FlightBlogger Archive 2007-2012

Category: FlightBlogger

Breaking: Airbus A350 service entry slips to first half of 2014 (Update4)

TOULOUSE – Airbus has shifted final assembly of the first A350 XWB to the first quarter of 2012, with service entry of the new majority composite widebody with launch customer Qatar Airways to the first half of 2014, parent EADS has announced in its third quarter results.

Further, EADS has announced a €200 million charge on the program.

The company has cited the “maturity of the A350 XWB main components” as Airbus primary focus, though no other details about the reasons for the slip have been released yet.

Few details are expected to be released at this point by EADS, though a small contingent of journalists (including this one) is in Toulouse, site of the A350 final assembly line, for a comprehensive day of briefings that is expected to explain the current state of the program.

UPDATE 10:34 CET: Airbus A350 XWB program chief Didier Evrard says the start of assembly of the static test specimen (ES), the first A350 to be brought together in Toulouse, is paced by the complexity of the aircraft’s center fuselage panels and fixed trailing edge, supplied by Spirit AeroSystems and GKN, respectively.

The second aircraft assembled in Toulouse will be MSN001, the first A350 to fly, followed by an identical flight test aircraft in MSN003, while the fatigue aircraft (EF1, 2 & 3) will come fourth and subsequently MSN002, which is the airframer’s interior test bed.

Photo 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.

November 10, 2011
Travel Night: IAD-AMS-TLS

Travel Night: IAD-AMS-TLS, originally uploaded by flightblogger.

Greetings from KLM Flight 652. This 2006 model Airbus A330-200 (PH-AOF) will take me across the Atlantic tonight to Amsterdam headed for Toulouse to spend a few days with Airbus. Thursday morning will feature a comprehensive day-long briefing on the A350 XWB, which coincidentally coincides with the EADS third quarter earnings release.

The last time I was in Toulouse, Airbus was still selecting supplier partners for the aircraft and today those suppliers are feverishly working to complete and deliver parts to final assembly. The program’s schedule will be the centerpiece of the discussions on Thursday, but beyond that the spectre of the A380 and 787 loom large. Seeing how the company and its relationship with its diverse engineering corps, suppliers and customers interact and solve the program’s challenges are seen as the key to learning the lessons of the last two clean sheet widebody jetliners. More as the week unfolds. Time to fly.

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.

November 8, 2011
ANA sees first significant glitch as 787 main gear fails to extend on first try

All Nippon Airways saw its first significant 787 operational hiccup Sunday, as the newly introduced aircraft suffered a malfunction that prevented that the main gear from extending on its the crew’s first attempt.

A photograph taken of JA801A while on approach to Okayama, the first of two destinations served by the 787 from Tokyo’s Handed Airport by ANA, show the main landing gear doors in the retracted position, while the nose gear extended normally.

The Wall St. Journal indicated that a failed hydraulic valve was at fault, being replaced on site. It is not know if the first of two 787s ANA is operating has re-entered scheduled service.

Photos taken of the aircraft following landing at Okayama, which show the nose and main landing gear body doors hanging free from the aircraft, indicates indicates the crew selected an alternate gear swing to achieve full extension.

Boeing and ANA have not yet responded to a request for comment.

ANA began its first scheduled routes on 1 November between Tokyo-Haneda airport and Okayama and Hiroshima.

The 787’s landing gear is hydraulically actuated by the center 5000psi hydraulic system. The center system and its twin electric-motor-driven hydraulic pumps actuates the flaps, nose gear and steering, main gear and flight controls. One of the two center system pumps is constantly running, while the second is available during high demand phases of flight.

Left and right engine driven primary demand pumps are responsible for flight control actuation, both of which are engine-driven pumps.

Each main landing gear has four different hydraulic valve modules, each responsible for a different part of the sequence of raising and lowering of the 787’s main landing gear and associated body doors.

Photo Credit FlyTeam.jp User Mosochiku 妄想竹さん

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.

November 7, 2011
Engineless taxi system WheelTug gets its first customer in El Al

There’s an old joke in aircraft design that the perfect engine is the one that burns no fuel and makes no noise. Until they become available, airframers, engine makers, suppliers and novel inventors work feverishly to squeeze every ounce of propulsive and acoustic efficiency out of an aircraft.

Isaiah Cox, CEO of WheelTug, believes he has found a way to deliver that engine, at least for a small part of each trip away from the gate. Cox is banking that little changes can be very green; environmentally and economically friendly.

We’re “saving the engines to do what they do best”, he says.

In Barcelona this morning, Cox announced El Al Israel Airlines will become launch customer for WheelTug’s engineless taxi system, aiming to be in operational service aboard the first of its 14 Next Generation 737 aircraft in the second quarter of 2013 after the technology is certified with an FAA supplemental type certificate (STC).

Photo Credit Andrew W. Sieber

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.

November 7, 2011
Flying the 787: This passenger’s perspective (Update with Video)

So, what is it like to fly the 787?

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.

