well shown on Finnair's second A320-200 just after takeoffAfter the oil price rises of the 1970s, Airbus needed to minimise the trip fuel costs of the A320. To that end, Airbus incorporated advanced features including fly-by-wire flight control, composite primary structures, centre-of-gravity control using fuel, glass cockpit (EFIS) and a two-person flight deck. The end result was that the A320 consumes 50% less fuel than the 727.
Bernard Ziegler was the initiator of the aircraft's then revolutionary fly-by-wire flight controls with sidestick cockpit controller and full glass cockpit. He successfully convinced aviation authorities of the concept's validity.
Components from various Airbus plants are transported to the final assembly plant at Hamburg Finkenwerder for the A318/A319/A320/A321[3] and to Toulouse Blagnac for the A320. Nearly all assemblies are moved using Airbus' A300-600ST 'Beluga' outsized transporters.
The Airbus A320s sold to China to be delivered between 2009 and 2012 will be assembled in the People's Republic of China in Tianjin.[4] [5] Airbus intends to relocate Toulouse A320 final assembly activity to Hamburg as part of its Power8 organization plan begun under ex-CEO Christian Streiff.[6]
The A320 family has the highest production rate ever for any commercial airliner. In response to continuing strong demand, Airbus continues its steady production ramp-up programme from 30 aircraft per month reached at the end of 2006, to 32 in early 2007, 34 in March 2008, 36 in December 2008, 38 in mid 2009 and 40 by the end of 2009. Tianjin production is included in these numbers.[7]
Compared to other airliners of the same class, the A320 features a wider single-aisle cabin (155.5 inches (3,950 mm) outside diameter, compared to 148 inches (3,800 mm) in the Boeing 737 and 131.6 inches (3,340 mm) in the Boeing 717) and larger overhead bins, along with fly-by-wire technology. In addition, the aircraft has a spacious cargo hold equipped with large doors to assist in expedient loading and unloading of goods. These features have resulted in orders from airlines including Northwest Airlines (launch customer for United States), United Airlines, and British Airways. The A320's low maintenance and operating costs have also appealed to low-cost carriers, such as JetBlue with orders and options for up to 233 of the A320 family. Kingfisher Airlines operates exclusively on Airbus aircraft. Other low-cost carriers with significant orders include SpiceJet, IndiGo Airlines, EasyJet, Virgin America, Frontier Airlines, Tiger Airways, Cebu Pacific Air and AirAsia.
The A320 features a computerised on-board maintenance system. With the exception of the very earliest A320s, most can be upgraded to the latest avionics standards, keeping the aircraft advanced even after two decades in service.
The flight deck is equipped with EFIS with sidestick controllers. At the time of the aircraft's introduction, the behavior of the fly-by-wire system (equipped with full flight envelope protection) was a new experience for many pilots.
Technology used in the A320 includes:
The first fully digital fly-by-wire flight control system in a civil airliner.
Fully glass cockpit rather than the hybrid versions found in aircraft such as the A310, Boeing 757 and Boeing 767.
The first narrowbody airliner with a significant amount of the structure made from composites.
Author: eddiesteele
Source: YouTube
