November 2007 Archives

It was initially reported on this blog on November 27 that the nose section (PHOTO) delivered one day prior from Wichita was identified as belonging to Dreamliner Two (ZA002). This delivery would've been early as major structures are not scheduled to arrive until late December. Flightblogger has learned that the nose section was improperly identified at the time of publication.

The nose section has since been linked to a previously unknown airframe, LN9901 or ZY901.

Image added 9:39 PM 11/29

Unlike previous sections that have arrived from suppliers, the nose section was loaded onto a flatbed truck on Tuesday evening for transport to the Boeing Development Center at Boeing Field south of Seattle for testing.

When asked for clarification about the plans for this nose section, Boeing responded in this way:

...our policy is that we do not respond to questions with respect to 787 production details, particularly when they involve specific parts or airplanes. We also, as you know, are not going to comment on or "confirm" information obtained through unauthorized means.

The arrival nose section raises questions about its destiny. Could this section be used for additional drop testing? What about freeze testing? Or is this airframe going to be the unlucky victim of an onslaught of frozen chickens?*

*Editors Note: Non-frozen chickens have been shown to do just as much damage to an aircraft as frozen chickens.

**Editors Note Two: I was wrong about frozen chickens. They, in fact, do cause a lot more damage. I have no credibility on chilled poultry weaponry.

Update:

The center fuselage for ZY998 (fatigue airframe) was delivered on the night of November 28 from Charleston. It was loaded into the body join rig along with section 41 at position one in the factory. The wings are also being moved into position to begin the wing-body join.

Buried amongst paragraphs about 777F flight training and the 787 stretch in this week's commentary from Scott Hamilton, was a subtly placed sentence:

The first flight of the 787 is planned for March 31.

After poking around a bit, this blogger has learned that this date for first flight date comes from a very senior source close to the 787 program. Of course, this date is all dependent on the late March weather conditions in Everett. Historically, this date is primarily meant as a guide. The 767-200 flew a few days early in 1981 to take advantage of good weather, just as the 777 waited a few days longer for ideal conditions.

This date meshes with information about the plans for 787 flight readiness and pre-first flight testing that has to take place during the month of March.

Image Courtesy of The Boeing Company

In other 787 news, the aft fuselage for ZY998, the Fatigue Airframe, was delivered to Everett yesterday evening. The center fuselage, the final fuselage section awaiting delivery, should be making the trip from Charleston to Everett later this week. One exciting surprise of last night's delivery flight was the stop the LCF made along the way at McConnell AFB in Wichita to pick up the nose section for Dreamliner Two. This is the first major assembly for the second flying 787 to arrive in Washington and a big step forward in the program.

One largely unreported story from Dubai is beginning to gain a bit of clarity:

Green aircraft to replace 737
By Ivan Gale, Staff Reporter
Gulfnews.com

In the next 18 months, Boeing expects to arrive at a design template for the 737 replacement, with "notional entry into service" around the middle of the next decade.

"The technology to create an airplane that could economically obsolete the 737 and Airbus 320 class of airplanes looks to us to be around 2015, give or take," Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Scott Carson told Gulf News.

So how much business is at stake over the next twenty years in the single aisle market? Both Airbus and Boeing agree that there is no less than $1 trillion available between now and 2026. If you average delivery forecast from both manufacturers you have more than 16,000 new single aisle aircraft rolling off the assembly lines in the next two decades.

A story floated out on the other side of the Atlantic yesterday while the US was enjoying its Thanksgiving dinner that has serious implications for both major aircraft manufacturers. Air France/KLM, soaring after it announced a doubling of its profit, is soliciting bids from Airbus and Boeing for up to 100 new widebody long range aircraft. The number alone is staggering. The order would be worth around $20 billion. KLM will use the replacements on its 747 Combis and MD-11s and AF needs to replace its 777-200s.

