Aviation Week chief aircraft evaluation editor Fred George flew left seat in Airbus’s new big twin, the A350, with Airbus chief test pilot Peter Chandler in the right seat and Christian Norden on the jump seat as safety pilot. MSN002 is unrepresentatively heavy, loaded with test equipment and wiring. With two flight-test engineers and 11 passengers, zero fuel weight was 355,383 lb. Fuel load was 88,184 lb., for a ramp weight of 443,570 lb. - about 73% of maximum.
