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  • A Tu-144 documentary, Lufthansa 747-8I and a programming note

    As you’ve undoubtedly noticed, there has been a lack of content here since last week. That has not escaped my noticed as well. Professional and personal obligations have made it difficult to write regularly here, but regular content will return in earnest as I wrap up a set of features on 787 entry into service for Flight International and complete up a month-long transition to a new home in DC. There’s no shortage of things to write about, just a dearth of hours in the day to write about them.

    In the meantime, I found this Russian documentary (translated to English) on the 1969 development of the supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 or Concordski as it later became known. The video, which doesn’t quite pass for Movie Monday (as it’s Wednesday) runs a bit over 20 minutes. Enjoy!
    Also, if you haven’t yet seen the first 747-8I in full Lufthansa colors, it’s now on the Everett flight line and registered D-ABYA. Boeing says its first flight is planned for November and delivery in the springtime.

    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.

  • Podcast: Meet the 737 MAX

    Boeing Introduces 737 MAX with Launch of New Aircraft Family

    The earliest reference to a re-engined 737 I could find on FlightBlogger was from Decemeber 2008, when this page speculated – in conjunction with Air Insight’s Scott Hamilton – on the then-dubbed 737 “Re-Generation”. The Re-Gen, as it never turned out to be known, became the Boeing Sky Interior, CFM56-7BE engine and external drag clean up, not the re-engined 737 that we see today in the MAX.

    Nearly three years later we have our answer and that’s the Leap-1B-powered 737 MAX family. Hamilton, along with IAG Inc.’s Addison Schonland and I sat down to discuss this week’s announcement from Boeing. We covered the knowns and many unknowns (fan size, configuration, manufacturing) about this new aircraft that will enter service in 2017, including the extensiveness of the changes Boeing will have to make – from a strategic perspective – to accommodate the new CFM engine. 

    PODCAST NOW AVAILABLE BELOW THE FOLD
    Rendering 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.

  • Source: Boeing receives Japanese certification for 787, Dreamliner can enter service

    All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner JA801A ZA101

    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.

  • A 1989 thought on fuel efficiency from McDonnell Douglas

    Trolling the Flight Archive today, I came across a truly eye-opening gem of a quote from a June 24, 1989 article on McDonnell Douglas’ selection of a final assembly site for the MD-90. In the article, then program manager Walt Orlowski discussed the company’s decision to not offer the “technically ready” General Electric GE36 unducted fan for the re-engined jetliner, which was available for a $1 million price premium.  He described the company’s thinking this way:

    Douglas concedes that, with fuel prices unlikely to rise substantially in the near future, there is “inadequate motivation” for airlines to gamble on unducted-fan technology in return for improved fuel efficiency.

    Hard to tell what might have played out for McDonnell Douglas if its thinking had not been as short-term, especially in light of the fuel crisis that hit only decade earlier.

    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.

  • Did Delta get a 51% discount on its 737-900ER deal?

    Delta-737-900ER-tail_560.jpgIntrepid blogger Dan Webb detailed a few big additions to Delta Air Lines’ SEC filing today, noting the inclusion of aircraft purchasing commitments for the 100 Boeing 737-900ERs the airline firmed up last week.

    • Delta now has “total aircraft purchase commitments of $6.8 billion, including $55 million for the six months ending December 31, 2011, $210 million in 2012, $540 million in 2013, $760 million in 2014, $770 million in 2015, $780 million in 2016 and $3.7 billion after 2016.”
    • For comparison’s sake, in its 10-Q Delta reported $2.6 billion in aircraft purchase commitments as of June 30. This number included $30 million in the second half of 2011, $70 million in 2012, and $2.5 billion from 2020 to 2022. Those figures “relate to 18 B-787-8 aircraft and 14 previously owned MD-90 aircraft.”

    With a quarterly growth of $4.2 billion in commitments adding in the newly-purchased 100 737-900ERs at a list price of $85.8 million, back-of-the-napkin math shows a 51% discount on each airframe and engine combination. What the shared revenue split between CFM and Boeing is, we’ll never know, but for reference a pair of new CFM56-7B engines run at a list price $12 million.

    Rendering 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.

  • Video: Boeing announces 737 MAX family

    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.

  • Boeing rendering illustrates major changes to 737NE

    Boeing’s unveiling of the 737-7, -8 and -9 New Engine Family confirms many of the changes the airframer must make to the narrowbody to support the integration of the CFM International LEAP-1B engine, including significant changes to the aircraft’s fuselage.

    The company’s released renderings illustrate the larger engine nacelle, which now includes noise-reducing chevrons that are hallmark’s of the airframer’s 787 and 747-8 programmes.

    Unclear from the rendering is the exact size of the LEAP-1B engine, believed to be 66in, avoiding any major nose landing gear changes to maintain a 17in ground clearance beneath the nacelles.