The following is the timeline of events from the Etihad A340-600 accident last week:

FROM : AIRBUS FLIGHT SAFETY DEPARTMENT TOULOUSE

SUBJECT: A340-600 - MSN 856 - ACCIDENT IN PRODUCTION OUR REF.: F-WWCJ AIT 2 DATED 20th OF NOVEMBER 2007 PREVIOUS REF: F-WWCJ AIT 1 DATED 16th OF NOVEMBER 2007

THIS AIT IS AN UPDATE OF PREVIOUS AIT N°1 CONCERNING THE A340-600 PRODUCTION AIRCRAFT MSN 856 INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT IN AIRBUS PRODUCTION FACILITIES IN TOULOUSE ON THE 15TH NOVEMBER 2007 AT 17:00 LOCAL TIME.

THE FOLLOWING IS THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS ACCORDING TO THE RECORDERS, WHICH HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR RELEASE BY THE FRENCH INVESTIGATION AUTHORITIES (BEA).

FOR ABOUT 3 MINUTES BEFORE THE END OF THE EVENT, ALL FOUR ENGINES EPR WAS BETWEEN 1.24 AND 1.26 WITH PARKING BRAKE ON AND WITHOUT GROUND CHOCKS.

THE ALTERNATE BRAKE PRESSURE WAS NORMAL. (WITH PARKING BRAKE ON, BRAKE
PRESSURE IS SUPPLIED BY ALTERNATE).

13 SECONDS BEFORE THE IMPACT THE AIRCRAFT STARTED TO MOVE. WITHIN 1 OR 2
SECONDS THE CREW APPLIED BRAKE PEDAL INPUTS AND SELECTED PARKING BRAKE OFF. THESE ACTIONS LED THE NORMAL BRAKE PRESSURE TO INCREASE TO ITS NORMAL VALUE.

2 SECONDS PRIOR BEFORE THE IMPACT, ALL 4 ENGINE THRUST LEVERS WERE SELECTED TO IDLE.

THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE CONTAINMENT WALL AT A GROUND SPEED OF 30 KTS.

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF ANY AIRCRAFT SYSTEM OR ENGINE MALFUNCTION.

AIRBUS REMINDS ALL OPERATORS TO STRICTLY ADHERE TO AMM PROCEDURES WHEN PERFORMING ENGINE GROUND RUNS

ENGINE GROUND RUNS AT HIGH POWER ARE NORMALLY CONDUCTED ON A SINGLE ENGINE WITH THE ENGINE IN THE SAME POSITION ON THE OPPOSITE WING OPERATED AT A LIMITED THRUST SETTING TO AVOID DAMAGE TO THE AIFRAME

WHEEL CHOCKS ARE TO BE INSTALLED THROUGHOUT THE TEST.

YANNICK MALINGE

VICE PRESIDENT FLIGHT SAFETY

AIRBUS

As promised, the original Flightblogger has been moved over to flightglobal.com. Please enjoy all the pages which are now all in one place.

September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007

A follow-up to the earlier post. When you see these up-close photos of the scope of the damage to the aircraft it's even more amazing that no one was killed. Truly a miracle.

I sat down with Addison Schonland and Scott Hamilton of AirInsight, LLC this morning to record a podcast about the 787-10.

Image Courtesy The Boeing Company

There's been a good amount of discussion generated in the wake of Dubai about how Boeing should respond to the A350-1000. I penned post in early August (To -10 or not to -10) asking this exact question. According to Scott Hamilton's commentary this week, Boeing is toying with the idea of growing the -10 to 380 seats. This would tackle the problem of eroding market share in the 777-300ER seat range and even top the A350-1000 by 30 seats. However, Scott contends that this could be "a stretch too far," hurting the 787 which is optimized for the -8 and -9 market.

PICTURE: First Airbus A400M flight-test aircraft rests on landing gear

By Andrew Doyle

Flightglobal.com has obtained an image of the first Airbus Military A400M flight-test aircraft resting on its own landing gear at the final assembly line near Seville, Spain. The transport is awaiting installation of its composite wing and empennage, together with its four Europrop International TP400 turboprop engines.

