FlightBlogger Archive 2007-2012

Tag: FlightBlogger Archive

  • Travel Day: TEB-YUL-AMS #pondcrossing

    A very special travel day for this blogger. Several journalists from
    Flight, AvWeek/Business & Commercial Aviation; AIN are heading across the pond today for the opening of a new Bombardier Service Center in Amsterdam before heading to Geneva for EBACE. Our ride today is a Bombardier Global 5000 (N340GF) that will take us to Montreal then across the pond to Europe. Follow me on Twitter with hashtag #pondcrossing for live updates throughout the day.

    Update 17:19 UTC: Greetings from the North Atlantic! After a quick hop from Teterboro to Montreal-Dorval, we gassed up for our second leg to Amsterdam, filling up with 10800L of fuel. Our track today takes us above the commercial aircraft flying the pre-set North Atlantic Tracks crossing over Golf through Charlie between FL410 and FL450. We’ll get our clearance to cross the Atlantic via on-board datalink then switch to HF radio to report our position every 10 degrees. Before you ask, yes the Global 5000 can make the trip direct from TEB to AMS, we had to pick up three more people at Bombardier HQ.

    One funny moment from our arrival in Montreal. The ground controller inadvertently called our aircraft “Gulfstream 340GF”. The controller – whose office is right next to the Bombardier factory – realized his faux pas saying “My apologies for calling you a Gulfstream.” One of our pilots, Phil Seaver, replied “No worries, I’ve been called worse.”

    Update 18:55 UTC: We’re headed rapidly for the Shannon FIR which begins at waypoint DOGAL, roughly an hr and a half from Amsterdam. This is my first time doing a daytime eastbound crossing and the day is rolling along quite rapidly. My body will think it’s the middle afternoon when I’m supposed to be getting ready to go to bed. I have a feeling that’s the worst kind of jetlag. Interesting note, the aircraft we’re on has 180 min ETOPS certification, but can be extended incrementally up to 240 min as needed. On this flight we never get beyond 180 min with our alternate airports in Gander, Keflavik and Shannon.

    More to follow. 

    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 Closer Look: 787’s Extreme Weather Testing

    VALPARAISO, FL — January 2014: A 787 spends the night at a remote parking stand at a Canadian airport following a 14-hour flight from Asia. The composite jetliner waited in the bitter cold for its return to the gate in preparation for its next trip across the planet. After soaking in the sub-zero temperatures during the long winter night, the aircraft is returned to the gate and to defrost before its next departure.
    While this is a moment in the not-so-distant future, Boeing is ensuring that their customers will be able to thaw out and cool off the 787 when it is handed over to ANA later this year.
    It’s almost as if the aircraft was painted for the occasion. The icy white and blue “light” flight test colors stood out against the frozen surroundings of the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Florida. 
    Boeing’s third 787 test aircraft, ZA003, arrived in Florida on April 18 after a five-hour, 2000nm trip from its home base at Boeing Field in Seattle, the longest point-to-point flight undertaken by the new aircraft to date. Ninety-eight people were onboard the aircraft during its flight, including Tom Sanderson, Boeing’s ZA003 flight test director.
    After being de-fueled, ZA003 was brought inside the C-5 Galaxy-sized hangar on April 19th, and the testing got underway on April 20th heading into the first round of cold soak that began at a temperature of -15F. A second round followed on April 22nd, subjecting the airframe to -45F, moving later to a two-phase hot soak, with temperatures of 90F and 115F.

    MUCH MORE BELOW THE FOLD

    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 halting 787 deliveries to Everett until June

    Boeing will hold shipments of fuselage section for Airplane 23 at supplier partners to allow them to catch up, pushing the start assembly to early June, company sources confirm.

    The halt in deliveries to Everett will not cease production activities at Final Assembly, the aircraft currently on the line, numbers 19, 20, 21 and 22 will continue undergoing assembly.
    Program sources tell FlightBlogger that the plan is to hold deliveries for up to 24 manufacturing days, beginning at the end of this month and stretching into June. A typical month contains 22 manufacturing days with a 5-day work week. The hold is expected to last a total of four weeks and four days. 
    787 production had been running at a two aircraft per month pace, accepting deliveries from Boeing Charleston and supply partners every 10 manufacturing days. Production was supposed to accelerate from two to two and a half aircraft per month beginning in August.

    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.

  • Happy 5th Birthday A380!

     

    On April 27, 2005, the A380 (MSN001) make its first flight from Toulouse in the south of France. I’m terrible at remembering birthdays, so a big tip of the hat to NYC Aviation on this one.

    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: Embraer pulls back the curtain on ideas for the future

    IAG’s Addison Schonland sat down with Embraer’s Mauro Kern who just assumed the role of Embraer’s executive vice president for new programs for airline markets. The 30min conversation covers a lot of ground and really gets into the Brazilian airframer’s thinking on future aircraft projects. Embraer – more or less – has narrowed it down to re-engining the E-Jets, building a new turboprop or building a new narrobody to compete with the CSeries, dubbed the E-195X. While Kern identifies these three options, he concedes that the turboprop market today is likely not strong enough to justify an offering from Embraer. With a decision set for the end of the year, Kern also emphasizes that idea of a further integrated and networked ‘intelligent’ aircraft as a driver of efficiency will be key to any future offering. 

