March 2009 Archives

Full disclaimer up front: This post originates from the official website of the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in France. I have already noted tomorrow's date (April 1st) and am crossing my fingers that this is real and actually going to happen.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of its first flight in 1969, the French Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace has restored Concorde F-BTSD (cn. 213) to flying condition and will take to the sky again on June 16, 2009 at 10:00 AM from Le Bourget Field at the Paris Air Show.

The restoration, which took place in secrcet, was funded by benefactors and aviation enthusiasts with the help of former Concorde maintenance technicians.

The two-hour flight will have F-BTSD departing Le Bourget with 50 passengers heading west out over Ireland for a trip above mach one. The last time this aircraft flew was June 2003.

UPDATE 10:03 PM: I am disappointed to announce that this March 31st post was actually intended by the museum's curator for April 1st, as it is a clever (again disappointing) hoax for April Fools Day tomorrow. Hey Jon, did you know gullible isn't in the dictionary?

For Dreamliner One to take to the sky by the end of June, three test aircraft must complete an orchestrated set of milestones in order to earn clearance for the 787's maiden voyage. Right now, the 787 schedule is being guided by the completion of the following milestones.

"It all has to get done," said Boeing, emphasizing that there is no particular order to the tests.

What follows is as complete of a guide as I've been able to assemble over the two years using material provided by Boeing, the Flight Archive and interviews. This post, in its preliminary form, went by the title The Dreamliner Learns to Fly, which was first authored in August of 2007. Here to there is a significantly more complete guide to understand what it takes to get the 787 into the air for the first time.

If anything is missing, inaccurate or misrepresented, please do not hesitate to contact me privately via email at flightblogger (at) gmail (dot) com. I consider this an evolving document.

Photo Credit Liz Matzelle

The war of words between aerospace giants Boeing and Airbus has taken a subtle, yet biting, turn. On March 30, Reuters quoted the President of Airbus China as saying that no Chinese carriers have canceled their aircraft orders. The following day, the Wall Street Journal quotes the President of Boeing India as saying that it doesn't expect Indian carriers to defer or cancel orders. It's nice to hear such an upbeat assessment of the Asian aircraft market by both manufacturers, though the pronouncement of such good news is a subtle jab at its fierce competitor.

Both Boeing and Airbus have faced challenges in the rapidly growing Chinese and Indian markets, respectively. India-based Kingfisher Airlines was forced to defer taking delivery of 32 of 48 Airbus A320 planes due for delivery in late 2008 and 2009 and is seeking a delay in delivery of its A380s to 2014. For Boeing, Chinese state owned carrier Shanghai Airlines raised questions about the performance of the early 787s and openly entertained the idea of cancellations.

It's no coincidence that these two stories were published a day apart:

No China airlines have cancelled orders -Airbus
SHANGHAI, March 30 (Reuters) - European aircraft maker Airbus (EAD.PA) has had no order cancellations from Chinese airlines so far amid the global industry downturn, its China president said on Monday.

China's three biggest carriers have all predicted losses for 2008 as a slowing economy curbs air travel, spurring the government to encourage cancellation or postponement in deliveries of plane orders.

A few Chinese airlines have asked for delays in taking delivery of previous orders but none has cancelled, Laurence Barron told Reuters on the sidelines of an event to mark the delivery of an A320 single-aisle plane to China's privately owned Spring Airlines.

"We have some discussions to help certain airlines get through the difficult period, but we are talking about a relatively small number of aircraft. We don't have any significant problem at the moment in delivering our aircraft," Barron said.

Boeing: Don't Expect Indian Carriers to Defer, Cancel Orders
BANGALORE, March 31 -- Boeing Co. reiterated Tuesday that it doesn't expect any Indian carriers to defer or cancel orders already placed with the U.S. plane maker despite a slowdown in the air travel sector.

Boeing has to deliver 100 planes worth $17 billion to Indian carriers over the next five years, Dinesh Keskar, president of Boeing India said.

"We have had zero cancellations in India" despite the economic downturn, Mr. Keskar told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference held to open Boeing's research and technology center in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.

"We managed our order book and that's why today we are reaping the benefits (of no cancellations)," Mr. Keskar said.

This week's movie Monday was inspired by a blog authored by a 24-year-old Malaysian 777 pilot. Journeys Across Continents is a must read that chronicles a MAS first officer's cross-crossing the world in the right-seat of a 777-200ER. He guides you through all aspects of his world travels and delves into the technical workings of the 777. He combines some great up-close technical photography with his love of flying. I could not recommend this blog more.
Parts two and three are below the fold.

