Author: Jon Ostrower

Breaking: Virgin America to buy up to 60 A320 with sharklets, originally uploaded by flightblogger.

FARNBOROUGH — US carrier Virgin America has announced its intent to order 40 A320 aircraft equipped with sharklets plus 20 more options.

Deliveries of the aircraft are expected to begin in 2013. This order, when firmed, will triple the airline’s fleet.

FARNBOROUGH — Since its first flight in February, Boeing’s 747-8F flight test program has
completed roughly a third of its 1600h flight test campaign, though steady momentum has been elusive, as the new jumbo freighter has encountered one time consuming technical issue after another.

The sum of three main issues, including two more recent ones, have eaten Boeing’s remaining margin, causing Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, Jim Albaugh, to caution that “The entry into service could slip into 2011.”

With the landing gear door flap vibration issue now resolved, flight test challenges have given way to troubleshooting two primary issues.

The first centers on the aircraft’s inboard ailerons and the power control unit that drives them. Boeing found that when a pilot makes a slow input on the jumbo jet’s
controls the high pressures in the hydraulic system cause an oscillation, requiring a fix in the actuator, according to two 747-8 program sources.

The second, the freighter was found to encounter a structural flutter at mid-weight near cruise speed, requiring engineers to dampen out the aeroelastic vibration. Options for resolution include adding structure to the wing or potentially developing a new control law to avoid the condition.

RC501, the lead flight test aircraft based at Boeing Field in Seattle, has for the last month and a half has been dedicated to trouble-shooting both issues. Programme sources say the company aims to complete resolution on the flutter issue by the close of the month.

Boeing declined to address the specific issues encountered by the program, though the company continues to caution that while first delivery to Cargolux remains “at risk”, certification is remains targeted for year end, adding:

The 747-8 Freighter flight test development program is a dynamic process of performance demonstration, validation and issue identification and resolution. To date, we’ve flown approximately 550 hours and completed substantial airworthiness, aerodynamic performance and systems testing. Over the course of testing, technical issues are discovered and resolved. As we advance toward completion of flight testing, fewer and fewer discoveries are expected. As we have previously demonstrated, when an issue arises, we address it immediately.

With five months to go in that goal, Boeing’s remaining flight test margin is virtually gone, with the company’s Flight Operations, Test & Validation organization looking for ways to find – or create – contingency where available. Boeing has already opted to grow its flight test fleet from three to four, with the addition of RC503, which may fly before the week is out, heading immediately into high intensity radiated field (HIRF) testing in Arizona.

Compared to its composite stablemate the 787, which has progressed more swiftly through its flight test campaign, 747-8F has struggled to find its footing along side the company’s flagship program. While still technically a derivative aircraft of the 747 family, the aircraft’s all-new fly-by-wire wing, engines and avionics, make it a significantly different aircraft from the variants that preceded it.

The length of its approximately ten month flight test program is on par with past Boeing programs, though the pressures of dual flight testing both the 747-8 and 787 side-by-side made its schedule aggressive.

Yet, while it has been Boeing’s signature product for the last 40 years, the 747 has never been the company’s primary focus even in its earliest days competing for resources against the  Supersonic Transport program. As it has progressed, Boeing has incorporated advancements developed for other new programs back into the jumbo, enabling step changes in efficiency during the type’s four decades in service.

Boeing holds orders for 108 747-8 aircraft, including 76 of the freighter variant.

Sunset over Farnborough, originally uploaded by flightblogger.

FARNBOROUGH — Day three is done. Dusk speaks for itself.

FARNBOROUGH — Finding time at the show to download, tweak and upload photos during an air show is harder than finding a (insert snark here) at an air show. I’ve uploaded 177 photos from Sunday and Monday-Wednesday’s will follow tomorrow. I’ve got about 935 to sort through, so it may take a little. This set is dominated by 787’s arrival on Sunday and the tour on board, though also includes A400M, Qatar’s 777-300ER and Etihad Crystal Cargo’s A330F. Enjoy.

Breaking: Superjet earns MoU from first North American market customer, originally uploaded by flightblogger.