    Further, Boeing has made major changes to the 737’s aft fuselage, with a 787-style tail cone and light emitting diode (LED) auxiliary power unit (APU) tail lights.

    Perhaps even more significantly, the rendering illustrates the elimination of an aft body join once present on the 737-700. The join on the -700 comes just forward of the last two passenger windows ahead of door two. On Boeing’s 737-7 rendering, no such join is present, potentially a significant weight-saving move.

    737NE-JointElim.jpg737-700-aftjoin.jpgThe 737NE’s wing’s trailing edge has also been refined with reshaped flap fairings, likely for drag reduction on the strengthened wing.

    Leading the engineering effort to update the 737 will be Michael Teal, who most recently served as chief engineer for the General Electric GEnx-2B-powered 747-8 program, which began its development as a re-engined and stretched 747-400.

    In addition to the July commitment from American Airlines for 100 of the updated 737, Boeing says that four additional airlines have committed to 396 aircraft, the first of which is expected to enter service in 2017.

    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.

  • Breaking: Boeing launches 737-7, -8 and -9 New Engine Family

    737NE_800.jpg
    Leap-1B-Zoom.jpg
    737NE-Tail-Zoom.jpg

    It’s official, Boeing has launched the 737-7, -8 and -9 under the banner of the 737 New Engine Family, with a planned 2017 entry into service. Along with the board approval, which came yesterday, Boeing has announced 496 commitments from five customers. Only American Airlines has announced its intention to purchase 100 of the CFM LEAP-1B-powered jets.

    The other four customers are yet unknown, though the balance are likely to be found among the airframer’s most stalwart customers:

    Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Ryanair, GOL, Copa, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Lion Air, FlyDubai, TUI Travel and Malaysia Airlines

    The airlines are likely found – at least partially – among the type’s previous upgrade launch customers. Of that stalwart group, all but one – Ryanair – has committed to taking deliveries of 737s with Sky Interiors, and GOL, Copa, Norwegian, Lion Air, FlyDubai, United and TUI all served as launch customers for the update in April 2009.

    Boeing has also unveiled the first rendering of the aircraft, which confirms the aircraft-maker’s use of noise-reducing chevrons, as well as a re-lofted 787-style tail cone for drag reduction. The wing flap fairings have also been “sharpened” for drag reduction as well.

    Rendering 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.

  • Heading for first delivery, Boeing’s 787 backlog visualized (Update1)

    All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner JA801A ZA101

    With US and European certifications in hand and 29 days to go before the first 787 officially delivered to All Nippon Airways on September 26, the 787’s backlog stands at 821*, the largest-ever starting orderbook for a widebody aircraft program. The final regulatory hurdle for the 787’s first delivery should be cleared Monday with receipt of the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau certification, giving ANA the clearance to begin flying passengers.
    Boeing’s herculean task over the next twenty-eight months is to ramp up 787 production from two per month today to ten per month by the end of 2013. 

    Using some new techniques, we can take Boeing’s 787 backlog data and break it down into three interactive visualizations. 
    UPDATE: Non-interactive charts are available below the fold for those of you who are behind some corporate firewalls that don’t allow access to Google Docs.
    The first graph gives an historical look at the Boeing’s 787 orders and cancellations since 2004. Since its launch, Boeing has accumulated 972 gross orders for the Dreamliner and 151 cancellations (including the six last week) or 15 months of production at peak rate.
    The chart is intended to illustrate the growth in historical net and gross orders recorded at the time of their receipt, represented by the blue and red bars. The green bar represents the total cancellations recorded in a given year.
    The orange bar illustrates the meltaway over time of the orders recorded in a given year. For example, while there were no cancellations in 2007, a year which saw 369 net orders, the customers who bought those 369 aircraft in that year have since cancelled 60 aircraft, reducing the total to 309. The orders recorded in 2008 saw the biggest drop, with a 37% reduction after the cancellations that were taken in 2009 through 2011. 
    The chart ultimately illustrates how solid the orderbook has remained for the units sold before 2008, which were booked in an extremely favorable pricing environment as Boeing was building its backlog.
    The second chart gives the geographical breakdown of the backlog by country and where the OEM direct orders originate. The chart does not show airlines who are leasing 787s, but does show lessor’s country of origin.
    The third gives look into the engine battle between Rolls-Royce and General Electric spread across the 787-8 and 787-9. While the data show that Rolls has more individual customers for the Trent 1000, GE has a greater overall share of which airframes it will power with its GEnx-1B engine.


    *The 821 orders reflects the latest cancellation of six 787s on August 25 from an undisclosed customer, the overall backlog data from Boeing does not yet reflect that change. All data was generated from a base of 827 orders.

    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.

  • At long last, Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is certified

    Boeing 787 Dreamliner N787BA ZA001

    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.