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This week’s Movie Monday actually appeared on the blog last October, but only for US viewers. This week, I’m pleased to share the same video for the rest of the world. NOVA’s Battle of the X-Planes documents the epic competition between Lockheed’s X-35 and Boeing’s X-32 for the Joint Strike Fighter contract.

The documentary is crafted in a similar way as the ’21st Century Jet’ in how it takes you behind the scenes of the development of these aircraft from a never before seen angle. For the Boeing side of the video, keep an eye out for elements of lean manufacturing and composite design that were applied to the X-32 in a limited way and found a much larger application on Boeing’s most recent jetliner.

For much more coverage of the Joint Strike Fighter program, make sure to visit Steve Trimble’s The D.E.W. Line.

Well, it feels like this blog turned one just yesterday, and the past three hundred and sixty five yesterdays were even more amazing than the three hundred and sixty five that preceded them. Last year brought 1.7 million hits and a million visitors to FlightBlogger, bringing the two year traffic total to just shy of 3 million. I have all of you to thank for making year two of FlightBlogger even more successful than year one.

Though, what a difference a year makes. The early months of 2008 showed rapidly growing backlogs and a seemingly healthy global economy. Today we find ourselves in a very different situation, our lives touched by the change in fortune of the economy. I am extraordinarily grateful for the opportunity to author this page on a daily basis, even more so today.

The year ahead will be no less exciting and challenging than the one that has passed and perhaps more so;
first flights and flight test, roll outs and air shows all amid a very different global
climate. I hope you’ll continue along with me as we push into the heart of 2009.

With deepest thanks.

Onward,

Jon Ostrower

March 21, 2009

If you look closely, you might just be able to see what’s amiss with this 1:250 scale model of this 787 as advertised in the British Airways in-flight catalogue. 

Hat tip to Crispin Maunder for the find.

With the final flight test aircraft now in final assembly, the path is cleared for parts to begin arriving for pre-integration for the first production 787 (ANA). The first major parts for Dreamliner Seven are set to begin showing up in Everett later this week when the horizontal stabilizer is flown from Italy.

Listen to the companion podcast on the challenges ahead for A380

Airbus has found itself on the receiving end of a hefty load of criticism from its largest A380 customer.

The latest chapter in the story of the A380 is one of the operational troubles encountered by Emirates. German publication Der Spiegel reported Monday that the Dubai-based airline provided Airbus with a detailed presentation of its complaints with its 489-seat A380s warning of a possible “loss of confidence” in the aircraft.

In a 46-slide presentation, the aviation experts painstakingly listed what they viewed as the giant jet’s serious growing pains. To illustrate their points, they included snapshots of singed power cables, partially torn-off sections of paneling and defective parts of thrust nozzles in the engines as evidence of what they described as a shoddy work ethic at Airbus and its suppliers.

Emirates, which has received four A380s, served as the launch customer for the Engine Alliance (Pratt & Whitney-General Electric) GP7200 engines when it launched service during the Summer of 2008 between Dubai and JFK.

Emirates’ first route was the longest regular A380 flight to-date between Dubai and JFK at over 12 hours. Singapore Airlines, the first airline to operate the A380, took a more conservative approach to its entry into service. SIA’s first A380 routes had the superjumbo flying seven hour flights between Singapore and Sydney. Of the three A380 cities currently served from Singapore by SIA, two are under eight hours away.

To provide a bit of historical context, it’s important to remember that the A380 is the longest range first generation airliner to fly 12-14 hour stages within its first year of service. The 747, 777, A330 and A340 all evolved over time to fly these long routes.

Erkan Pinar, who serves as commercial director at a German MRO, suggests that the distinguishing factor for Emirates could be attributable to the sandy climate of its Dubai home base. By contrast Singapore and Sydney are much hospitable climates, even with the increased humidity.

Overall, Emirates has insisted its view on the superjumbo is unchanged and quell any concern about a change in its order:

“Technical issues are expected with new aircraft. Naturally we want these to be resolved as soon as possible.”

Though the in-service issues encountered by Emirates are not felt exclusively by the Dubai-based carrier. Both Singapore Airlines and QANTAS – albeit to a lesser extent – have encountered these micro-level issues, yet they may be vastly outweighed by the macro-level challenges facing the worlds airlines.

Looking beyond operational reliability, the A380 faces a much deeper problem in the the economic downturn. For airlines, dropping premium travel (first and business), has helped to cripple revenue potential:

“ATA today released its latest premium traffic report showing customers traveling on first and business class tickets in January fell 16.7%, a significant decrease from December’s 13.3% drop year-over-year.”

A 2004 analysis of the A380 weighs the importance of premium passengers on the aircrafts viability:

While the “premium” (first and business class) component of the traffic is smaller than the economy portion, premium traffic in fact generates over half of the total (passenger) revenue potential.

The report assumes a two-class 555-seat (125-J, 430-Y) A380 with 70% load factor on a 4000 nm route with premium seats being sold for five times more than economy seats. A broad look at today’s A380 fares reveal roughly similar pricing models, though slightly lower seat counts.  