    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.

  • MRO Americas is a wrap, go inside the show with iFDN

    While it wasn’t mentioned that much here last week due to our breakneck pace, MRO Americas was a terrific show. During the accelerated trip to Phoenix, Flightglobal journalists Lori Ranson, Brendan Sobie, Steve Trimble and I produced two issues of Interactive Flight Daily News. The team put together eight videos that give a good sense of the maintenance, repair and overhaul trends the commercial and militart sides of the industry are seeing right now. Day Two in particular features excerpts from United Airlines President John Tague’s keynote speech which delivers a sobering assessment of the airline industry and its broken business model.

    MRO day 1.jpg  MRO day 2.jpg

    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.

  • April 26 – The Week Ahead Open Thread

    CO/UA?

    Will they…Won’t they? Will it be United and US Airways (NO) or United and Continental (maybe, maybe not)? This is exhausting. Someone poke me when they make up their minds.
    That being said, if these two do finally make a love connection, the state of United’s narrowbody fleet renewal becomes an even bigger open question. Continental was one of the launch customers for Boeing’s 737 Sky Interior and the carrier is an all-Boeing mainline operator. The outstanding Continental 737 orders may answer the question straight away, pushing fleet a fleet renewal decision far into the future.
    The Painting of Florida One

    In classic PTQ (put together quickly) fashion, Boeing and Southwest have adapted their high-speed trip down the 737 line for the carrier’s newest logo jet, Florida One (N945WN). Pay no mind to the fact that the aircraft going down the moving line in Renton is a 737-800, the important part starts when it hits the paint hangar. When you’re done watching the 737 PTQ video, head on over to SWA photographer Paul Thompson’s photostream for some great up-close shots with Florida One.

    Airbus On Strike
    The European airframer’s workforce began a 12-hour strike today, shutting down production of the A330/A340 line. The staggered strike, organized for higher pay and increased hiring, is expected to be extended to the A320 and A380 lines later this week. 
    United’s 777s goes 3-3-3
    As a very frequent flier of United’s 777 fleet, I was quite excited to hear of the transition from 2-5-2 to 3-3-3 with Panasonic IFE in economy. The aircraft (N794UA) is now in the wild and was rumored to be flying between San Francisco and Dulles late last week. The @unitedairlines posted a few photos of the new economy interior (one // two).
    Eurotrip!
    If I wasn’t fully convinced that spring travel season is in full swing after last week’s Phoenix to Florida run, there will be no doubt come this Friday. I’ll kick off two weeks on the road as I head first to Amsterdam for the opening of Bombardier’s new service center, followed by EBACE in Geneva. I’ll have a bit of a breather (“Europe is like the size of the Eastwood Mall. We can walk to Berlin from there.“) for a few days followed by the Airbus Innovation Days – formerly known as the technical press briefing – in Broughton near Manchester in the UK.

    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.

  • First 787 painted for Royal Air Maroc sees daylight

    Airplane 17, the first 787 for Royal Air Maroc left the paint hangar early Friday morning, becoming the second customer with a painted Dreamliner on the flight line. Parts for ZA150 began arriving in Everett in late January and the aircraft moved to final assembly in early February. RAM’s 787 fleet will be powered by the GEnx-1B, the first production 787s to be powered with the General Electric engine. While technically the second painted airline, ZA150 actually becomes the third unique customer to occupy a spot on the flight line as the second were Airplane 10 and 16 for LAN, both painted in white as they await their final coat of paint for the Santiago-based carrier.
    Video Credit Matt Cawby

    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.

  • Kicking it Cold with ZA003

    Good morning from Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Florida. The secret is out, I’m with ZA003, which is undergoing cold soak testing here at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory. More to follow.

    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 reports 1Q earnings, but what’s the difference between ‘first’ and ‘initial’?

    PHOENIX — Boeing’s first quarter 2010 earnings are out this morning and something immediately caught my eye in the release:

    The 787 program continued flight testing during the quarter, as an additional two airplanes joined the two airplanes already in the flight test program.  The Dreamliner completed key flight test milestones such as flutter, stall and ground-effect tests.  On March 28, the static test unit successfully completed the ultimate load test with a fully pressurized cabin. First delivery is expected in the fourth quarter of 2010.  Total firm orders for the 787 at quarter-end were 866 airplanes from 57 customers.
     
    The 747-8 program began its flight test program during the quarter, completed initial airworthiness testing, and ended the quarter with three airplanes in the flight test program. Initial delivery is expected in the fourth quarter of 2010.
    What’s the difference between “first delivery” and “initial delivery”?

    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.