Airbus A320 - an alternative to Boeing 737

Developing and designing the Airbus A320, the European consortium Airbus SAS sought to squeeze out the American Boeing company , whose aircraft at that time dominated on small and medium-sized airlines. It was not possible to win the whole market, but considerable achievements were achieved, this aircraft is in the second place in the world after its popularity after the Boeing 737.

The A-320 became the first airliner in the design of which the electric remote control system was applied. There are no familiar steering wheels in the cockpit, they are replaced by small handles like joysticks used for computer games. In this case, the signal from the manipulator, called "sidstick", is processed by the on-board computer, which evaluates the correctness of the pilot's actions, which also gives a signal for service engines that deflect the slats, flaps and steering wheel.

The dashboard has also become different, instead of the usual scales, most of it is occupied by electron beam monitors, which display the flight parameters and the readings of the sensors.

A new technological solution has been applied in the world aircraft industry - all horizontal planes and elements of wing mechanization are made of composite materials. In general, plastic is used in the design is unprecedented widely, it makes up a fifth of the weight of an empty aircraft.

A feature of the design were wide hatches of cargo compartments, facilitating loading and unloading.

Airbus A320 is a narrow-body aircraft, but this does not mean that it has a low capacity. The number of passengers is 150-180 people. The internal volume of the fuselage is divided into two salons - a business class and an economy class. Since the purpose of this liner does not involve many hours of flying, it is the economy class that is most popular, so the seating arrangement here is simple-the six seats in the row with the passage in the center, unlike the more prestigious and expensive "business" salon where there are four of them.

In the field of safety, aircraft designers from the Euroconcortium also tried - four emergency exits, which are equipped with Airbus A320, a salon with a lining made of fireproof plastic, the simplest scheme of exit through the main doors.

Became a classic for the Airbus SAS scheme is used, and in this case: a monoplane with a low-swept wing and nacelles suspended under it. Find out Airbus A320 on the ground easily - the rack of its front chassis is deflected forward.

This type of aircraft was produced about four thousand, and most of them (3,945) are now in the air, they are rare. Orders for the Airbus A320 are two thousand more. The first cars were assembled in the French city of Toulouse, but then, due to the increase in production, it was moved to Hamburg-Finkenwerder, to Germany. In recent years, Airbuses began to be mounted in China.

This type of aircraft has been sold since 1987, the first of which was acquired by Air France, then shipments began around the world. In Russia, also operated A320. The photo of the board of Aeroflot company with a tricolor on its tail shows one of the twenty-six airbuses of this series, which are in its ownership.