FlightBlogger

Author: Jon Ostrower

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  • My Last Post as Editor of FlightBlogger: A Thank You Note

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    ON BOARD UNITED 917 — It’s perhaps only fitting that I author this final post at altitude enroute to Seattle – it’ll post on April 6 – for it is here where I have spent much of the last five years; a window seat in economy, Channel 9 buzzing in my ear, bouncing from one side of the world to the other in pursuit of the technologies that connect the world.
    When your passion meets your profession, the resulting joy of exploring the thing that inspires you to push harder, wake earlier and go to bed later becomes a sustaining force. In fact, it inspired me to adopt “if you fly fast enough, the sun never sets” back when I first joined Flightglobal in 2007, and it would be a fitting one for the pace of the adventure that was to unfold.
    This has not, however, been a solitary exercise. What has been produced here nearly 1,800 times over was not just me. FlightBlogger was the byproduct of those who were willing to place in me their trust to build something greater than the sum of its parts.
    I have learned more about myself and the world around me in the past five years than I could have in any formal classroom and I owe that to the guidance and goodwill of my colleagues, friends and family inside Flightglobal and out, whose wisdom, patience and humor has sustained me.
    If there’s one thing writing FlightBlogger taught me, it’s that avoiding sunsets becomes an exercise in futility. All good things must meet the sunset eventually and stopping to let your world catch up to you is an imperative, for it is here where you hope what you have learned can become a part of who you are for the future.
    This is my final post for this blog, my labor of love this past half-decade and today will be my final day as author of FlightBlogger and as a reporter for Flightglobal. FlightBlogger will continue in good hands, aerospace journalists Stephen Trimble and John Croft, who will be taking over the Boeing beat, will contribute to this page.
    Between my last job and starting at Flightglobal I had about four hours, just enough time to say farewell to my colleagues, go home to my then-apartment in Boston and finish packing my suitcase for the 2007 Dubai Air Show.
    This time, I’ll be taking a few additional hours to breathe before my next assignment. Starting on April 16, I will be the Wall Street Journal’s Boeing and aerospace beat reporter. Later next month I’ll be leaving Washington, DC and moving to be a part of the paper’s Chicago bureau.
    It has been a deep honor to be your guide these past five years, an abiding privilege to be a small part of the 100 year history of Flight International and part of a team of journalists who allow their love of aviation to what drives them day in and day out.
    So I’ll end as I began, asking you to once again stay tuned.
    Thank you.
    Onward,
    Jon Ostrower
    April 6, 2012

    This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

    This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.

  • Photo of Note: Airbus A350 and Boeing 787, side-by-side

    Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 XWB

    When A350 began assembly yesterday, the released photos from Airbus allowed for the first time a side-by-side comparison between the first two majority composite jetliners. On the left is ZA001 from May 2007, then a largely unfinished 787 and on the right is the A350 static test airframe. Most notably the overall architectural differences between Boeing’s monolithic barrel and Airbus’s hybrid composite and aluminum-lithium panel design are clearly illustrated with the A350’s different material color compared to that of the 787.
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    Another photo, or rather an excerpt of a photo, that deserves a note is a part of the A350’s design that has gone undiscussed by Airbus and previously unseen is the aluminum-lithium side-of-body rib for the aircraft’s center wing box. Shaped in an isogrid pattern rather than the spar and stiffener design used on the A380, the A350’s rib 1 design is intended to reduce weight and assembly time as it is a single machined part rather than a collect of web, spar caps and stiffeners fastened together. It’s a first for an Airbus commercial aircraft.

    This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

    This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.

  • Airbus formally activates A350 final assembly line

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    Airbus has begun assembly of the A350 static test airframe, MSN5000, at its Toulouse facility, officially activating the new final assembly line. The December arrival of the forward fuselage from St. Nazaire was followed Wednesday by the center fuselage built up at the same French site. With both now in Toulouse, Airbus formally began joining the major structural pieces at Station 59 inside the assembly line. The wings and aft fuselage from Broughton and Hamburg, respectively, will be arriving in Toulouse in the weeks to come, says Airbus. More photos below the fold.
    Assembly of MSN1, the first flying A350 test aircraft, is slated to follow in July say program sources. MSN5000 won’t require systems outfitting as MSN1 does, and will proceed through the normal assembly process.
    Here’s a step-by-step overview of the A350 assembly flow:

