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A programming note for FlightBlogger for the remainder of this week. I’ll be heading to Sao Paolo, Brazil this evening to visit Embraer in advance of EBACE 2008. I’ll be covering the Phenom, Legacy and Lineage business jet product lines, tour the factories and speak with executives.

If you’re not familiar with the business jet offering from Embraer, here’s some good reading to get you caught up.

Phenom 100
Phenom 300
Legacy 600
Lineage 1000

I’m sure we’ll also be hearing quite a bit about the new Midsize Light Jet (MLJ) and Midsize Jet (MSJ) which were announced last September as well.

Also, this is a country that takes its aviation VERY seriously. Just look how the capitol city is laid out. You might recognize the shape:

View Larger Map

Lastly, I added a tour of the Legacy 600 from the Singapore Air Show. Listen to the
audio tour here.
Many high resolution cabin and flight deck pictures below the fold.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news

First flight of ARJ21 delayed
Leithen Francis, Singapore (03Mar08, 03:04 GMT, 162 words)

First flight of China’s ARJ21-700 has been delayed and the company has yet to fix a new date for first flight.

The ARJ21-700 had its roll-out last December as scheduled and was due to have its first test flight in March this year but a spokesman for the aircraft marker in Shanghai says in an email to ATI that “it will not happen in March”.

He says the first flight may be sometime before July this year but the company has yet to set a date.

The ARJ21-700 is a 90-seat regional jet aircraft by China Aviation Industry Corp. I Commercial Aircraft (ACAC).

ACAC oversees the programme and has said earlier it aims to have the aircraft receive Chinese certification in 2009’s third quarter in time for first delivery to launch customer Shandong Airlines before the end of 2009.

This aircraft is assembled at Shanghai Aircraft (SAC) and uses major sub-assemblies from China Aviation Industry Corp. (AVIC) I factories around the country.

1:35 PM: Breaking: KC-X Tanker Announcement 5 PM ET Friday

UPDATE 3:45 PM: FlightBlogger will be covering the announcement live (as possible) at 5 PM ET from The Pentagon. I will make the complete audio of the press conference available following the conclusion of the event.

Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Duncan J McNabb will be announcing the winner of the KC-X contract.

UPDATE 4:23 PM: Bloomberg is reporting Northrop has won the contract.

UPDATE 5:37 PM: Just left the Pentagon – The Air Force has announced that Northrop Grumman and EADS has won the KC-X contract. The new tanker, according to Air Force officials will begin test flights in 2010 followed by operational capability by 2013.

UPDATE 6:50 PM:

1. Full audio of the press conference at the Pentagon.
2. Just wrapped up a podcast with Addison Schonland.
3. Northrop Grumman Statement, Boeing Statement

UPDATE 11:09 PM: Commentary from Scott Hamilton

Aviation photographer Liem Bahneman sent me this picture this morning of B-KPF, illustrating just how low the 777-367ER was to terra firma. (video)

From Liem:

Not to beat a dead horse, but I finally got around to making an illustration that depicts, by my estimate, the altitude of the Cathay-Pacific 777-300ER flyby at its lowest point (immediately prior to pulling up, as indicated by the wing flex and my subsequent photos).

I based this one the 20.4″ 777 fuselage diameter and the estimated position of the runway below (based on the shadow).

I put my estimate at 31 to 33 feet. The media is saying 28 feet, which I initially thought was an extreme number, but now that I’ve taken the time to actually look, its really not that far off the mark. What is 4-6 feet of difference when you’re talking about that much hardware being that far off the ground?

Good news coming out of Everett for the 787 Program:

“First Flight”
From Randy’s Journal:

Our 787 chief pilot Mike Carriker, and our 787 systems director Mike Sinnett had an awesome experience earlier this month. They “flew” the Dreamliner with the “Blockpoint 8” software for the first time – in a successful test of the 787 integrated avionics and flight systems hardware and software that are now in final development.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Successfully Completes Fuselage Barrel Test
Fair Use Excerpt:

EVERETT, Wash., Feb. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The composite technology, design and construction of the 787 was proven during a series of testing scenarios conducted beginning in late 2007 and concluding this week. The tests were performed on a composite fuselage test section and are part of Boeing’s certification efforts for the 787.

Also, General Electric flew its GEnx 747-100 test bed to Everett this week:
Image Courtesy Rich Schlamp

Onward.

At the conclusion of 2007, aircraft makers and industry analysts expected orders for new aircraft in 2008 to cool considerably. By many measures the global economy has slowed, yet the expected downturn in aircraft purchases has not materialized for airframers. Looking at the available numbers from Airbus and Boeing illustrate that not only have orders not slowed, but they are up sharply over the same period last year.

Take a look:

Boeing has booked 189 orders to date during 2008 versus just 70 for the same period in 2007.