Lufthansa's first A380 (MSN038) has departed the massive final body join facility and was towed outside in Toulouse for fuel calibration and cabin pressurization tests. The aircraft will return to Station 30 in the sprawling A380 final assembly building for final systems installation before returning to the flight line for its first flight to Hamburg for cabin outfitting. Lufthansa, the fifth A380 customer, is expected to receive its first superjumbo in early 2010.

The short term answer is unclear & the long term answer is likely no, though our friends at Leeham.net add some much needed perspective on the situation. ILFC is owned by a company that has been in the news lately: American International Group (AIG). Because of the difficulty securing financing, ILFC has been advanced nearly a billion dollars by its parent company to pay cash for airplanes. Udvar-Hazy is quick to acknowledge that this is an unsustainable way to purchase airplanes.

Scott Hamilton:

Since nobody seriously believes ILFC will be forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, what is the real meaning of its current situation?

It is that ILFC has become a microcosm of what is going on in the financial markets. Access to commercial funding is nearly impossible, and when it is available, it is expensive. Here is a business that is profitable, one that is the largest lessor in the world (by asset value), that is reduced to including language about being a going concern, all because of problems out of its own control at its parent that created a worldwide financial crisis and liquidity concerns for a stellar subsidiary. Selling ILFC is problematic because of the financial crisis.

Yet, the situation, in no uncertain terms, is very serious. ILFC accounts for about 168 outstanding orders (incl. 74 787s and 10 A380s) for both Airbus and Boeing or 2.4% of the total backlog. Losing $16.7 billion in orders isn't devastating on its surface (it does hurt), though if ILFC goes bankrupt, what does that say about the stability of the rest of the industry?

Coincidentally enough, the $1B from AIG is flow-through cash from the $173 billion bailout of the company by the US Government. I think that makes me a fractional owner of a 777.

The Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan demonstrator engine returned home to Connecticut after concluding a two-phase, 120-hour flight test program under the wings of a Boeing 747SP and Airbus A340-600.

The PW1000G engine was shipped by air freight from Toulouse, arriving back in the United States where P&W will inspect the engine and analyze its findings from the flight test campaign.

The engine maker is set to begin detailed design of the PW1217G (17,000 lbs-thrust) and PW1524G (24,000 lbs-thrust) powerplants for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet and Bombardier CSeries, respectively. Ground testing of the PW1217G is planned for mid-2010 with certification in late 2011. Both aircraft are scheduled to enter service in 2013.

Pratt & Whitney's new commercial engine is widely believed to be a front-running candidate to re-engine the 737 and A320 narrowbody aircraft in the near term. Airbus has said previously that it would require 24-30 months to re-engine the A320.

The PW1000G engine uses a gearbox to optimize the large diameter fan and engine core to improve the fuel burn. Pratt & Whitney hopes to deliver a 12-15% improvement in specific fuel consumption for airline operators.

Photos courtesy Pratt & Whitney

GEnx Engine For New Boeing 747-8 Begins Flight-Testing on Historic 747
VICTORVILLE, CALIFORNIA - March 24, 2009 - The new GEnx-2B jet engine for Boeing's new 747-8 aircraft has begun flight-testing on GE Aviation's 747 flying test-bed.

During the five-hour first flight Monday (March 23), a single GEnx-2B engine demonstrated aircraft systems and instrumentation functionality, climbing close to 40,000 feet and establishing engine performance baseline. About 40 flights with the engine are planned for this spring and summer.

The engine flew underneath the wing of N747GE a 747-121 (19651/25), formerly of Pan American Airways and the 16th 747 ever built and delivered in March 1970. Most recently, the aircraft served as the the test bed for the GEnx-1B and GE90-115B engines that power the 787-8 and 777-300ER/200LR/F aircraft, respectively.

Photos courtesy General Electric

In wee hours of Saturday morning, ZA001 emerged from from the paint hangar with freshly painted body and wings, as well as cleaned fuel tanks.* The aircraft returned to Building 40-24 (767 Line) where it is parked next to WF001, the first 777 Freighter (N5020K), also painted in the Boeing house livery.

