Author: Jon Ostrower

Last week’s crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 brought the reality of aircraft icing back to the forefront of the aviation safety discussion. The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 was on approach to Buffalo Thursday night in wintry conditions when the aircraft experienced a sudden loss of control leading to a crash about five miles away from the airport.

Early indications have pointed to icing buildup as a potential cause for the loss of control. NASA has done extensive research on aircraft icing including exploring the impact on small turboprop aircraft:

“With the increasing take off and landing cycles of turboprop aircraft each year, these aircraft are statistically more exposed to potential icing conditions for a greater percentage of flight time than aircraft flying longer and higher altitude routes.”

The video explores, in a highly controlled flight test environment, the kind of techniques used to safely fly an aircraft that is facing tailplane icing.

Quite chillingly, the narrator discusses the results of testing:

There are three paths that can lead to tail stall conditions if the horizontal stabilizer is contaminated with ice. These are:

• Increasing flaps
• Increasing speed
• Increasing power

Adding:

“If you are flying on autopilot, you would almost certainly miss these symptoms because you would not get any tactile feedback from the controls.”

Unfortunately, the video is not embeddable here due to the permissions, though I highly recommend viewing it directly through Google Video. Special thanks to Nick Oakley for letting me know about this video.

Photo Courtesy of Bombardier

Several people sent me emails recently asking if I could find the 11 minute CNN interview of USAF Col. Mark Tillman. Col. Tillman served as President Bush’s Air Force One pilot for eight years from 2001 to 2009. In case you were wondering, Col. Scott Turner now serves as President Obama’s Air Force One pilot.

I recently found that the interview was put online, so while this blog is flying on autopilot this week, I thought it was a nice item to share, especially in honor of this week’s 40th anniversary celebration of the 747s first flight in 1969.

On Sunday evening, the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 sat down with Katie Couric from CBS News to discuss the extraordinary events of January 15, 2009. There’s not much I can add to this amazing story, so I’ll let Captain CB Sullenberger, First Officer Jeffrey Skiles and Flight Attendants Shelia Dail, Donna Dent and Doreen Welsh tell the story in their own words.

Parts II and III are after the jump.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 747’s first flight, I offer a second documentary produced in 2002 that explores the evolution of the 747 into the -400  and the production improvements that have marked the 747’s tenure in Everett.  For a full exploration of the 747-400’s internal systems, take a look at a previous post that takes you inside the flight deck of a Cathay Pacific 747-400.

I will admit to some overlap in this documentary from the last one, but it features interviews with Joe Sutter, the father of the 747 program, Brien Wydell who served as First Officer on that first flight and Jack Jones who is currently VP of 787 Final Assembly. If nothing else, take this video from the perspective of a historical juxtaposition and watch how the world’s most recognizable passenger airplane has changed over the last four decades.

On February 9, 1969 at 11:00am PT, RA001 – The Spirit of Everett, changed the way the world travels with the first flight of the Boeing 747. The original -100 model, registered N7470, lifted off to the north from Runway 34L at Boeing’s Everett, Washington plant.

Forty years later, that first 747, first flown by Jack Wadell, Brien Wygle and Jesse Wallick would go on to serve as the basis for over a dozen different passenger, freighter and special mission variants, including a fire fighting supertanker, airliner supply chain hauler, airborne laser cannon and of course, Air Force One.

That original model -100 sold for $24 million in 1967, slightly less than the $285-300 million a 747-8 sells for today. Perhaps my favorite fact about the 747, is the idea that the Wright Brothers flight could take place in the wingspan of one of the orginal jumbojets.

The following program is a fitting tribute to the more than 1400 747s that have been built over the years. The documentary, which was made around the 20th anniversary of the 747’s first flight, has amazing archival footage and interviews from the 1960s during the development of the first Boeing 747s.

