Aircraft Factfile and Recognition Guide - Airbus A330

All A330 snaps are of A330-300s operated by US Airways and taken outside of my home.

Background

In the 1980s Airbus was developing 2 experimental models, the TA9 and TA11. TA11 became the A340 and TA9 the A330. Airbus announced in January 27, 1986 the development of the models TA9 and TA11. The TA9 would be a twin-aisle aircraft with 2 engines designed for medium or long-haul flights. It was one of the most ambitious projects of Airbus.

The Airbus A330 was using the same wing as the bigger A340-200/300. At first, Airbus considered using the new Fowler flaps at the wings, flaps that could simply decrease the drag force and simultaneously increase the lift force. Finally, Airbus turned down that thought because the company wanted the plane to be constructed easily and with no risks, despite the fact that these flaps had many advantages.

In addition, the wing also includes winglets that decrease the drag force. The wings were very effective and their design took place in Bristol, England.

There were 3 available engines for use with the A330, the General Electric GF6-80E1 (thrust 68,000 lb), the Pratt & Whitney PW4168 (thrust 68,000 lb) and the Rolls-Royce Trent 770 (thrust 71,000 lb). These engines make the A330 very effective and fast with maximum range 8,850 km while carrying 335 passengers. Later, Rolls-Royce provided the plane with the upgraded Trents 772 that gave the aircraft the ability to fly non-stop from the western coast of USA to Europe by having lower fuel consumption.

The first A330 made its maiden flight in October 1992. The results were better than the expected! The plane had lower fuel consumption than the expected, drag force was very low and the behavior of the aircraft was excellent. That gave confidence to Airbus and the orders started coming. Besides, A330 was expected to have more sales than the larger A340, as there was great need in aircrafts of that size.

Airbus initially created a single version of A330, the A330-300 which had the same fuselage length with the A340-300. Later, Airbus developed the smaller A330-200. Its fuselage length was smaller. It also had enlarged horizontal stabilizers and vertical tail while sharing the same wing, flight deck and other parts of the aircrafts.

The smaller fuselage provided the aircraft with better range, more than 11,000 km, and 256 passengers in three-class configuration.

Launch customers were the ILFC (International Leasing Finance Company), Swissair, Emirates and other airlines.

The Airbus A330 is an excellent aircraft designed for medium-haul flights needing a plane with big passenger capacity or for long-haul flights where a larger plane is not necessary. It has about 464 confirmed orders in less than 10 years of production. The future success of the aircraft is sure. But Airbus didn't stop there. The company created a military version of A330 to participate in the competition of RAF for a new air refueling aircraft and the plane is now making its flight tests.

Recognizing the Airbus A330

The A330 is a very easy airliner to identify from the ground and in the air. Here's some tips on how to identify the A330:

Wings: Large, swept back with out-canted winglets.
Engine(s): One turbofan engine slung underneath each wing.
Fuselage: Top of fuselage carries a straight line from the cockpit to the tail fin (similar Boeing 767-400 has a conical-shaped fuselage). If you see an aircraft with the above wings and engine features and it has a short fuselage, it is an A330-200. The longer fuselage represents an A330-300.
Tail: Large rudder, compared to Boeing 777.

Sources: Aircraft Photos.net A330 Factfile, Aerospaceweb.org A330 Factfile

© 2004-2007 Steven Holzinger