Several hours before, the Alenia-fabricated horizontal stabilizer for the first production 787 arrived in Everett from Italy for Dreamliner Seven onboard the LCF. The stabilizer, which is the largest monolithic composite structure on the 787, joins a specially painted blue rudder on the assembly floor. The rudder currently sports a paintjob that would indicate the tail will read 7-8-7, similar to that of Dreamliner One when delivered to ANA.

In the near term, several sources indicate that ZA001 could be on the flight line as early as next week, though the way the time line is structured suggests that the factory gauntlet could actually commence outside of the factory.

The factory gauntlet is first of three stages of closed-loop systems testing that verifies the proper software and hardware functionality of the aircraft. The first phase is run on external and battery power.

*In case you were wondering the 787-8 holds 33,528 gallons of fuel.

Delta & V Australia
Another new wrinkle in the trans-Pacific price wars is a link up between Delta and V Australia. The two airlines inked an interline agreement to allow purchase of tickets for travel between the US and Australia on either airline. Both newcomers to the trans-Pacific market were once thought to be competitors against QANTAS and United, but have found that they gain more together than separate. This definitely says a lot about feeder traffic on both sides of the Pacific and filling airplanes.

QANTAS' 5th A380 Flies
Airbus has flown the 5th A380 for QANTAS (MSN027) from Toulouse last week for outfitting in Hamburg. The aircraft will eventually become VH-OQE (Lawrence Hargrave) for delivery toward the latter part of this year.

Qatar to Houston
Next Monday, Qatar Airways will launch non-stop service between Doha and Houston with the airline's new 777-200LR. The 16-hour and 45-minute flight will be the sixth longest (duration) non-stop flight in the world.

HBC gets a new CEO
Hawker Beechcraft named Bill Boisture, formerly president of NetJets, Gulfstream Aerospace and British Aerospace Corporate Jets, will assume the company's top position, effective immediately. HBC has faced major workforce cuts and rumored cancellation of new aircraft programs amid major industry turmoil that has hit business jets hardest. The departure of HBC's CEO Jim Schuster was entirely expected and planned, though the task put to Mr. Boisture is certainly a tall one, as his company is forced to weather the storm of uncertainty.

On Accidents, Incidents and Crashes
2009 has brought us an unusually high number of tragic and high profile aircraft accidents and this page has largely been silent on covering them. Many have asked my why I don't report more on crashes, the simple answer is: if I have nothing to add with new information or insight, I find it best to refrain from comment. I want this page this page to be a place you find something you won't find somewhere else, not a reiteration of someone else's reporting. Our veteran safety experts, David Learmount and John Croft, have much more experience and insight on these topics and I recommend them highly. Thanks for understanding.

The Road to 787 First Flight
As we approach first flight, things on the 787 program are speeding up rapidly. This calls for a change in coverage. Since I joined with Flight in 2007, I opted to write less frequent, longer updates as program progress was moving at a slower pace. Moving forward, you will see more frequent and compact updates tha twill better suit the coverage between here and first flight, though I still plan to post longer comprehensive updates as warranted.

This week's Movie Monday actually appeared on the blog last October, but only for US viewers. This week, I'm pleased to share the same video for the rest of the world. NOVA's Battle of the X-Planes documents the epic competition between Lockheed's X-35 and Boeing's X-32 for the Joint Strike Fighter contract.

The documentary is crafted in a similar way as the '21st Century Jet' in how it takes you behind the scenes of the development of these aircraft from a never before seen angle. For the Boeing side of the video, keep an eye out for elements of lean manufacturing and composite design that were applied to the X-32 in a limited way and found a much larger application on Boeing's most recent jetliner.

For much more coverage of the Joint Strike Fighter program, make sure to visit Steve Trimble's The D.E.W. Line.

Well, it feels like this blog turned one just yesterday, and the past three hundred and sixty five yesterdays were even more amazing than the three hundred and sixty five that preceded them. Last year brought 1.7 million hits and a million visitors to FlightBlogger, bringing the two year traffic total to just shy of 3 million. I have all of you to thank for making year two of FlightBlogger even more successful than year one.

Though, what a difference a year makes. The early months of 2008 showed rapidly growing backlogs and a seemingly healthy global economy. Today we find ourselves in a very different situation, our lives touched by the change in fortune of the economy. I am extraordinarily grateful for the opportunity to author this page on a daily basis, even more so today.