FlightBlogger is on Vacation
Shocking, I know! It occurred to me recently that I had not taken a vacation since, well, let’s just say that it was before 2008. So, I was quite overdue for some time off. Upon instruction from every single person in my life, I have let my laptop at home and my email has an auto responder this week. Not to worry, I’ll be back next Monday well rested and hopefully with some great photos. The blog, however, will be alive and well with some scheduled content this week, so keep visiting. See you in a week!

If you like FlightBlogger, may I also recommend:
Runway Girl, Flight International blog, Learmount, Left Field, The DEW Line, Airline Business, Unusual Attitude, Hyperbola, Image of the Day blog, Editor’s Blog, Asian Skies, Aviation and the Environment and Terminal Q.

787 & Lightening Strike Protection
This is a must read:

FAA to loosen fuel-tank safety rules, benefiting Boeing’s 787

By Dominic Gates – The Seattle Times

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has quietly decided to
loosen stringent fuel-tank safety regulations written after the 1996
fuel-tank explosion that destroyed flight TWA 800 off the coast of New
York state.

The FAA proposes to relax the safeguards for preventing sparks
inside the fuel tank during a lightning strike, standards the agency
now calls “impractical” and Boeing says its soon-to-fly 787 Dreamliner
cannot meet.

Also, the aft fuselage of Dreamliner Six, the final flight test 787, should find its way to Everett as early as this week from Charleston.

Meet the Airbus A30X
The more and more I read, the more and more I’m convinced that the narrow body replacement battle will be the fiercest competition commercial aviation has ever seen. Boeing and Airbus are quietly working on what each has planned for the next generation, though it still remains that the engine technology is the key pacing item for product development.

Air France’s First A380
MSN033, who’s journey to Toulouse began in December 2007, and was later brought outside for the first time a year ago, is just about ready for her first flight. She was seen taxiing on Friday and her first flight should happen in the EXTREMELY near future.

Final Assembly for BA 777
The first of four (#771) British Airways 777-200ERs ordered in 2007 has entered final body join in Everett. This will be BA’s first 777 delivery since 2001. We still have to wait more than a year to see the first BA 777-300ERs.

In other 777 news…
777F #1 (N5020K) is undergoing full refurbishment out on the Everett flight line for Air France. V Australia got its first 777-300ER (VH-VOZ) and Boeing got some color commentary by Sir Richard Branson. Qatar Airways took delivery of its first 777-200LR (A7-BBA) for flights from Doha to Houston starting March 30th.

757-300 with winglets!
Continental’s first 757-300 (N75851) has been retrofitted with winglets. 

QODT

“Sure, a tiny fraction of business jet users are overleveraged greedbags and bailout-seeking executives; the overwhelming majority are honest and productive members of society.” – Richard Aboulafia

Hawker Beechcraft has canceled the Hawker 450XP program, sources close to the program tell FlightBlogger.

Poor economic conditions appear to be at the root of the cancellation.

“The [Hawker 400XP/450XP] line rates are taking a huge beating due to deferrals and cancellations,” said one source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“As far as I know, there is no change in the program,” said Andrew Broom, spokesman for Hawker Beechcraft.

The Hawker 450XP light jet was officially launched at the National Business Aviation Association convention in October 2008. First delivery of the aircraft was expected in the first quarter of 2010.

The cancellation, if officially confirmed, will be the second of its kind for the 450XP, which saw a previous all-composite iteration shelved in 2002.

The aircraft is an upgraded version of the venerable Hawker 400XP with new Pratt & Whitney Canada PW535D engines and Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics for improved performance.

The Wichita, Kansas based company has recently announced eliminating 2,300 jobs over the next year, and has warned more layoffs may occur in 2009.

European Aviation Safety Agency Validates FAA Certification of Boeing 777 Freighter

EVERETT, Wash., Feb. 06, 2009 — The newest member of the Boeing [NYSE: BA] 777 family,
the 777 Freighter, today received its formal stamp of approval from the
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). EASA validated the U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Feb. 3 type certification of the 777
Freighter.

