page_title: Airbus A400M Atlas
section_title: Flight testing
hierarchical_section_title: Airbus A400M Atlas / Development / Flight testing
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Le premier Airbus A400M, entouré des employés d'EADS, durant la première présentation mondiale de l'avion (roll-out), célébrée à Séville le 26 juin 2008. Deutsch: Erster Prototyp des Airbus A400M, umgeben von Mitarbeitern der EADS, während des ersten feierlichen Roll-outs in Sevilla am 26. Juni 2008. English: The first Airbus A400M, surrounded by EADS employees, during the aircraft's world-premiere presentation (roll-out), celebrated in Seville on 26 June 2008. Español: El primer Airbus A400M, rodeado de empleados de EADS, durante la primera presentación mundial de la aeronave (roll-out), celebrada en Sevilla el 26 de Junio de 2008.
context_page_description: The Airbus A400M Atlas is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities to replace older transport aircraft, such as the Transall C-160 and the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. The A400M is between the C-130 and the Boeing C-17 in size; it can carry heavier loads than the C-130 and is able to use rough landing strips. Along with the transport role, the A400M can perform aerial refueling and medical evacuation when fitted with appropriate equipment.
  The A400M's maiden flight, originally planned for 2008, took place on 11 December 2009 from Seville, Spain. Between 2009 and 2010, the A400M faced cancellation as a result of development programme delays and cost overruns; however, the customer nations chose to maintain their support for the project. A total of 174 A400M aircraft had been ordered by eight nations by July 2011. In March 2013, the A400M received European Aviation Safety Agency certification. The first aircraft was delivered to the French Air Force in August 2013.
context_section_description: Before the first flight, required airborne test time on the Europrop TP400 engine was gained using a Lockheed C-130 testbed aircraft, which first flew on 17 December 2008. On 11 December 2009, the A400M's maiden flight was carried out from Seville. On 8 April 2010, the second A400M made its first flight. In July 2010, the third A400M took to the air, at which point the fleet had flown 400 hours over more than 100 flights. In July 2010, the A400M passed ultimate-load testing of the wing. On 28 October 2010, Airbus announced the start of refuelling and air-drop tests. By October 2010, the A400M had flown 672 hours of the 2,700 hours expected to reach certification. In November 2010, the first paratroop jumps were performed; Airbus CEO Tom Enders and A400M project manager Bruno Delannoy were among the skydivers.
  In late 2010, simulated icing tests were performed on the MSN1 flight test aircraft using devices installed on the wing's leading edges. These revealed an aerodynamic issue causing horizontal tail buffeting, resolved via a six-week retrofit to install anti-icing equipment fed with bleed air; production aircraft are similarly fitted. Winter tests were done in Kiruna, Sweden during February 2011. In March 2012, high altitude start and landing tests were performed at La Paz at 4,061.5 m (13,325 ft) and Cochabamba at 2,548 m (8,360 feet) in Bolivia.
  By April 2011, a total of 1,400 flight hours over 450 flights had been achieved. In May 2011, the TP400-D6 engine received certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). In May 2011, the A400M fleet had totaled 1,600 hours over 500 flights; by September 2011, the total increased to 2,100 hours and 684 flights. Due to a gearbox problem, an A400M was shown on static display instead of a flight demonstration at the 2011 Paris Air Show. By October 2011, the total flight hours had reached 2,380 over 784 flights.
  During May 2012, the MSN2 flight test aircraft was due to spend a week conducting unpaved runway trials on a grass strip at Cottbus-Drewitz Airport in Germany. Testing was cut short on 23 May, when, during a rejected takeoff test, the left side main wheels broke through the runway surface. Airbus Military stated that it found the aircraft's behaviour was "excellent". The undamaged aircraft returned to Toulouse.
  On 14 March 2013, the A400M was granted type certification by the EASA, clearing its entry to service.
caption: The first A400M during the world presentation in Seville on 26 June 2008
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot S30", "Image Orientation": "0", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image Software": "Picasa 3.0", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2008:06:26 06:15:51", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "208", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1160", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5235", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:06:26 06:15:51", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:06:26 06:15:51", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "319/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "97349/32768", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "227/32", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "800", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "600", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "800", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "600", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1012", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1024000/139", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1536000/209", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Portrait", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "744bd94c26ca26b765fa520a5fadf774"}