Airbus booked 238 orders during January 2008 versus 97 during January and February 2007.
*Official Airbus data for Februrary 2008 unavailable

Earlier this week, Steven Udvar-Hazy spoke with Flight’s Laura Mueller saying, “Starting from today, no more than 75% of the order book is rock solid. The rest is potentially flaky or could disintegrate rapidly to become flaky and would be subject to deferrals and cancellation.”

“Boeing and Airbus want to put off the day of reckoning as long as they can, but it is coming. Airlines will start looking in the mirror every few months and ask: ‘what can we really absorb here?’ Once those reality checks are done more frequently, we will begin to see some major adjustments on a macroeconomic basis.”

Even based on his assertion that only 75% of the order book is solid, orders still exceed the pace of the previous record setting year. Even with this blistering start to 2008, growing market worries will continue to leave the further pace of orders as an open question. Only time will tell.

Once again, a convoy of A380 sections has wound its way through the French Countryside on its way to the Airbus Factory in Toulouse. This week, the forward, aft and wing structures of MSN040 arrived for final assembly. The photo of its nose section was taken earlier today. The aircraft is destined to be F-HPJB, the second Airbus A380 for Air France. Earlier this month, MSN033, the first A380 for Air France made its first daylight appearance sporting a newly painted tail fin.

Image Courtesy Yvan Panas

In other A380 news, MSN012 – F-WWSI – Singapore Airlines, flew for the first time last week on February 20th and was ferried to XFW for outfitting and rewiring two days later.

The multi-year, multi-billion dollar, multi-role KC-X Tanker contract could be awarded as early as today, following a meeting of the Pentagon’s Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) responsible for signing off on the plan for the United States Air Force’s 179 new aerial tankers.

The initial contract for either Boeing 767 or Northrop Grumman/EADS/Airbus A330 aircraft is worth up to $40 billion, with follow on contracts that could total as much as $100 billion.

According to industry analysts, Boeing is thought to be the odds-on favorite for the tanker deal. A lot is at stake for both manufacturers including the future of the 767 line in Everett, as well the potential establishment of a tanker/freighter production line in Mobile, AL for Northrop Grumman, EADS and Airbus.

UPDATE 3:02 PM: All indications point to the decision being announced Wednesday afternoon. The announcement will kick off with the notification of Congress, followed by contractor notification over the following hour, concluding with a formal announcement at the Pentagon at 5:00pm.

UPDATE 12:11 PM 2/27: The Malaysia Sun has “reported” that EADS and Northrop Grumman have won the USAF tanker contract. No word yet if they were able to generate the required 1.21 gigawatts for the return trip.

UPDATE 3:06 PM 2/27: Reuters is reporting that an announcement, according to a US official, is now expected Friday following the closure of the US Markets. Curiously, I noticed this morning that all the Tanker advertising from Boeing and Northrop Grumman had been removed from the Pentagon Metro stop.

FlightBlogger will be following the Tanker deal developments throughout the week.

Just got back from Singapore about 20 minutes ago and had to put this up:

Cathay chief 777 pilot fired after low-level flypast stunt
By Nick Ionnides

The Aircraft in Question
Cathay Pacific
Boeing 777-367ER
B-KPF

More pictures at the Seattle-Deliveries blog.

SINGAPORE — Bombardier’s board has authorized the company to offer its 110-130 seat CSeries family aircraft to potential customers.

Top launch customer candidates include Northwest Airlines, Qatar Airways, ILFC and Lufthansa.

The authority to offer is an important step towards official launch of the aircraft program.

FlightBlogger spoke with Bombardier representatives this morning, and at the time the Canadian company refused to speculate on a report suggesting the board was just hours away from making its decision to authorize the company to offer the new family of aircraft.

The company has said it will seek firm commitments from customers before seeking launch approval.

Filed Wirelessly

UPDATE 9:44 AM 2/23: Potential launch customer comments (FULL RELEASE):

“Lufthansa’s focus is on a sustainable fleet development providing flexibility for the future. This includes, amongst others, the assessment of technology, reliability, environmental footprint, economics and passenger comfort. We are considering the CSeries family of aircraft in our broader evaluation of opportunities for the lower end of the single-aisle fleet because its proposed advantages could be attractive to us,” said Nico Buchholz, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Fleet, Lufthansa.

“The CSeries aircraft’s 2013 entry into service date suits us very well. We envisage an order for 20 aircraft,” said Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways.

“We are very interested in the aircraft and have been looking at the CSeries program very carefully,” said Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, Chairman and CEO/Founder of the giant lessor company International Lease Finance Corporation. “ILFC is not only considering buying the aircraft, we could become a co-launch customer. However, other major airlines need to sign up to the program as well. We would like to see a North American, European and possibly Asian customer,” he added.