November 4, 2011
Boeing picks 68in fan, nose gear extension, fly-by-wire for 737 MAX (Update2)

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh has announced that the company will fit a 68in CFM Leap-1B engine on its 737 MAX family. In addition, the design will add fly-by-wire “one control surface” and the larger fan will prompt a 6-8in extension of the nose landing gear.

Albaugh also says that the company now holds “north of 600 commitments” for the re-engined narrowbody. UPDATE: This has grown from five to eight customers.
UPDATE: In August when the 737 MAX was officially launched, Albaugh said: “Certainly with the 66 [inches] there’s no modifications, and I think even with the 68 [inches] a very low probability we’ll have to touch the front gear.”

The question of whether or not a nose blister for the larger gear comes into the fray, however, a year ago Boeing said it had essentially cracked the problem by relocating equipment from the forward electronics equipment bay and creating a larger nose landing gear wheel well for the extended strut. Also, company sources point to the spoilers as the recipient of the fly-by-wire upgrade.

UPDATE 1:30 PM ET: Boeing has just put out a release saying the 737 MAX will achieve firm configuration in 2013, with first flight of the type to follow in 2016.

Photo & Slide Credit Boeing

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.

November 3, 2011
Video: LOT 767-300ER makes gear up landing at Warsaw

It ain’t a miracle, it’s engineering.

LOT Polish Airlines flight 16 from Newark made a gear-up landing at Warsaw airport around 1:42 PM local time with 230 aboard. The 1997 Boeing 767-300ER (SP-LPC) sustained heavy damage upon landing, none of the 230 aboard were injured.

UPDATE: The video has been pulled from YouTube, though the screenshots have replaced the video taken from Polish TV.

UPDATE 11:24 AM ET: Reuters has video (embedding disabled) from a different angle at the moment of touchdown on the runway.

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.

November 1, 2011
Boeing completes 747-8I certification flight testing (Update3)

Boeing has completed certification flight testing on its 747-8 Intercontinental test fleet, the company confirms, setting the jumbo on a path to US Federal Aviation Administration approval later this quarter.

After flying from Barbados to Houston today, the aircraft marked the completion of its systems functionality and reliability (F&R) flight testing, the final phase of its evaluations. RC003, flying as BOE440, signifying the 1440th 747 built, is currently enroute to Paine Field. The aircraft was non-instrumented for the trials.

The airframer quietly announced in its 10Q US Securities and Exchange Commission last week that the first delivery of a VIP configured “green” 747-8I would slip to 2012, citing “a delay in flight testing and the time required to incorporate all flight test driven changes.”

While flying for FAA certification credit is complete, the test fleet of three aircraft will continue post-certification testing and additional validation of the VIP and airline interiors.

Further, with the completion of ~~extended operations (ETOPS) and~~ F&R trials, ~~the 747-8I becomes the first four-engine passenger aircraft to complete ETOPS evaluations~~. ETOPS rules were updated in 2007 to include four-engine aircraft starting in 2015, though Boeing opted to include it in the Intercontinental’s certification ahead of the requirement.

UPDATE: Boeing clarified the status of ETOPS certification for the 747-8I, saying that because it was not required by the initial FAA requirements it was not completed as part of the certification trials that wrapped up on October 31. Continued flying of the test fleet will include completion of the ETOPS validation on the 747-8I in the coming days, says Boeing.

Because of overlapping certification efforts, the -8F will also be certified under ETOPS rules. The freighter did not undergo ETOPS testing because its customers did not require it for its shorter missions.

Boeing began the 747-8I’s flight test campaign on March 20 with RC001‘s first flight from Paine Field.

Delivery to Lufthansa, whose RC021 served as test aircraft, will eventually become D-ABYE, is expected in the first quarter of 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.

October 31, 2011
Video Blog: To Hong Kong with All Nippon’s first 787 service

I’m back stateside recovering from jetlag after last week’s five day tour of Asia, and I’ve decided to start Movie Monday a bit earlier than usual. Typically I post Movie Monday around 6:30 AM ET, but as it’s just a few hours into Monday in Tokyo and Hong Kong, it was only right to post a bit a head of schedule. Today’s Movie Monday is also the second installment (see the first) of the 787’s entry into service. Running just over 12 minutes, we take you through the day and on board JA801A for All Nippon Airways first commercial service, it’s special charter to Hong Kong. Another post will follow later this week covering observations and impressions from the new jet. 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.

October 30, 2011
Travel Day: NRT-JFK

Travel Day: NRT-JFK, originally uploaded by flightblogger.

TOKYO — What a whirlwind week. This 777-300ER, JA787A (also my inbound aircraft) will be my home for the next 13 hours as I cross the International Date Line and have one very, very long Friday. Needless to say, there’s a significant contrast going from a 787 back to the 777 cabin.

The flight will give me an opportunity to finish the first flight video, as well as dig into a look at what it’s like to fly on 787. Additionally, it will be my first chance to look at the transcript of third quarter Boeing earnings call and the company’s 10Q filing which quietly announced fresh slips on the 787-9 and 747-8I programs.

I may just try and catch a bit of shuteye too. Catch you on the other side of the world.

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.

October 27, 2011