The year ahead will be no less exciting and challenging than the one that has passed and perhaps more so; first flights and flight test, roll outs and air shows all amid a very different global climate. I hope you'll continue along with me as we push into the heart of 2009.

With deepest thanks.

Onward,

Jon Ostrower

March 21, 2009

If you look closely, you might just be able to see what's amiss with this 1:250 scale model of this 787 as advertised in the British Airways in-flight catalogue. Hat tip to Crispin Maunder for the find.

With the final flight test aircraft now in final assembly, the path is cleared for parts to begin arriving for pre-integration for the first production 787 (ANA). The first major parts for Dreamliner Seven are set to begin showing up in Everett later this week when the horizontal stabilizer is flown from Italy.

Listen to the companion podcast on the challenges ahead for A380

Airbus has found itself on the receiving end of a hefty load of criticism from its largest A380 customer.

The latest chapter in the story of the A380 is one of the operational troubles encountered by Emirates. German publication Der Spiegel reported Monday that the Dubai-based airline provided Airbus with a detailed presentation of its complaints with its 489-seat A380s warning of a possible "loss of confidence" in the aircraft.

In a 46-slide presentation, the aviation experts painstakingly listed what they viewed as the giant jet's serious growing pains. To illustrate their points, they included snapshots of singed power cables, partially torn-off sections of paneling and defective parts of thrust nozzles in the engines as evidence of what they described as a shoddy work ethic at Airbus and its suppliers.

Emirates, which has received four A380s, served as the launch customer for the Engine Alliance (Pratt & Whitney-General Electric) GP7200 engines when it launched service during the Summer of 2008 between Dubai and JFK.

Emirates' first route was the longest regular A380 flight to-date between Dubai and JFK at over 12 hours. Singapore Airlines, the first airline to operate the A380, took a more conservative approach to its entry into service. SIA's first A380 routes had the superjumbo flying seven hour flights between Singapore and Sydney. Of the three A380 cities currently served from Singapore by SIA, two are under eight hours away.

To provide a bit of historical context, it's important to remember that the A380 is the longest range first generation airliner to fly 12-14 hour stages within its first year of service. The 747, 777, A330 and A340 all evolved over time to fly these long routes.

Erkan Pinar, who serves as commercial director at a German MRO, suggests that the distinguishing factor for Emirates could be attributable to the sandy climate of its Dubai home base. By contrast Singapore and Sydney are much hospitable climates, even with the increased humidity.

Overall, Emirates has insisted its view on the superjumbo is unchanged and quell any concern about a change in its order:

"Technical issues are expected with new aircraft. Naturally we want these to be resolved as soon as possible."

Though the in-service issues encountered by Emirates are not felt exclusively by the Dubai-based carrier. Both Singapore Airlines and QANTAS - albeit to a lesser extent - have encountered these micro-level issues, yet they may be vastly outweighed by the macro-level challenges facing the worlds airlines.

Looking beyond operational reliability, the A380 faces a much deeper problem in the the economic downturn. For airlines, dropping premium travel (first and business), has helped to cripple revenue potential:

"ATA today released its latest premium traffic report showing customers traveling on first and business class tickets in January fell 16.7%, a significant decrease from December's 13.3% drop year-over-year."

A 2004 analysis of the A380 weighs the importance of premium passengers on the aircrafts viability:

While the "premium" (first and business class) component of the traffic is smaller than the economy portion, premium traffic in fact generates over half of the total (passenger) revenue potential.

The report assumes a two-class 555-seat (125-J, 430-Y) A380 with 70% load factor on a 4000 nm route with premium seats being sold for five times more than economy seats. A broad look at today's A380 fares reveal roughly similar pricing models, though slightly lower seat counts.  

One industry expert with direct knowledge of Emirates' JFK operations tells FlightBlogger that January and February load factors took a significant hit with several A380 flights operating with less than 100 passengers on board. Emirates announced yesterday that it planned to downsize its daily JFK service to a 777-300ER and redeploy the twin A380s to Toronto and Bangkok later this year.

Air France has postponed delivery of two A380s to preserve operating cash for 2009 and 2010 by moving down payments farther out. Though Emirates, which accounts for more than 1/4 of the A380 backlog, has openly dismissed the idea of slowing deliveries as Dubai strains under the crush of the financial crisis.

2009 will see bring the total number of A380s operating globally to 31 and the aircraft will see its second full year of service. Its maturity as an aircraft will be forged amid a global economic downturn and Airbus tasked with overcoming the technical teething challenges that will define its operational life if not quickly resolved. The story of the A380 is far from over.