Aircraft MSN001 will be the first of six aircraft being dedicated to flight testing, and should fly by mid-2008, says Airbus parent EADS.

EADS recently announced a delay of up to a year to first deliveries of A400Ms to the French air force. The programme's seven European launch nations and two export customers have between them ordered 192 aircraft and had originally expected deliveries to start in November 2009.

Click for full resolution

I wanted to provide a bit of clarification on what flight ready means when talking about the 787 lead up to first flight.

Though unconfirmed by official sources, Dreamliner One is tentatively scheduled to be flight ready by late February. Word from the factory floor confirms this time frame is on target with expectations.

When I mentioned flight readiness by late February, I neglected to describe exactly what this meant. This milestone signifies that all systems are ready for flight. This is not the same as a first flight date.

After flight readiness is achieved, Boeing will be starting the engines for the first time, running ground vibration tests followed by the low speed and high speed taxi tests. Only after these additional milestones are accomplished, will we see the Dreamliner fly.

One very important note to add to this is that weather plays a big factor in determining the first flight date. Boeing prefers a first flights to occur on runway 34L to the North because there are fewer homes north of Paine Field.

Because of this, the winds have to be blowing favorably to the south to provide the proper conditions for first flight.

A northerly wind is harder to come by at Paine Field because the prevailing wind direction in March is typically from the South.

No joke.

The new vice-president for passenger services at American Airlines is Chuck Imhof.

5 Injured During Ground Tests of Airbus

TOULOUSE, France (AP) — Five people on board an Airbus 340-600 were injured Thursday during technical tests of the plane on the ground at a French airport, the company said.

Airbus gave no details of the accident.

The company said the four-engine plane, which is scheduled to be delivered to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, had been undergoing engine tests outside Toulouse, the southwestern French city where the European plane-making consortium is based.

Please stay tuned to Flightblogger for details to follow. This page will update. Updates after the jump.

After a two month hiatus, I wanted to provide an update on where things stood with the 787 program. Early October gave us a six month delay announcement from Boeing. The timeframes below reflect new program expectations (as Boeing says, there is always risk involved in any projection of expectations)

Dreamliner One - ZA001
ZA001 was lowered back on to its landing gear and moved to position three in Building 40-26 just prior to the October 10th press conference call. This was the first step to make way for delivery of new structural components.

Brackets are being installed in the fuselage and some rack shelves for avionics and flight test equipment is now in the cargo bay. Installation of flight test sensors is underway in the wings as well as wiring on the forward side of the wing spars.

Flight deck installation has begun as of last week. A photograph taken in early November and shared with Flightblogger, shows the progress in the concluding structural and early wiring phase. Boeing Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney visited the factory floor to check in on progress on the factory floor, as well as offer his personal thanks and appreciation for the hard work of the 787 team.

Internal schedules point to a production power on in late January, though limited power on testing has begun to test circuit breakers and other electronics in the wings. Though unconfirmed by official sources, Dreamliner One is tentatively scheduled to be flight ready by late February. Word from the factory floor confirms this time frame is on target with expectations.

UPDATE: See Explaining 787 Flight Readiness

787 Cabin Mockup In Dubai

Delta, United discuss combining operations

Associated Press

ATLANTA - UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. have been discussing a combination between the nation's second- and third-largest carriers that would keep the United name and the corporate headquarters in Chicago, The Associated Press has learned.

Two hundred aircraft orders here, 82 here, 188 there and plenty of others elsewhere. However, a merger between United and Delta could be the trump card of the week. There was not a single order by a North American commercial operator (correct me if I'm wrong) at the Dubai Air Show - this would be a massive shift in the US market.