One industry expert with direct knowledge of Emirates’ JFK operations tells FlightBlogger that January and February load factors took a significant hit with several A380 flights operating with less than 100 passengers on board. Emirates announced yesterday that it planned to downsize its daily JFK service to a 777-300ER and redeploy the twin A380s to Toronto and Bangkok later this year.

Air France has postponed delivery of two A380s to preserve operating cash for 2009 and 2010 by moving down payments farther out. Though Emirates, which accounts for more than 1/4 of the A380 backlog, has openly dismissed the idea of slowing deliveries as Dubai strains under the crush of the financial crisis.

2009 will see bring the total number of A380s operating globally to 31 and the aircraft will see its second full year of service. Its maturity as an aircraft will be forged amid a global economic downturn and Airbus tasked with overcoming the technical teething challenges that will define its operational life if not quickly resolved. The story of the A380 is far from over.

Tomorrow morning is the final edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper and James Wallace, who has covered aerospace for 12 years, penned his final column for tomorrow’s paper.

Aviation journalism at its finest, I’ve come to appreciate, is the artful hybrid of global and local reporting. Mr. Wallace exemplified that type of journalism at the P-I. His words always had a way of reaching around the world without ever neglecting the fact that his audience was in Washington.

This blogger – this journalist – owes much to Mr. Wallace and his Aerospace Notebook. Long before there was FlightBlogger, there was a kid who couldn’t get his hands on enough aviation news. I always felt a connection to the Pacific Northwest as my attention was, more often than not, keenly focused on what went on there. Growing up in Boston, It was not uncommon to find me reading the Post-Intelligencer more than I was reading my hometown Globe.

James Wallace was the author of many of my favorite aerospace stories.

One story in particular that I re-read periodically – never failing to light a spark inside me – was the “silver suitcase” story. It told of the birth of the 787 and how it came to be from its earliest days as just an idea.

Mr. Wallace was able to encapsulate what I love so much about aviation: That fact that when it’s all said and done, the origin of these flying machines can be traced to a moment of inspiration. That inspiration, with all the trials and tribulations that come along with it, becomes something real.

His influence has been strongly felt in both my personal and professional life, guiding my love of aviation, and serving as an example for the kind of journalist I strive to be. There is a gaping hole left by the absence of his regular reporting that will be long felt.

Thank you James Wallace.

This week’s Movie Monday is an pretty amazing find. Buried deep on Google Video I found a Luftwaffe training video from 1944 of the Messerschmitt Me-262 – the world’s first jet powered aircraft. According to the description on the video:

The original audio is long since gone. However, the replaced narration
is that of Franz Steigler, who flew the plane and watched the film
during the war.

The film, which is 46 minutes, is an extraordinary piece of primary source material for understanding the revolutionary leap in technology that occurred at the end of World War II. I watched it transfixed on the amazing history found in this video. What unfolds below is really a demonstration of the fragility of the first jet fighter and its clear tendency to overheat.

As you watch the film, I would recommend putting it in direct contrast to the P-51 Mustang training video from 1942 that was posted here several weeks ago. The cultural similarities and differences in training pilots makes for an amazing piece of history. In addition, last week’s movie, Dogfights of the Tuskegee Airmen, tells the story of the squadron’s battle against these aircraft. This might just be one of the best Movie Mondays yet. Enjoy!

Shanghai airlines is considering canceling part of its 787 order as Chinese airlines work to renegotiate with Boeing on their early delivery slots.

“We are working very closely with our 787 customers to understand their evolving fleet requirements,” said a Boeing spokesperson. “But as a matter of long-standing practice, Boeing does not comment on its discussions with customers.”

Shanghai Airlines, along with Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Grand China Airlines and Xiamen Airlines were all part of a coalition of Chinese airlines that gave the 787 its name when it ordered 60 in January 2005.

Image credit Boeing

On Wednesday, I posted a picture from Bombardier of the CSeries flight deck running the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion system. Many of you gently informed me that the rendering was from last year, so I went in search of a more recent version. Rockwell Collins was kind enough to supply me with an updated version of the CSeries flight deck, which is pictured above.

Image credit Rockwell Collins

Last week, my colleague Lori Ranson and I were invited by Honeywell for an in-flight demonstration of the Primus Epic avionics platform with Synthetic Vision and RNP .1 capabilities that have been installed on the company’s Gulfstream G550 (N933H).

The 90 minute flight, which was similar to a G450 flight from a year ago, took us down to Roanoke after we departed Dulles. We flew two approaches to runways 24 and 33 in Roanoke then back to Dulles for a nightime approach on runway 19C.

For a bit of additional background on the Honeywell/Gulfstream system, take a look back the four part series I published a year ago. The Enhanced Vision System II was on full display for this flight and was particularly useful as we spotted a wildfire off the end of the runway in Roanoke.

• Part I – Ground School
  
• Part II – To The Sky
• Part III – Go-Arounds and Wildfires
• Part IV – The Return Home