Tomorrow morning is the final edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper and James Wallace, who has covered aerospace for 12 years, penned his final column for tomorrow's paper.

Aviation journalism at its finest, I've come to appreciate, is the artful hybrid of global and local reporting. Mr. Wallace exemplified that type of journalism at the P-I. His words always had a way of reaching around the world without ever neglecting the fact that his audience was in Washington.

This blogger - this journalist - owes much to Mr. Wallace and his Aerospace Notebook. Long before there was FlightBlogger, there was a kid who couldn't get his hands on enough aviation news. I always felt a connection to the Pacific Northwest as my attention was, more often than not, keenly focused on what went on there. Growing up in Boston, It was not uncommon to find me reading the Post-Intelligencer more than I was reading my hometown Globe.

James Wallace was the author of many of my favorite aerospace stories.

One story in particular that I re-read periodically - never failing to light a spark inside me - was the "silver suitcase" story. It told of the birth of the 787 and how it came to be from its earliest days as just an idea.

Mr. Wallace was able to encapsulate what I love so much about aviation: That fact that when it's all said and done, the origin of these flying machines can be traced to a moment of inspiration. That inspiration, with all the trials and tribulations that come along with it, becomes something real.

His influence has been strongly felt in both my personal and professional life, guiding my love of aviation, and serving as an example for the kind of journalist I strive to be. There is a gaping hole left by the absence of his regular reporting that will be long felt.

Thank you James Wallace.

This week's Movie Monday is an pretty amazing find. Buried deep on Google Video I found a Luftwaffe training video from 1944 of the Messerschmitt Me-262 - the world's first jet powered aircraft. According to the description on the video:

The original audio is long since gone. However, the replaced narration is that of Franz Steigler, who flew the plane and watched the film during the war.

The film, which is 46 minutes, is an extraordinary piece of primary source material for understanding the revolutionary leap in technology that occurred at the end of World War II. I watched it transfixed on the amazing history found in this video. What unfolds below is really a demonstration of the fragility of the first jet fighter and its clear tendency to overheat.

As you watch the film, I would recommend putting it in direct contrast to the P-51 Mustang training video from 1942 that was posted here several weeks ago. The cultural similarities and differences in training pilots makes for an amazing piece of history. In addition, last week's movie, Dogfights of the Tuskegee Airmen, tells the story of the squadron's battle against these aircraft. This might just be one of the best Movie Mondays yet. Enjoy!

Shanghai airlines is considering canceling part of its 787 order as Chinese airlines work to renegotiate with Boeing on their early delivery slots.

Shanghai Airlines Chairman Zhou Chi was quoted by Bloomberg news as saying the aircraft doesn't "fully meet the quality that Boeing touted earlier."

The comments were made at a shareholders meeting today where the company said that it may cancel the first of nine 787s it has on order or renegotiate the delivery date to late 2010 at the earliest.

An industry source close to the 787 program tells FlightBlogger that all the Chinese 787 customers are working to renegotiate delivery of their share of the first 20 production aircraft "officially for payload reasons."

Shanghai is expected to receive the 10th 787, the fourth production -8 aircraft. Of the first 20 787-8s built, which include the first six flight test aircraft, Chinese airlines are expected to receive half. The airline's second 787-8 would be the 50th built.

Boeing expects to introduce its second production blockpoint which includes a suite of weight reduction and performance enhancements beginning with airplane 21.

Boeing declined to comment specifically on its negotiations with Shanghai Airlines.

"We are working very closely with our 787 customers to understand their evolving fleet requirements," said a Boeing spokesperson. "But as a matter of long-standing practice, Boeing does not comment on its discussions with customers."

Shanghai Airlines, along with Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Grand China Airlines and Xiamen Airlines were all part of a coalition of Chinese airlines that gave the 787 its name when it ordered 60 in January 2005.

Image credit Boeing

On Wednesday, I posted a picture from Bombardier of the CSeries flight deck running the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion system. Many of you gently informed me that the rendering was from last year, so I went in search of a more recent version. Rockwell Collins was kind enough to supply me with an updated version of the CSeries flight deck, which is pictured above.

Image credit Rockwell Collins

Last week, my colleague Lori Ranson and I were invited by Honeywell for an in-flight demonstration of the Primus Epic avionics platform with Synthetic Vision and RNP .1 capabilities that have been installed on the company's Gulfstream G550 (N933H).