FARNBOROUGH — Pearl Aircraft Corporation, a new Bermuda based lessor, has announced memorandum of understanding to purchase 30 Sukhoi Superjet aircraft plus 15 options. The order marks the first order for the 100 seat jetliner in the North American market.

Day Two Order Tally:

Airbus:
Hong Kong Airlines – converted 15 XA330 to 15 x A350 (MoU) ordered 10 x A330 (MoU)
LAN – 50 x A320 (MoU)
RBS Aviation – 53 x A320 (previously booked as unidentified customer)
Total – 91 x A320, 20 x A321, 11 x A330

ATR:
Air Lease Corp – 10 x ATR-72-600
Azul – 20 x ATR-72-600
Golden Airlines – 2 x ATR-72-500
Lao Airlines – 2 x ATR-72-500
Total – 30 x ATR-72-600, 4 x ATR-72-500

Boeing:
Air Lease Corp – 54 x 737 + 6 x 737 (options)
Avolon Air Lease – 12 x 737 (ordered in 2009)
RBS Aviation – 43 x 737-800 (previously booked as an unidentified customer)
Royal Jordanian Airlines – 3 x 787-8 (previously ordered as an unidentified customer)
Total – 109 x 737, 12 x 777-300ER

Bombardier:
Vista Jet – 4 x Global Express XRS, 2 Challenger 605
Russian Customer – 4 x Global Express XRS
Total – 10 x Global 5000 + XRS, 3 x Challenger 605

Embraer:
Air Lease Corp – 15 x E190
Azul – 5 x E195
Flybe – 35 x E175
Trip Airlines – 2 x E190
Total – 35 x E175, 17 x E190, 5 x E195

Sukhoi:
Orient Thai Airlines – 12 x SSJ-100 Super Jets
Total – 42 x SSJ-100

News Wrap:

• Air Lease orders 10 ATR 72-600s
• Sukhoi expecting Alitalia decision on Superjet
• Air Lease signs LOI for 10 Embraers
• Thomson to be first European 787 operator
• LAN to sell A318 fleet
• Brazil’s TRIP orders two Embraer 190s
• HK Airlines tentatively signs for A350s, A330s
• Etihad takes delivery of first A330-200F
• NAC acquires seven ATRs
• Emirates warns that physical constraints threaten further orders
• LAN signs tentative deal for 50 A320s
• ATR logs 42 orders during the half-year
• Azul orders 20 ATR 72-600s
• New lessor Avolon orders 12 Boeing 737-800s
• Rolls-Royce outlines Advance engine plans
• Flybe taking Embraers for continental push
• AgustaWestland unveils ‘game-changing’ AW169
• Flybe orders up to 140 Embraer jets
• Qatar blames P&W for CSeries impasse
• GP7200 to power all 90 of Emirates’ A380s
• NA sees beyond KC-X for US market growth

FARNBOROUGH — Over the last twelve hours the conversation here at the show has shifted. From an industry left wondering if Bombardier’s new jet would leave its mark on the show to strong signals that CSeries order(s) may be just hours away.

While the Canadian airframer maintains that the air show is one event in the course of the year, a perennially impatient industry is caught in the expectations game. The summer mega shows are akin to Major League Baseball’s All Star Game, home field advantage in the World Series to the winner.
Yet the pennant is won over 162 other games.

Though the significance of gathering the industry’s All Stars together in one place cannot be understated. The world is your stage, and shaping perception, especially for a new market entrant, is reality. Bombardier’s CSeries may just be ready for its chance in the starting line up on Wednesday at Farnborough.

Stay tuned.

Superjet provides SSJ100 flight test update, originally uploaded by flightblogger.

FARNBOROUGH — Superjet International, a joint venture between Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and Alenia Aeronautica, further detailed the progress of its SSJ100 flight test program.

Sukhoi, who is responsible for the assembly, production and testing of the new 100 seater, says the certification campaign is 70% complete having flown 1800h over 710 flights.

The aircraft is currently undergoing hot ands high testing in Armenia. The next phase, which will begin in August will see the regional jet fly to a dedicated airport in Italy for high-intensity radio frequency (HIRF) testing.

Three SSJ100 aircraft will be delivered to Aeroflot and Armavia. The company says six aircraft are in final assembly, with 18 in production oveall.