Airbus A310

Airbus A310
Role	Civil air transport
Crew	2
First Flight	1982
Manufacturer	Airbus, Toulouse
Dimensions
Length	46.66 m	153 ft 1 in
Wingspan	43.9 m	144 ft
Height	15.8 m	51 ft 10 in
Wing area	219 m²	2360 ft²
Weights
Empty	80,800 kg
Maximum takeoff	164,000 kg
Capacity	Up to 220 (2 class) Up to 280 (1 class)
Freight cap.	14 LD3s
Powerplant
Engines	Two Pratt & Whitney PW4152 or General Electric CF6-80 turbofans
Thrust	59,000 lbf	262 kN
Performance
Cruising speed	mph	850 km/h
Maximum speed	mph	897 km/h
Operating range	9600 km	5,200 nautical miles
Service ceiling	41,000 ft	12,500 m
Rate of climb	ft/min	m/min
Wing loading	lb/ft²	kg/m²
Thrust/Weight	:1

The Airbus A310 is a short to medium range widebody airliner developed from the Airbus A300 and manufactured by Airbus Industrie.

Perhaps the greatest attribute of the A310 is that of range. The A310-300's range exceeds all A300 models and the -200 exceeds all A300 models in range except the A300-600. This quality has led to the aircraft being used extensively on transatlantic routes. The A300 and A310 introduced the concept of commonality which has become one of the Airbus family's greatest marketing points - A300-600 and A310 pilots can qualify for the other aircraft with only one day of training.

Beginnings

The aircraft was formally launched in July 1978 for Lufthansa and Swissair. A further development of the A300, the aircraft was initially designated the A300 B10. Essentially a "baby" A300, the main differences in the two aircraft are

• Shortened fuselage - same cross section, providing capacity of about 200.
• Redesigned wing - designed by British Aerospace who rejoined Airbus consortium
• Smaller vertical fin

The A310 is marketed as an excellent introduction to widebody operations for developing airlines. With the Airbus A330 now a major success, further orders for the A310 are unlikely. 255 A310s were delivered by Airbus from 1983 to 1997. The A300 and A310 established Airbus as a major competitor to Boeing and allowed it to go ahead with the more ambitious A330/A340 family.

Go to Airbus A310 page 2.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.