The 90 minute flight, which was similar to a G450 flight from a year ago, took us down to Roanoke after we departed Dulles. We flew two approaches to runways 24 and 33 in Roanoke then back to Dulles for a nightime approach on runway 19C.

For a bit of additional background on the Honeywell/Gulfstream system, take a look back the four part series I published a year ago. The Enhanced Vision System II was on full display for this flight and was particularly useful as we spotted a wildfire off the end of the runway in Roanoke.

• Part I - Ground School
  
• Part II - To The Sky
• Part III - Go-Arounds and Wildfires
• Part IV - The Return Home

As Boeing announces it has cleared all 787 equipment for first flight, the airframer plans changes to landing gear components on later production 787-8 aircraft to improve gate turnaround operations by improving the thermal performance of part of the braking system.

Early 787s will be constrained in some quick turnaround operations if the gate arrival follows a high-energy landing that raises the brake temperature past a certain threshold. Boeing emphasized that the issue lies not with the brakes themselves, but the remote data concentrator (RDC) units on the four 787 main landing gear axles.

Remote data concentrators (RDCs) are used to flow digital and analog data from remote sensors into the 787's Common Core System and replace traditional, dedicated signal wiring, saving weight and allowing increased operator flexibility.

The landing gear based RDCs were intended to accommodate the extreme heat but "did not meet expectations," said Boeing.

Adding that, "Until the new units are installed, airplane dispatch based on a lower brake temperature will be implemented."

Boeing says cooling fans can be used at the gate following a high-energy braking landing to reduce the park time necessitated by brake heat generated during landing.

Boeing has estimated that a 787-8 with 275 passengers can be turned around and prepared for departure in as little 45 minutes, though the definition of a "quick turnaround" varies depending on the needs of the airline and its operations.

Airlines often leave landing gear down for an extended time after takeoff to allow for additional brake cooling before stowage, though Boeing "has no plans to require the airlines to leave the gear down after takeoff." Adding that "dispatch procedures," which require additional cooling time at the gate, "will facilitate normal gear retraction."

Brake cooling time would vary based on airport conditions and a specific duration of time would not be specified, though brake temperature would have to return to acceptable levels prior to pushback.

A high-energy landing would, for example, be undertaken if a higher autobrake setting were selected to reduce stopping distance on a shorter runway.

To improve turnaround time following high-energy landings that would significantly raise brake temperature, Boeing along with partner GE Aviation, who supplies the RDCs, is developing a more robust installation that will relocate the unit and improve thermal performance.

The design change will maintain the functionality of the landing gear RDCs, however Boeing will have to revise the brake control monitoring system (BCMS) software to maintain compatibility with the new component package.

The BCMS software, which is developed by Crane Co. and was previously cited as a key pacing item for the 787 program has been delivered to Boeing and installed on Dreamliner One.

Boeing expects production incorporation to tentatively occur in late 2010, which when matched up against the airframer's proposed production ramp up, could be part of the blockpoint changes expected for Airplane 20.

Though, Boeing adds that the fix will be implemented as soon as it is available and the company is still working out the exact timing of the change.

Image courtesy of Boeing

In what is the largest commercial aircraft order of 2009, Lufthansa firmed up an order for 30 CSeries aircraft plus 30 additional options for subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines.

Bombardier's first firm CSeries order comes after Lufthansa signed a letter of interest in July 2008 (live blog) at the Farnborough Air Show. Even though Lufthansa is the first airline to place a firm order for the CSeries, Swiss will not serve as the aircraft type's first operator.

The 110-seat CS100 aircraft will replace 20 Swiss BAe Avro RJ-100ER aircraft beginning in 2014 and configured with 115 seats. Entry into service of the CS100, which is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1000G engines, is scheduled for 2013. The engine selection was first announced on this blog at the Dubai Air Show in November 2007.

The order marks a bright spot in an otherwise troubled 2009 commercial aerospace market that has seen continued cuts in capacity, falling passenger and cargo traffic, as well as numerous aircraft order cancellations and deferrals.

The boost for the program comes a day after Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said, "[A CSeries order is in the freezer because we require certain conditions from Bombardier for us to consider the aircraft, for which they are not capitulating. So I think we'll have to forget about it if [Bombardier does] not respond."

