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 has begun joining the A350 XWB’s 65-foot-long center fuselage with its 69-foot-long front fuselage in Toulouse, marking the official start of the mostly composite airplane’s final assembly, the European manufacturer announced today.


Airbus plans to use the first A350 XWB airframe for static structural tests fundamental to the certification process. Plans call for assembly of the first flying A350 XWB—MSN1—this summer.


The carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) center fuselage arrived in Toulouse on Wednesday, April 4, following delivery via a Beluga transport from Airbus’s plant in St. Nazaire, France. The <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2011-12-09/airbus-starts-joining-first-a350-xwb-front-fuselage">CFRP front fuselage</a>, also built in St. Nazaire, arrived at the final assembly line on Dec. 3, 2011. Delivery and installation of the composite aft fuselage from Hamburg, Germany, will take place in the “coming weeks,” followed by the wings, from Airbus’s wing assembly site in Broughton, UK.


Composed of front, center and aft sections, the A350 XWB fuselage will come together—along with the nose landing gear—at the Toulouse site’s first main assembly station, Station 50. From there, crews transfer the fuselage to Station 40 for joining with the wings and tail section. Plans call for simultaneous installation of the cabin to the wing-fuselage assembly and “power on” of the aircraft systems, allowing functional tests to start earlier than on previous programs, according to Airbus.


&nbsp;

Airbus Starts Final Assembly of First A350 XWB 

Airbus has started assembling the first A350. 

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN