Bombardier C-series flight test video shows ballast tanks

[MikeC]

....and we all know what happens when true believers see tanks in an aircraft fuselage, so hold onto your hats!!


the Egress system looks quite interesting - the Montreal Gazette says it:

...allows the crew to bail out by rushing to the aircraft's mid-section and take turns sitting on a metal contraption that would then catapult the parachute-equipped members out of the bottom of the aircraft. The manoeuvre, however, could only work above a certain altitude.

Content from external source

 

[captfitch]

I know two of those guys. That's the company I work for.

 

[MikeC]

Can you find out how that egress system works just for curiosity then??

Ta

 

[captfitch]

I can ask around but info comes slow out of Canada. They are super busy testing right now.

 

[Jay Reynolds]

Sounds like a James Bond ejection seat.

 

[Joe]

Another test video showing ballast tanks the first A350 XWB takes off . They even wear parachutes ?

 

[WeedWhacker]

They even where parachutes ?

Some of the test flights require parachutes, yes...first flight, and the flutter tests.

 

[captfitch]

I imagine the only tests that require parachutes are the ones with the catapult installed. Surely for weight and balance sake they remove that system for the majority of the process. Don't really know though.

I would really hope with the proliferation of flight test videos including ballast tanks that the conspiracy theorists would drop that argument.

 

[Leifer]

Here's another Bombardier video, showing and explaining the water ballast tank test procedure
from the 2013 Paris Air Show...

 

[Trailblazer]

I don't think I've seen any pics of this aircraft doing the rounds on the chemsites yet. They're still heavily pushing the Boeing 747-8 at Paris in 2011 though!

 

[BombDr]

I love that Egress system, but it does look a bit like this:

Which had an unfortunate syndrome of smashing your face into the edge of the opening once the slipstream hits your legs, called 'ringing the bell'....

Looks like the vertical drop egress system depicted here has an integral airflow deflector, otherwise it could seriously hurt!