Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

Airbus rolled out its third A350 XWB flight-test aircraft, MSN2, from the paint shop in Toulouse on Thursday, marking the latest milestone on the path to entry-into-service in the fourth quarter. Painted in what Airbus describes as a distinctive “Carbon” signature livery to reflect its primary construction from advanced materials, MSN2 is the first of a pair of A350 flight-test aircraft equipped with a full passenger cabin interior. 
 
	Airbus said MSN2 will join the A350 XWB flight test fleet “in the coming weeks” and will transport the first A350 passengers when it undertakes the Early Long Flights (ELF) later in the year. 
 
	The first A350 XWB to fly (MSN1) took off last June 14, and the second (MSN3) took to the air on October 14. The test regime has included identification and freeze of all flap and slat configurations, loads and aeroelastic testing, as well as evaluation of handling characteristics and systems operation throughout the operational envelope. Plans call for five A350 test aircraft to fly 2,500 hours before expected type certification.

A350 MSN2 Rolls Out of Paint Hangar with Special ‘Carbon’ Livery

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