40 Years of 747
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the entry into service of the 747-100 with Pan Am in January 1970, Max Kingsley-Jones and I have authored a package of features commemorating the event. During my visit to Seattle in December for 787 First Flight, I had an opportunity to sit down with Joe Sutter, who served as chief engineer for the 747 program in the 1960 who confessed to me that he “always felt the original 747 looked stubby.”
The package is a great historical overview of the program and includes a comprehensive update on the company’s plans for 747-8F and -8I production.
747-8F Final Gauntlet
As the aircraft moves toward its first flight, RC501, Boeing’s first 747-8F, will likely undertake its 40hr final gauntlet test beginning late this week. As part of the final gauntlet tests, the aircraft will be tricked into believing it is flying, so test engineers can see how the aircraft’s systems react when flying a B1 (Boeing test flight) profile.
JAL Declares Bankruptcy
While it won’t effect day-to-day operations, JAL’s bankruptcy is a major shift in the Japanese (and potentially global) airline market center of gravity. More than anything it provides more questions than answers: Does the airline stay with oneworld? How hard does Delta push for JAL to join SkyTeam? What does this mean for their first 787s expected within a year? What will the retirement of 37 747-400s mean to the residual values of the jumbos worldwide? Was Boeing counting on a 747-8I order from JAL? How does ANA respond? What does this mean for Trans-Pacific anti-trust immunity? Does this make the Japanese market more or less difficult for Airbus?
Like I said, lots of questions.
Airbus 6000!
Emirates took delivery of the 25th A380 yesterday (A6-EDH), an aircraft that happened to be the 6000th Airbus aircraft delivered since 1974. It took Airbus 19 years to deliver the first 1000, six years more to deliver number 2000, 3000 followed in 2002. The 4000th was an A330-300 to Lufthansa in 2005 and the 5000th was an A330-200 delivered to QANTAS in 2007.
Next Steps for 787 Flight Test
With initial airworthiness in the bag, ZA001 will move toward further validation of the primary flight control system and flutter testing as flight engineers get their first ride aboard the 787. Following the flutter and PFCS testing, the aircraft will move toward high-speed stability & control (S&C) tests. For ZA001, the now cleared initial airworthiness and phase one of S&C tests were the largest single block for the first test aircraft during certification.
Before it enters the flight test program early next month, ZA004 will spend this week demonstrating the emergency escape slides as part of the certification program. Lastly, LCF4 made it maiden flight on Friday and should join the fleet in Everett next month.
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.