Al Baker adds that his concerns cover "the whole deal", including both price and specifications of the aircraft. "If they oblige, maybe we will reconsider our decision," he adds.

Qatar Airways is interested in purchasing the 130-seat CS300 aircraft, the second CSeries variant, for regional operations out of its Doha hub.

The next step for Bombardier will be to sign a firm 2013 launch customer. Mongolian regional airline Eznis is currently the only other customer to have signed a letter of interest with Bombardier for seven CSeries aircraft.

The carrier has said it plans to firm the order in 2010.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Bombardier announced the re-designation of the twin CSeries variants. The 110-seat C110 has been re-branded the CS100 and the 130-seat C130 is now the CS300. The change is likely geared toward avoiding confusion with the C-130 Hercules, a multi-role military cargo aircraft.

Around 9:30 pm on Tuesday evening in Everett, Dreamliner One departed Building 40-24 for its return appointment to the paint shop. The aircraft will receive its second coat of paint since June 25, 2007 when ZA001 rolled for the first time.

While in the paint hangar, N787BA will also receive its aqueous wash to clean the fuel tanks and remove any debris that accumulated during assembly over the last twenty-two months.

Dreamliner One should be out of the paint hangar in about ten days.

Special thanks to Tony for the photo.

As someone who grew up in Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, I came to appreciate how valuable high-speed rail was as a good alternative for flying between Boston, Washington and New York City. The trip from Washington to NYC is arguably more convenient at only three hours and reasonably priced to be competitive with the shuttle.

Though, potentially on the docket for high-speed rail projects is a proposal to connect New York to Buffalo along the existing Empire Service route as part of the economic stimulus package. At first glance, the plan makes perfect sense: A 110 mph train cutting the trip between the cities from 8-hours down to just 5-hours.

I took a closer look at what this actually means when matched up against flying. Using two arbitrary travel dates (Monday, May 11 to Friday, May 15) the price to take the train (traditional-speed rail) is between $55 and $78 each way on a service offered three times per day. The trip on JetBlue (JFK-BUF) yields $69 each way with a 12 flights a day. The flight is about 80-minutes total vs. 300-minutes by high-speed train.

There is a fair point to be made when discussing a stress cost of not having to deal with airports and security. Though, the whole trip including the time it would take to go from the Financial District to Penn Station arriving 20 minutes before your train departs, still takes longer overall than if you went to JFK, arriving 60 minutes early from the Financial District and hopped a flight.

Price, in time and money, matters. A recent poll by travelzoo.com found that 40% of travelers would forgo using the bathroom free of charge if it meant a 50% cheaper plane ticket. Price, not stress, was the deciding factor.

Where the high-speed rail system finds its justification is in the intermediate stops between New York City and Buffalo that would otherwise be hard to reach by any other means than a car. The line would connect cities and moves goods and people between these intermediate points. This alone may serve as a good reason to build the line, though if the price is prohibitive compared to flying between the origin and end point along the line, then a high-speed rail system is only as good as it's utilized.

If the US is going to have a viable high-speed regional rail system then the proposition has to be competitive for consumers. High-speed rail for the sake of high-speed rail is no virtue.

Image credit Railfan and Railroad Magazine

Boeing reaffirmed its 787 schedule today, saying that the company has "cleared all equipment for first flight" as it prepares for its maiden flight in the 2nd quarter.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson called Airplane One "essentially factory complete."

Carson added that Airplane One, which has been delayed by fastener problems and design changes, is currently undergoing integrated hardware and software testing at the company's Everett, WA factory.

Carson cited several visible "mini-milestones" to look for in the weeks to come, including a trip to the paint shop and commencement of gauntlet tests to verify and validate systems integration, as well as flight line ground and ship power testing to ensure the aircraft's self-sufficiency.

Carson was speaking at a JP Morgan Conference and said that "job one" for his company is flying, certifying and delivering on the 787 and 747-8 programs for customers.

The first 787-8, ship seven, is scheduled to enter service in the 1st quarter of 2010 with Japan's All Nippon Airways. 

What a difference a week makes!
Last week's open thread had a much different theme as I was writing from under 12-inches of snow in Boston. This week, in stark contrast, is a beautiful sunny springtime kickoff here in Washington (67F, 19C). Take that Groundhog.

