Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

Airbus has finished structural assembly of the aft fuselage destined for the first flying <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2011-12-09/airbus-starts-joining-first-a350-xwb-front-fuselage">A350 XWB</a> (MSN1) at its manufacturing site in Hamburg, Germany. Plans now call for the fuselage section to undergo its secondary interior structural assembly and system installation before delivery to the A350 XWB final assembly line in Toulouse, France.


Airbus’s process for assembling the aft fuselage involves using the rear fuselage barrel as a guide and support for assembling the four aft fuselage panels (two lateral, one upper, one lower) and floor grid, which together form the aft fuselage. This assembly method differs from that of other Airbus programs, where technicians first assemble the panels and floor grid into a full barrel, to which they subsequently join the rear fuselage section.


The 65-foot-long carbon-fiber A350 XWB aft fuselage consists of the rear fuselage barrel, produced at Airbus’ Getafe plant in Spain, two lateral aft fuselage panels made by Premium Aerotec in Germany and the upper and lower aft fuselage panels manufactured by Airbus in Stade, Germany.

Airbus Completes First A350 XWB Aft Fuselage

Airbus has finished building the aft fuselage for the first A350 XWB.

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