mjoelnir
in service - 2 years
Posts: 4,089
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Post by mjoelnir on Apr 13, 2013 13:11:07 GMT 1
MSN 925 was the test aircraft for the KC-45.
As I understand it, all 330 MRTT are with A340 wings, the outer engine points used for the refuelling pods.
Is KLM flying the only civil A330-200 with A340 wings?
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Baroque
in service - 2 years
Posts: 3,991
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Post by Baroque on Apr 13, 2013 15:38:28 GMT 1
MSN 925 was the test aircraft for the KC-45. As I understand it, all 330 MRTT are with A340 wings, the outer engine points used for the refuelling pods. Is KLM flying the only civil A330-200 with A340 wings? I thought the A330 and A340 both shared a common wing save for the extra plumbing and wiring for the extra engine.  |
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harty236
Outfitting in Hamburg
Posts: 974
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Post by harty236 on Apr 13, 2013 16:14:37 GMT 1
MSN 925 was the test aircraft for the KC-45. As I understand it, all 330 MRTT are with A340 wings, the outer engine points used for the refuelling pods. Is KLM flying the only civil A330-200 with A340 wings? I thought the A330 and A340 both shared a common wing save for the extra plumbing and wiring for the extra engine. The A342 and A343 have the same wings as the A330 but the A345 and A346 have larger wings. |
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mjoelnir
in service - 2 years
Posts: 4,089
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Post by mjoelnir on Apr 13, 2013 16:37:36 GMT 1
The difference between a A330-200/300 wing and a A340-200/300 wing are the wiring, the plumbing and the outer engine attach point.
The plumbing and the outer engine attach point is the reason to use the A340-200/300 wing on the A330 MRTT, it is used for the refueling pods.
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Baroque
in service - 2 years
Posts: 3,991
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Post by Baroque on Apr 13, 2013 17:39:30 GMT 1
The difference between a A330-200/300 wing and a A340-200/300 wing are the wiring, the plumbing and the outer engine attach point. The plumbing and the outer engine attach point is the reason to use the A340-200/300 wing on the A330 MRTT, it is used for the refueling pods. I was aware of this. But I did not understand your original question. Are you saying that this KLM frame is retaining the A340 wing plumbing and wiring etc? |
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XWB
in service - 11 years
Posts: 16,115
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Post by XWB on Apr 13, 2013 17:52:24 GMT 1
That is his question yes  This might be the case because changing the wings after assembly sounds like a expensive operation. |
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Baroque
in service - 2 years
Posts: 3,991
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Post by Baroque on Apr 13, 2013 18:14:19 GMT 1
Ah, thanks for the clarification, XWB. But, how hard can it be to trim the excess plumbing and wiring? I was under the impression that they were plug and play parts, unless they're bundled with the A330 required ones too which would make the removal operation a bit more complex for the efficiency gain. |
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Post by airny on Apr 13, 2013 20:14:04 GMT 1
And what was it that did KL decide to buy this frame? Did they get a very good bargain or was the availability the trigger?
Otherwise, would you like to have a frame that is essentially alreeady 5 years old (and may consequently not have all the tweaks the current A330's have) + may have some one-off systems/parts such as the wings as being discussed here?
Your thoughts?
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XWB
in service - 11 years
Posts: 16,115
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Post by XWB on Apr 13, 2013 20:20:21 GMT 1
Availability and the very good price you will get for a 5 years old demo airframe should trigger a buyer.
No need to do that, the extra systems can probably be disabled by the software.
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mjoelnir
in service - 2 years
Posts: 4,089
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Post by mjoelnir on Apr 13, 2013 20:50:21 GMT 1
There is some structural difference between the A330-200 and A340-200 wings regarding the attach points for the outer engines, which I think would be difficult to remove/adjust.
Just for the joke of it, being that similar, why has nobody converted a A340-200 to A330-200?
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