I'm going to take a little time to digest the news because I spent the day traveling and I am still trying to convince my body to be asleep when it's supposed to be and awake when it's supposed to be. However, there are a few big questions that immediately come to mind about any merger.

What would the resulting fleets look like?

Overlap:
777-200 (different engines)
767-200/300ER (different engines)
757 (Same engines - PW)
CRJ200
CRJ700

United
747-400
B737-300/500
A319
A320

Delta
767–400ER
737–700 (on order)
737–800
MD–88
MD–90
777–200LR (on order)

What would codeshare/FF alliances look like? Would Delta leave Skyteam for Star Alliance? Would they join forces?

Delta - Skyteam - Partnering with AeroMexico, Aeroflot, Air France, KLM, Continental, Alitalia, CSA, Northwest, Korean, Air Europa, Copa, Kenya Airways

United - Star Alliance - Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana, Austrian, BMI, LOT, Lufthansa, SAS, Singapore, South African, Spanair, Swiss, TAP, Thai and US Airways.

Is this any good for travelers?
Yes - Expanded routes mean more accessible networks and schedules.
No - Less competition means higher fares - especially in regional markets.

What happens to regional carriers?

What questions come to your mind?

Live from the Airbus press conference. Air Blue orders 8 A320s making it Pakistan's fastest growing airline in Pakistan. The order makes 14 total A320s in its fleet.

Shahid Abbasi and John Leahy announced that they are in talks to purchase A350XWB aircraft as well. When asked by Flightblogger, Mr. Abbasi says he is speaking with Boeing on a 787 purchase as well and the order could go either way. A decision should come by June 2008.

Deliveries for the A320 will start in July 2009.

Expansion will be eastward to Singapore and Bankok as well as routes within the region.

UPDATE: 10:42 GST - Chief Operating Officer, Shahid Abbasi was present at the press conference, not Chairman and CEO Tariq Chaudhary

Reporting live from the Dubai Air Show. Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Fuel Company, Airbus and Rolls Royce are signing a milestone agreement to study the use of synthetic jet fuel to power aircraft.

The goal is to make Qatar the GTL (gas to liquid) producing capitol of the world.

By converting natural gas to liquid jet fuel, aircraft will benefit from distinct advantages:

1. Higher energy density. (potentially 4-5%) Which means aircraft will be able to fly longer on the same amount of fuel. Or rather, less fuel for existing routes.
2. Cleaner burning: Sulfur and nitrate emissions are zero.
3. It is a "drop-in" fuel meaning that no modification or new engine technology is required. In addition, Airbus' new fuel initiative requires that there will be no change to airport infrastructure. An aircraft that can run GTL will be able to use traditional kersene and biofuel with existing technology.

Qatar Gas Ventures suggests that airlines should expect to pay a premium for the increased efficiency.

DUBAI -- Airbus and Yemenia-Yemen Airways have announced a firm order for 10 A350-800 XWB aircraft. They will be configured in a two class configuration (18 first class, 265 economy).

Yemenia signed an agreement with Airbus on March 6, 2008 for up to 10 A350s. The March 2006 order was for the 1st generation A350 (non-XWB).

In addition, Oman Air has placed firm orders for 5 A330 aircraft. Three A330-300 and two A330-200. A choice of engine has yet to be made.

I sat down with Addison Schonland with IAG to talk about the first two very busy days here in Dubai. Addison is on the other side of the planet from me right now; a twelve hour time difference. Good thing he's an early riser.

We raised some excellent questions:

1. What kind of discounts has DAE gotten if they had $15b to spend, but bought $27b worth of aircraft?
2. Why no new A330F or 777F orders?
3. Why is there an absence of A340/A330 orders?

