Image via YouTube
Airbus A350 airplanes are rolling off the assembly lines and into airlines' hands around the world. Fortunately we get a glimpse of how one of these bad boys is made.
Minute Physics' Henry Reich holds a bit of virtual class by illustrating how an airplane is manufactured. Although this isn't just any airplane we are talking about here.
Reich was welcomed by the good people over at Airbus to see the budding infancy of its new A350, and we are so very grateful he was.
From designing the mammoth airplane to testing it all out, this exhaustive look will have you bewildered, entertained and most of all well informed:
In a spat of very good timing, we reported yesterday that Qatar Airways recently became the first airline to receive the new A350.
The report hints at the sensational specs behind the airplane: "That lightweight carbon-fiber design gives the aircraft models greater fuel efficiency while allowing flier-friendly features, such as larger windows. Airbus touts a 220-inch cabin width from armrest to armrest on the A350 that the European jetmaker says is inches more than the competition, allowing 18-inch seat width in nine-wide seating."
Thanks to the video, we can say we have seen that lightweight design in action, which is essentially an airplane taped together.
Granted, saying that the Airbus is merely taped together is a bit of a misnomer, but we can't get over how an actual wing is made.
Reich states in the video, "The wing tops and bottoms are made in an additive process using carbon fiber infused resin as tape, which is then cured in a massive oven until it becomes stronger and lighter than steel."
An astonished Reich continues while pointing at a wing being manufactured, "that is going to be an airplane wing…made out of tape."
The entire process is remarkable, yielding an impressive ten planes every month. Each one has been carefully designed, built with extreme care, tested and retested before finally being delivered.
Sometimes it's the big things that make you appreciate world travel.
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