http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/ NewsBlog: Andrew Doyle on the latest from the aviation industry en Copyright 2011 Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:17:37 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss As you can see, Boeing is sticking with the good old fashioned control yoke for its second fly-by-wire airliner, which gives the 787 cockpit a traditional feel, despite all the high technology in there. I also got a sneak preview of the 787's overhead crew rest area mock-up (click here to see my picture).]]> http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2007/07/at-the-controls-of-the-787.html http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2007/07/at-the-controls-of-the-787.html Boeing 787 787 Boeing Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:17:37 +0000 Click here to see a picture of the aircraft that we boarded at the TAG Aviation terminal. Interestingly, this aircraft is painted in a fairly non-descript, interim scheme and the "coffee stains" corporate branding used on the other aircraft is being dropped. The 146-200 that we flew on is fitted with a single-class cabin, and was filled with media colleagues and BAE public relations staff (click here to see image). Upon arrival at RAF Fairford it became clear that the weather - as forecast - was going to have a significant impact on the amount of flying that we were going to see. ]]> http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2007/07/rainy-day-at-riat.html http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2007/07/rainy-day-at-riat.html Airshows Airshows Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:11:50 +0000 My first chance to fly on the A380 came on 25th March when I was offered a seat on the route-proving flight to Washington DC. Check-in and boarding went smoothly (as you'd expect with any Lufthansa-operated flight) although the ground staff were no doubt trying that little bit harder to make sure everything went off without a hitch. I got seat 35B - almost at the back of the economy section on the main deck, which was a bit of a disappointment as I would have preferred to be upstairs for the novelty value. There was plenty of room for everyone to stow their hand baggage, despite 474 of the 519 passenger seats on board being occupied. A member of ground staff jubilantly explained over the public address system shortly before pushback that the 1h 35min turnaround time target had been achieved for the first time during the route-proving campaign. However, at our scheduled pushback time of 18:00, it was clear that there was some kind of engine-related issue as technicians crowded around the number four engine.]]> http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2007/03/airborne-on-the-a380-at-last.html http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2007/03/airborne-on-the-a380-at-last.html Airbus A380 A380 Airbus flight test route proving Sat, 31 Mar 2007 13:01:48 +0000 I was shocked and saddened to hear of the crash of the second Grob SPn utility jet prototype during a demonstration flight on 29 November, which killed Grob chief test pilot Gerard Guillaumaud. I photographed the aircraft involved during my visit to Grob's Tussenhausen-Mattsies airfield in Germany just a few weeks before the accident (above). I also had the pleasure of meeting the unassuming Guillaumaud, and his tragic loss underlines the dangers still faced by test pilots despite advances in structural and aerodynamic modelling technology. Initial indications are that both elevators and the left stabiliser separated from the primarily composite aircraft before impact. Grob had lengthened the stabilisers on the second prototype (below, foreground) compared with the first, to improve performance in icing conditions. ]]> http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2007/01/saddened-to-hear-of-grob-spn-c.html http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2007/01/saddened-to-hear-of-grob-spn-c.html Business Aviation Grob SPn Programmes Safety accidents flight test Grob SPn Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:57:07 +0000 carry out more tests to try and persuade the International Civil Aviation Organisation to relax its recommended separations for the A380, which have now been adopted by the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Wake vortex tests at cruising altitude involved flying an A380 and a Boeing 747 leased from Lufthansa side by side (see picture below), while the pilots of a smaller A318 flew their aircraft into the vortices to assess their strength. Now British Airways CEO Willie Walsh has raised the stakes further, by suggesting that unless A380 separations are reduced, the introduction of the double-deck airliner could actually reduce the capacity of London's congested Heathrow airport. You will be able to read more about's Walsh's comments in next week's issue of Flight International.]]> http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/11/a380-wake-vortex-battle-intens.html http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/11/a380-wake-vortex-battle-intens.html Airbus A380 Programmes 747-400 A380 Airbus Boeing flight test Lufthansa wake vortex Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:44:27 +0000 A380 is that the aircraft has come through its flight test programme relatively unscathed and is expected to gain European certification by mid-December, as I report in the latest issue of Flight International. Talking to the flight test team last week, the disappointment they feel soon became clear. Their successes have been largely overshadowed by the industrial ramp-up problems that have beset the A380. Service-entry is now set for October 2007, around two years later than originally planned.]]> http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/11/a380-flight-test-team-putting.html http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/11/a380-flight-test-team-putting.html Airbus A380 A380 Airbus flight test Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:06:01 +0000 Airbus Military is managing to keep the A400M military airlifter on track, no-one can argue with the fact that the first aircraft are coming together on the factory floor. Unfortunately, the technical snags that have beset the much larger A380 airliner and caused lengthy delays only emerged after roll-out and the first aircraft had successfully taken to the skies. This does not bode well for the A400M, which in many respects is technically more ambitious than the A380. The A400M will be powered by enormous TP400 engines (due to be test flown on a Lockheed Martin C-130 early next year), which at around 12,000shp will be the most powerful turboprop engines built in the West. The A400M is also the first Airbus with a predominantly composite wing. Forward fuselage Rear ramp Composite wing TP400 engine There will be more news on the A400M during the next few weeks as the results of a major review of the project are released.]]> http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/10/first-airbus-a400m-comes-toget.html http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/10/first-airbus-a400m-comes-toget.html Defence A400M Airbus TP400 Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:41:52 +0000 'Quiet Spike' sonic boom-mitigation device being developed by Gulfstream, which has just had its first supersonic flight on a Boeing F-15. View image 2 View image 3 The telescoping nose boom extends in flight and divides the bow shock into a series of lesser pressure waves, softening the sonic boom. Flightglobal.com recently published an animation of how it works. Despite all the work going on to try and develop practical supersonic business jets, by companies such as Aerion, a solution is still a long way off and will be very expensive.]]> http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/10/gulstreams-quiet-spike-goes-su.html http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/10/gulstreams-quiet-spike-goes-su.html Technology Gulfstream NASA Quiet Spike SSBJ Tue, 31 Oct 2006 09:36:34 +0000 747-400 testbed rigged out with sensors to get wing-loading data for its new 747-8. It's going to have to lease the aircraft from Malaysia Airlines because Boeing doesn't keep prototypes of its airliners anymore, unlike Airbus, which has an A320, a couple of A340s and an A380 in its own "fleet", which come in handy for testing out new gadgets like winglets and laminar flow wings. I guess there's only so much you can find out in the windtunnel, as my recent picture of the 747-8 Freighter model at Farnborough shows. ]]> http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/10/boeing-will-lease-a-747400-fro.html http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/aviation-news-blog/2006/10/boeing-will-lease-a-747400-fro.html Boeing 747 Programmes 747-400 747-8 Boeing flight test Malaysia Airlines Mon, 30 Oct 2006 16:41:46 +0000