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise

Airbus - Total 100
70 A320
30 A350XWB

Boeing - Total 100
70 737NG
15 787
10 777-300ER
5 747-8F

Qatar

Boeing - Total 57
30 787 + 35 options
6 777-200LR
14 777-300ER
7 777F

Emirates

Airbus - Total 81
50 A350-900
20 A350-1000 + 50 options.
11 A380

Boeing
12 777-300ER

Nas Air

Airbus
20 A320

Embraer
5 E190 + 5 options + purchase rights + 12

Air Arabia

Airbus
34 A320 + 15 options

Saudi Arabian

Airbus
22 A320s + purchase rights for 8

TOTALS

Airbus
146 A320
100 A350
11 A380

Boeing
70 737
5 747-8F
6 777-200LR
36 777-300ER
45 787

Here's a glimpse into the very busy goings on here at the tarmac at DXB. More to come.

DUBAI -- The Saudi Arabian low cost carrier NAS Air will purchase more than 15 Embraer E190/195 jets Monday at the 2007 Dubai Air Show, Flightblogger has exclusively learned.

When asked about the size of the order, Embraer spokesman say that the order is expected to be larger than the previous record holding Gulf customer, Saudi Arabian Airlines, which operates 15 E170 aircraft on domestic and regional routes. This order would make it the largest order by a Gulf customer.

In addition, the spokesman speculated that the order was to be on par with the Virgin Nigeria order for seven E170 and three E 190 and rights and options for an additional fourteen aircraft recorded Sunday.

The Brazillian E-Jets will join a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft on its low cost operations out of Ryiadh. NAS Air signed a of a letter of intent June 22 at the 2007 Paris Air Show for up to 38 A320s.

DUBAI -- Gary Scott, President of New Commercial Aircraft Programs for Bombardier Aerospace, tells Flightblogger and Flight International that the Montreal based aircraft maker is now working exclusively with Pratt & Whitney to offer a geared turbo fan engine on its C-Series aircraft.

Bombardier intends to launch its C-Series aircraft in 2008 for an entry in to service in 2013.

DUBAI -- Embraer will announce an order from a Gulf customer for greater than 15 E-Jets today. The size of the order is set to be announced in a press conference at 4:30 PM local time today. Flightblogger has learned that the size of the order is greater than any order from its previous Gulf customers.

Embraer will not announce the identity of the order today, only the size of the order. Saudi Arabian Airlines, the largest operator of the E-Jets in the region, has 15 E170s. The identity of the customer will be announced at a press conference Monday.

Just broke a little while ago here. Emirates is stocking up on 93 new firm aircraft (plus 50 options), this time with a massive combination of A350s, A380s and 777-300ER.

The order breakdown is as follows:

11 A380-800
50 A350-900
20 A350-1000
50 A350 (options)
12 777-300ER

Image Courtesy Luis Contreras

Now at the airshow. Updates coming all day long.

LONDON -- I write this morning from Terminal 4 at London Heathrow, (somewhat) affectionately called the JFK of Europe. I spent the night covering 2837 nm from Boston aboard a 777-236ER G-VIIL. For the sake of full disclosure, it was actually my first time flying on a 777. I must say, even in economy, it's a very comfortable aircraft.

Good morning!

I am very pleased to announce that Flightblogger has begun its move to flightglobal.com. The move will take some time, so please bear with me as the transition will take time. It was important to get the new blog up and running in time for Dubai.

You'll also find my first story on the 747 program over there. Please feel free to start leaving comments over at the new blog.

The new blog can be found here:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/

Make sure to update your bookmarks accordingly.

The Boeing 747-8 Freighter rollout and production launch have been pushed back three months according to those inside the program, as well as customers.

Boeing has decided to complete final assembly and delivery of all remaining 747-400 Freighters in 2008 to completely close the -400F production line to transition the production lines for the -8F and -8I.

Image Courtesy Boeing

Hello and welcome to the new home of Flightblogger v2.0! Think of it as moving to a new house. The house looks beautiful, but all your furniture is sitting in the moving truck and you have only had a chance to unpack a mattress, your blender and a clock radio. I'm still unpacking and I'm incredibly excited about the new digs you see before you.