    Airbus A350 Final Assembly Layout


    Station 59 

    After arriving with sections from across the A350’s pre-final assembly facilities, the fuselage structure is unloaded from the A300-600ST “Beluga” and are placed in a bay in the northwest corner of the final assembly line called Station 59. This pre-assembly position has room for two complete A350 airframes. Taking advantage of the open-ended fuselage sections, crews will install the primary interior monuments, flight and cabin crew rests without having to worry about access after the fuselage join begins.
    Station 50 
    After the three main fuselage sections have been prepared at Station 59, each is moved to Station 50 to begin the full mechanical fuselage join. Here the nose landing gear will be installed along with a dummy main landing gear assembly to move the airframe to the next station. This full fuselage assembly is different from the A330, which begins assembly through the join up of the wings to a center fuselage barrel. 
    Station 40 
    Upon rollout from Station 50, the joined fuselage will move to the south to one of two main final assembly bays to Station 40. The wings are moved by crane into position and it is here where the join takes place, along with horizontal and vertical tail plane installations and power is first activated on the aircraft. 
    The A350 tooling is designed to allow the physical join to take place on separate levels from the cabin installations inside the fuselage, which can happen much earlier in the assembly process because the fuselage is ready for the interior fitting after the work at Station 50. Main landing gear installation takes place in Station 40 as well.
    Station 30 
    The completed airframe is then towed from Station 40 to the north part of the final assembly line to one of two positions at Station 30 for cabin completion and aircraft system tests that include check-outs of the the flight controls, flaps, slats and landing gear.
    Station 18
    The aircraft is then moved outside for a first spate of ground tests that can’t safely or practically be completed indoors, conducting pressurization and radio evaluations before moving to the paint hangar and then to the flight line.
    Station 20
    After being painted, the aircraft will be moved to Station 20, which is shared with the A330 line to the west of the main A350 final assembly building. It is here where the aircraft undergoes final cabin installations and fitting of its twin Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines before moving to the flight line.
    Photos Credit Airbus

    This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

    This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.

  • Bombardier stares down CSeries pricing challenge

    Narrowbody Battle

    Despite claiming significant performance and operating economic advantages over its narrowbody competitors, top lessors appear unwilling to embrace the Bombardier CSeries on two criteria outside of the control of its engineers: Price and residual value.
    “Something’s missing I can’t explain it,” says Steven Udvar-Hazy, chairman and CEO of Air Lease Corp. 
    “We’ve had offers. They’re not attractive compared to Embraer,” which has successfully sold 30 aircraft to ALC, says Hazy, who believes there’s a disconnect between what the market is willing to pay for the CSeries versus what Bombardier believes the aircraft’s capabilities are worth.
    Bombardier says the PW1524G-powered CSeries improves fuel burn by 20% and cash operating costs by 15% on a per seat basis compared to its Boeing and Airbus competitors and provides a range up to 5,500 km (2,950 nm).
    “It’s not magic, it’s physics,” says Chet Fuller, Bombardier senior vice president, sales, marketing and asset management of the aircraft’s performance. 
    “The the fuel consumption on the airplane looks very, very good. Looks like we’re going to make exactly the right thrust with right [specific fuel consumption] at entry into service. Program weight is going to be at spec, basically, at EIS,” he says.
    Bombardier has garnered 138 firm orders for the CSeries, plus 134 options and purchase rights and 45 commitments – including two lessors – for the aircraft and JP Morgan aerospace industry analyst Joe Nadol sees a coming Chinese CSeries order, causing him to list Bombardier’s stock as his top pick for April.
    “When you build an airplane with all those capabilities, can you get paid a premium for them?  The counter argument to those capabilities is to only build and charge what customers really need and perhaps this is why the Embraer 190/195 program has been so successful.” says Jeff Knittel, CIT president of transportation finance.
    Boeing’s all-new 787 and its composite materials and more-electric architecture did not receive a premium during the first several years of its sales run, building a backlog that has hampered near-term unit profitability of the program. 
    Embraer’s own focus for growing its market share has centered around acquisition cost, for example arranging a financing deal with Flybe to ensure trip-costs of its 75-seat E-175 were able to match those of Bombardier’s more fuel efficient Q400 turboprop.
    Knittel explains the performance of the CSeries is attractive: “I’ve never had somebody not take an airplane from me as a lessor because it’s had too much range,” says Knittel, “they may not pay extra for the capability, but they’ll always take it.” 
    The conundrum for Bombardier is two-fold, say industry officials. The first, they say, Bombardier believes a drop in price could tarnish the value of the aircraft’s new technology, irreparably injuring the profit potential.
    Bombardier CEO Pierre Beaudoin have reiterated his comfort with the company’s pricing strategy, which places the list price for the CS100 and CS300 at $58.28 and $66.57 million, respectively, says the airframer.
    Both figures remain below the list prices for the smaller aircraft in the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families, and their re-engined Neo and Max equivalents. However, both airframers have sufficiently deep pockets to pitch their offers well below those levels. Embraer’s list price for its E-195 stands at approximately $47 million, albeit with older powerplants than the CSeries.
    Yet, Hazy sees the airframer caught between two difficult positions about establishing the aircraft in the market: “What’s going to be the residual value in 10 years, 15, I don’t know? It depends on the customer base. They’ve got to build the customer base. Even if it means sacrificing pricing, because if they don’t, they won’t have a successful program.”
    The second centers on the cost of production:
    “The question is can you produce an airplane cheap enough to make sense in that space? Because it is about economics, when you shrink airplanes, it tends to be expensive,” says Knittel.
    For Boeing and Airbus and its existing customer base, the trend toward larger narrowbodies, have moved away from smaller 737-700 and A319 models, heavily weighted to the larger A320-200 and 737-800. On a per seat basis, a larger aircraft can garner a higher price compared to the cost to build each model.
    Sandwiched between Boeing and Airbus’ duopoly pricing and high rate production, Hazy says Bombardier all-new CSeries will be further pressed as Embraer charts a re-engined 4-12 seat stretch of the E-190 and E-195 model E-Jets.
    Hazy says the incremental development strategy Embraer has adopted for its next generation E-Jets allows the Brazilian airframer to compete on price, by adopting the newest generation of engines for a comparatively lower cost to design and industrialise with its existing infrastructure. 
    Photos Credit Airbus, Boeing & Bombardier

