Recently in Manufacturing Category

Although this took place last week, what with Bradley Wiggins (the chap in yellow at the front of the picture) winning Le Tour and the Olympic road race looming this weekend, it seems worthy of publication. This is the start of last thursday's stage from Blagnac for which Airbus wheeled out a number of aircraft - the A400M, the sharklet-equipped A320 and an ATR (lurking in the background).

Credit: Rex Features

Much as the title suggests, Airbus's newest airliner is slowly coming together at Toulouse and final assembly of the first aircraft has begun.

Credit: Airbus

Bombardier has released the first photo of the forward fuselage structure of FTV1 (Flight Test Vehicle), its first CSeries CS100, currently under fabrication at its facilities in Mirabel, Quebec. The aircraft is expected to fly in late 2012 or early 2013.

Credit: Bombardier

A sad day in aviation history yesterday (no, not Southwest's order for the 737 Max) as the final Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor rolled off the manufacturer's Marietta, Georgia production line. The fifth-generation fighter has been in production since 1997.

Credit: Lockheed Martin

Just to keep the American Airlines Chapter 11 theme going for a bit longer, it's worth bearing in mind the carrier's huge order backlog. The consenus appears to be that the orders won't be affected by the bankruptcy, although that of course may change. Included within the tally are 141 Boeing 737NGs - not unlike this example pictured yesterday at position 3 on Boeing's Renton factory line 2.

Credit: Dominic Perry/Flightglobal

Yannick Delamarre took this photo of a 'green' Lufthansa A380 departing Toulouse on a flight test 22 January last year. The A380-841, s/n 041, carries test registration F-WWAF and was re-registerd for Lufthansa as D-AIMB, Yannick says. In recent Lufthansa news, Lufthansa has been forced to postpone its planned commercial biofuel flights by at least a month because the fuel will not be certified in time by regulators.

The German carrier was originally planning to begin a six-month trial in April, in which it aims to operate its Frankfurt-Hamburg route using an International Aero Engine-powered Airbus A321 with one of its engines running on a 50/50 blend of biofuel derived from vegetable oil and traditional kerosene. Read more...

Today's image comes from Boeing and depicts a Lion Air 737-900ER in the manufacturer's house ("Dreamliner") livery.

In related 737 news, as Boeing weighs taking production rates of the popular 737 beyond the 38 per month officials have announced, to 42 a month (41 for the commercial 737 and one for the 737-based P-8A Poseidon), consideration is underway to boosting rates even more-to 50 per month, ATI and Flightglobal sister publication Commercial Aviation Online (CAO) has learned.

In a meeting with employees last month, Nicole Piasecki, vice president of Business Development & Strategic Integration, said that Boeing is prepared to move forward with a 737 re-engine or a new airplane, as well as proceed with further upgrades to the current Next Generation 737, but there are other considerations as well in making these program development decisions. Read more...

Below is a photo of the Airbus A320 final assembly line in Toulouse, France Hamburg, Germany.

The A320 along with Boeing's 737 are due for a decision this year on whether the respective jets should be re-engined. We evaluate the progress and options in this article.

This week Flightglobal publication Flight International asks if an avionics upgrade can equip Pilatus's versatile PC-6 veteran to last another 50 years. Pilot Pete Collins takes the aircraft to Swiss skies and reports back.