Flightblogger is going to cover all of the old topics you enjoyed at the old site and a wide range of new ones.

I launched Flightblogger on March 21, 2007, stating:

The birth of any blog reminds me of an eternal question, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" The answer, especially when you're a blogger, is yes. It's almost like talking to yourself.

I have a feeling a few more people will be around for this launch than there were in March.

All my original postings will be available over at flightblogger.blogspot.com. Over the next several weeks I'll be moving them all over so you don't have to bounce between sites.

I did a podcast last night over at IAG Inc. It should give a good rundown of what the new Flightblogger is all about.

To the return visitors, I say "Welcome back!" To those of you just seeing Flightblogger for the first time I say, "Welcome!"

Next Stop: Dubai

Onward

Jon Ostrower is the editor of FlightBlogger, an independent venture launched in Spring 2007 and later acquired by Flightglobal.com in November 2007.

FlightBlogger takes an in-depth look at matters relating to the global aerospace industry and is frequently a source for exclusive breaking news and reporting on matters of aircraft development and production.

Jon Ostrower's FlightBlogger has been extensively quoted in many publications and wire services including the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, New York Times, Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun, Everett Herald, Bloomberg and Reuters.

Jon also serves as full-time correspondent for Flight International Magazine, Air Transport Intelligence and is content editor for the Americas for Flightglobal.com.

Jon, a lifetime lover of aviation, is a Boston, Massachusetts native and a graduate of The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs in Washington, DC where he now resides.

Flightblogger 2.0:

Flightglobal.com is delighted to announce that we are teaming up with one of the world's leading aviation blogs - Flightblogger - to add another distinctive voice to our online portfolio.

Since its launch in May this year, Flightblogger has established a deserved reputation for providing an independent but intelligent commentary on the development of new airliners. We are happy to see its independence continue.

Flightglobal.com firmly believes in supporting a diversity of viewpoints and we are keen to see alternative, high-quality opinions sitting alongside our mainstream coverage.

I want to extend my deepest thanks to Flight for supporting Flightblogger and encouraging independent coverage of the aviation industry, as well as its forward thinking approach to new media.

In addition, Flightblogger will find a new home at Flightglobal.com.

For the time being, flightblogger.blogspot.com will serve as an archive of all the work I've done to date. I will be moving over to a new permanent home at flightglobal.com later this week.

With this new partnership, I'll be able to devote my full energy to Flightblogger. I'm looking forward to increasing the scope of coverage and delving into a range of new topics inside the industry.

In the previous post, I referenced that Flightblogger was going global; both a subtle hint to the new partnership, as well as my plans for my first assignment.

At the end of this week, I will be traveling to Dubai to cover the 2007 Dubai Air Show. I'll be doing my best, jet lag and all, to deliver a unique independent viewpoint on this massive air show.

Just as I covered the 787 rollout, I will be liveblogging from Dubai. This will also provide a unique opportunity to make this an interactive experience. I want to hear from you about what you want to see and hear from DXB.

Boeing, Airbus and other aircraft manufacturers will be making major announcements during the course of the Air Show and I will be there to bring you coverage.

There will be over 140 aircraft on static or flying display. Start asking yourself this question: What do you want to see in Dubai?

Onward,

Jon Ostrower
Flightblogger

This page has been silent for the last forty-four days.

It has not been easy to be away for that long. Flightblogger became a huge part of my life and giving it up was not easy, though it was for the best.

This blog was born in late March and accumulated nearly 400,000 visitors in its short life before its abrupt close in late September. My apologies for the lack of advance notice and thank you for all your emails of support, curiosity and encouragement. Each and every one of them meant the world to me. Without you, this blog is just one guy talking to himself.

The old saying goes that, "Sometimes in life, things are better the second time around."

Say hello to v2.0.

Within the next seven days Flightblogger will relaunch with an entirely new format, with a new look, with a new scope, and with a new home.

Stay tuned. Flightblogger is going global.