Steady progress is being made on the first A400M aircraft “MSN001” in Seville. In October, the fuselage barrel was joined to the nose fuselage section and equipped with the sponsons and landing gear.

The wing sections were assembled and the four engine pylons installed. In November, the complete 42m long wing structure was successfully integrated with the fuselage and, in early December, the fully-assembled empennage, (comprising the vertical and horizontal tail plane), and the main landing gear doors were put in place.

In parallel, a development engine was delivered to Marshall Aerospace in the third week of November and installed on a modified C-130 airframe.

Engine trials with the flying test bed will begin during the first quarter of 2008.