The certification formally recognizes
that the 777 Freighter has passed the stringent design and testing
requirements mandated by FAA and EASA, clearing the airplane for cargo
service. The first 777 Freighter will deliver to launch customer Air
France later in the quarter.

Photo Credit FlightBlogger

UPDATE 7:37 PM:

BIDDING WAR: FAIL
Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) — Airbus SAS Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy
said the aircraft maker is not in discussions to sell Ryanair Holdings
Plc hundreds of short-haul planes, quashing an attempt by the
Dublin-based airline to provoke a bidding war between the European
manufacturer and Boeing Co., the Financial Times reported.

Ryanair, which operates a fleet of 181 Boeing 737-800s, this week
said it was in early talks with Airbus and Boeing to buy as many as 400
short-haul aircraft, the report said.

Ryanair is planning to place a massive order for 400 aircraft in the next 12-24 months for delivery between 2012 and 2017. Ryanair is known for its large orders, but what makes this revelation significant is not the size of the order, but rather which aircraft manufacturer the airline may order from. Once thought to be among the most loyal Boeing customers, Ryanair is opening the door to Airbus to offer the A320 and A321 to join its all 737-800 fleet.

The Irish airline has always held closely to the low-cost tenet of flying one type of aircraft, but Deputy Chief Executive Officer Michael Cawley insists that, “We’re large enough now to run two fleets. We see no cost handicaps that can’t be overcome by running two fleets.”

Coinciding with this revelation was Pratt & Whitney’s announcement that it had completed its PW1000G Geared Turbofan demonstrator flight test program in Toulouse. The engine was flown under the wing of an Airbus A340-600 for more than 75 hours in its second and final flight test phase.

The test flight program ignited speculation that Airbus was considering flying a 30,000 lb variant of the PW1000G on A320 family aircraft for a significant mid-life performance improvement ahead of a full narrow-body replacement expected late in the next decade at the earliest.

One industry source associated with Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan development says the engine-maker has laid the strategic and budgetary groundwork for developing a PW1000G for the A320 and/or 737 in anticipation of airline demand through the heart of the next decade.

Pratt & Whitney emphasizes that its focus remains on beginning detailed design work for the MRJ and CSeries aircraft engines for a PW1000G entry into service come 2013.

Airbus has always been sensitive about this speculation saying only that flying the PW1000G demonstrator allowed them to understand the technology challenges associated with the engine and that the airframer had no plans to re-engine the A320.

Boeing has been equally quiet about its 737 ‘re-generation’ plans, but the PW1000G is thought to be in its plans as well.

Further fueling the fire of speculation, as a condition of its collaboration with Airbus, Pratt & Whitney has agreed not to release the detailed test results until after Airbus has had the chance to review them in full, potentially providing them a head start on optimizing the A320 for this purpose.

P&W insists this is a courtesy to its flying host, though the protection of the results is more than eyebrow raising and could point to early development stages for re-engining plans, which Airbus said would take 24-30 months to execute on.

Which brings us back to Ryanair and their sudden openness to purchasing 400 Airbus or Boeing aircraft.  Leading the speculation train forward, the removal of “cost handicaps” may originate from a double-digit improvement in fuel burn that could come from a PW1000G powered narrow-body. A true 737/A320 replacement wouldn’t be available until 2020 at least and a mid-term solution might be the right ticket for growth.

Ryanair’s proposed break with tradition is sure to put a spur to both Airbus and Boeing to squeeze every last drop of efficiency out of its venerable narrow-body offerings before it can offer all-new aircraft which airlines would love to get their hands on sometime before I turn forty.

Airbus today crossed the 200 order mark for the A380 with an order for two more of the type by Korean Air. The aircraft, which will operate in a three-class layout will link Seoul to destinations like Los Angeles, New York and Paris.

Today’s announcement brings Korean Air’s total A380 order to 10 aircraft, with the first eight expected between 2010 and 2013. The airline will receive the two additional A380s in May and June of 2014.