    This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

    This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.

  • Movie Tuesday – April 3 – The Birth of Concorde

    This week’s Movie Monday takes a deep look at the birth of the first commercially operational supersonic airliner, Aerospatiale/BAe Concorde. The development of the Mach 2.4 aircraft goes back through the technical origins that served as the basis for the drooping nose, delta wing design of jet. The hour-long documentary examines the material and aerodynamic properties and the challenges to sustain both low and high-speed stability, as well as the trans-atlantic political dynamics of the supersonic aircraft fielded by Tupolev and Boeing.
    One overlooked fact about the Concorde and its ultra-luxurious reputation is that it carries no more passengers than today’s Embraer 190, which has a fuselage 6in wider and 2in taller than that of the supersonic transport. The comparisons between the two aircraft types diverge significantly from here.
    The program also provides a retrospective on the 4,000h of flight testing for Concorde, including the extreme conditions under which the the prototype aircraft were subjected. Once the production models became available, the Anglo-French partnership, the foundation for today’s Airbus, took Concorde on a world tour in 1972 which included sales of the aircraft to both China and Iran. Neither customer took delivery.
    The prevailing wisdom about Concorde is that its thirsty Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engines and its 100 premium passenger capacity made its operation a loss-making venture for Air France and British Airways during its life. Though according to BA, the airline invested £1 billion in the fleet during its operation and another site, concordesst.com, claims that the British carrier earned £1.75 billion in revenue from Concorde. Though despite that life-time profitability, low load factors, high fuel costs and expensive maintenance eventually made the retirement of the French and British Concordes inevitable. 
    Enjoy!

    This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

    This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.

  • A Closer Look: Inside Japan Airlines’ first 787

    Japan Airlines has been in possession of its first two 787s since last Sunday when it took delivery of Airplanes 23 and 33. Both departed Everett the following day for Tokyo – Haneda and Narita Airports, respectively – and will begin formal commercial service on April 22 when the Japanese capital is linked for the first time to Boston’s Logan International Airport.

    The aircraft are outfitted with 186 seats, the airline’s long-haul configuration and feature 42 lie-flat B/E Aerospace MiniPod seats in a 2-2-2 configuration for executive class passengers, and in economy 144 Recaro CL3510 seats in 2-4-2 arrangement. JAL is also the launch customer for the i8000 series in-flight entertainment from Thales.
    Like All Nippon Airways, JAL has added a stand-up bar unit from JAMCO at door two below the LED-lit archway. However, this bar looks to be exclusively for its premium customers, not those in economy. 

