The Airbus A350 XWB endures cold-weather testing in Iqaluit, Canada. The plane has to show it can function even at minus 28 degrees Celsius, or minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit.
(Credit: Airbus/Master Films/H. Gousse)
Anyone suffering from cold winter weather in the United States should think of the plight of 48 Airbus employees who have taken a test version of the company's new A350 XWB passenger jet to Iqaluit, Canada.
Airbus specialists began testing the new twin-aisle jet in Iqaluit, a small town on Baffin Island, north of Newfoundland and west of Greenland, the company said Tuesday. Airbus debuted the energy-efficient A350 XWB at the Paris air show in June 2013, pitting it chiefly against Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
The cold-weather testing is geared to confirm that the jet can storiesoperate successfully, to include starting the engines and aborting a takeoff, in temperatures as low as minus 18 degrees F, or minus 28 degrees C. The testing also checks if reverse thrust works in snowy conditions, Airbus said
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A different model of the A350 XWB just completed high-elevation testing in Bolivia, Airbus said.