    Additionally, JAL has tailored the 787’s custom LED lighting to fit its branding with four distinct color schemes to reflect the Japanese seasons with green, blue, orange and pink lighting for the aircraft’s four cabin zones.
    In addition to the video walk-through above (which can be compared to ANA’s configuration), I’ve included more than 200 photos of the delivery ceremonies, interior tour, external walk-around and flyaway of both JA825J and JA822J below the fold.

    This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

    This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.

  • Lufthansa pegs Dulles as first 747-8 destination (update1)

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    Lufthansa has announced Washington, DC’s Dulles International Airport will be the German airline’s first destination for its 747-8 Intercontinental, which will be delivered around April 23, according to Lufthansa Technik.

    The company did not specify a date for the aircraft’s planned daily operation from it Frankfurt base to Dulles, but will replace its 747-400 on the route, operating as Lufthansa flight 419, says Cristoph Franz, the carrier’s president and chairman.
    The three-class 386-seat 747-8 features the company’s new business class product and Boeing’s 787-style bins and LED lighting.

    This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

    This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.

  • From the engine beat: JAL’s (twin) 787 delivery, Trent 999/1000, PW1500G pushes into cert

    Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner JA822J/N1003W ZA177


    JAL take first (and second) 787 on March 25
    Japan Airlines, second customer for the 787, will contractually take delivery of its first 787 on March 25 before a flyaway departure to Tokyo the following day. The final regulatory hurdle before delivery was cleared earlier this week when the Federal Aviation Administration gave final approvals to both the original Block 4 and PIP1 GEnx-1B engines. The two GEnx configurations will be interspersed among the early GE-powered 787 deliveries. 
    There are strong indications that JAL will not take delivery of not one, but two 787s on Sunday, the program’s first dual delivery. Delivery of Airplane 23 (JA822J) is firm at this point, while Airplane 33 (JA825J) may be slated for a late afternoon Monday flyaway as well, say program sources.
    I’ll be traveling to Seattle late Sunday for the delivery ceremonies and JAL interior unveiling on Monday.
    Pratt & Whitney PW1500 certification trials
    The PW1524G, Bombardier’s CSeries CS100 engine, has begun major FAA certification trials with icing runs at the engine-maker Manitoba, Canada facility. Certification tests official began in mid-January with low pressure turbine stress tests. The engine has undergone more than 1,350h of full testing and nearly 250h under the wing of the company’s Boeing 747SP test bed. As of last week, P&W had completed 2000h split between the PW1500G and MRJ’s PW1200G engines covering more than 5,000 cycles. 
    Trent 1000 reliability tops 99.9%
    Five months after its introduction with All Nippon Airways, the Trent 1000 engine has topped a dispatch reliability of 99.9%, says Rolls-Royce. The engine-maker notes it is the best introduction of a new RR engine, which has flown more than 4,000h since its late October service entry.

    This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

    This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.

  • Udvar-Hazy weighs in on 737 Max, 787-10X, E-198 E-Jet revamp

    Hazy Pane

    SCOTTSDALE — A busy first day at ISTAT is currently in the book and we had an opportunity to sit down with Air Lease CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy, who weighed in on a variety of topics. For a year-by-year comparison, make sure to re-read our interview with Udvar-Hazy from ISTAT 2011.
    Air Lease Corp chief executive Steven Udvar-Hazy, a vocal advocate for Boeing’s now-shelved New Small Airplane concept, says the airframer’s strategy to develop the CFM International Leap-1B-powered 737 Max is intended as a bridge to a clean sheet design arriving in the middle of the next decade and “not a long-term solution”.
    A fierce battle is brewing between GE, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney to supply as many as 3,000 engines to power the re-vamped Embraer E-Jet family.
    Steven Udvar-Hazy, Air Lease Corp chief executive describes the three-way contest as “a real dogfight”. He anticipates as many as 3,000 engines could be at stake through a sole-source contract to power the Embraer 198, the moniker given to the conceptual aircraft by ALC.
    Lufthansa and Air Lease Corp (ALC) are vying for launch customer status on Boeing’s proposed stretched 787-10X.
    If Boeing moves ahead to “launch the airplane, we could be a definitive launch customer for the -10, in tandem with [ordering] some -9s. So that’s in the oven,” says Steven Udvar-Hazy, chief executive of ALC.
    Photos Credit Boeing & Embraer

    This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.

    This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.