767-323ER(WL)
Yesterday, American Airlines Flight 78 departed Dallas Fort Worth enroute to London Heathrow Airport. This was a perfectly routine trans-Atlantic flight save for the fact that there was an eleven foot tall winglet affixed to each wingtip. N389AA, which took flight with its new Aviation Partners Boeing winglets back in July, entered revenue service yesterday touching down at Heathrow at 10:26 local time this morning. The 767-300ER now boasts a range of 6,335 nm up from 5,975 nm.

With American, Delta, Air New Zealand, Condor, LAN, Hawaiian and Austrian (to name a few) all buying winglets like they're going out of style, it begs the question: Are winglets recession proof?

British Airways A318 Interior
BA let their premium A318 interior configuration slip yesterday and Flightglobal.com nailed the scoop. The 2-2 lie flat configuration for 32 passengers that will hop from London City Airport to Shannon to JFK.

Thought No. 1: Keep an eye on these load factors when this service begins. The A318 order came out of competition with EOS, MAXjet, L'Avion and Silverjet all of which are no longer in operation. Is there a still a market for this type of premium service in this economy?

Thought No. 2: Looking over those pictures yesterday, I stopped and did a comparison of the original and new A320 family interior. Worth taking a peek at these side-by-side A320 cabin shots. ORIGINAL (MSN2539) v. NEW (MSN3404)

A380 Convoy
Emirates A380 (MSN028) is on its way to Toulouse and will be winding around the French countryside beginning on March 9th. The aircraft will eventually wear A6-EDH as the 8th A380 for the Dubai-based carrier late this year or early next year. Just fifty more to go.

Looking to get away?
NBC Nightly News (highly recommended podcast) had a little piece on falling travel prices. I got the itch just watching this.
 

As one of the most famous squadrons of World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen helped moved both America and the war effort forward. The History Channel recently took famous air battles and combined their historic retelling with computer animation to bring the history to life in a program called Dogfights. What follows is a retelling of some of the most famous dogfights of World War II as told by the men who sat in the cockpit of the North American P-51 Mustang. The Tuskegee Airmen recount their time flying against the Luftwaffe.

The following is the second in a two part report detailing the status of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner program. Part one, which examined the progress of the six flight test aircraft was posted on Thursday.

After incurring two years of costly delays to its flagship program, Boeing is set to begin final assembly of the sixth and final flight test aircraft, paving the way for the first production 787 Dreamliner.

Major supplier partners have delivered the majority key structural components and systems components to final assembly for Dreamliner Six. With these parts delivered, structural partners are, for the first time, able to focus resources solely on preparing production aircraft.

Center fuselage integrator Global Aeronautica, for example, will have the first six production ship sets in its Charleston, SC facility by mid-March.  

Airplane seven, which is slated for delivery to All Nippon Airways as JA801A in February 2010, will be the first major engineering blockpoint for the 787 program adding significant weight savings for overall performance enhancement, though the first block one production aircraft are expected to be delivered over the target weight.

Block one production aircraft are expected to be delivered to a mix of Chinese and Japanese airlines.

The second blockpoint for additional design changes and weight savings are expected for Airplane 20. It is believed that Boeing will gain significant weight savings by introducing structural changes to the wing and a revised electric architecture.

Suppliers have described the preparations of airplane seven for delivery to Boeing as more challenging because of the significant design revisions expected to be incorporated for the production standard 787s.

Much of the additional work stems from revisions in the original engineering as a result late design changes for production aircraft that will be incorporated at the first-tier supplier level rather than farther down the supply chain where they otherwise would originate.

For example, a program source tells FlightBlogger that the production aft fuselage sections fabricated by Vought Aircraft Industries is as much 30% different from the first six flight test aircraft delivered.

Several such changes will originate in the center wing box and wing tank fabricated by Kawasaki and Fuji Heavy Industries in Japan. In March 2008, Boeing revealed it would have to strengthen internal structural spars due to premature buckling.

Boeing announced at the time that Airplane seven would be the first aircraft to have that change incorporated at the supplier level, whereas the first six test flight aircraft required a retrofit to be added on the final assembly line in Everett.

In addition, to better enable the coming production ramp up and speed final assembly time, a terminal fitting was relocated from the wings to the integrated center fuselage section, though this change presented a unique challenge to the 787 supply chain.

By relocating the fitting for its first incorporation with airplane seven, Boeing found that the width of the center fuselage had increased causing a "slight interference" with a damage indicator panel within the 747 Dreamlifter's cargo bay, preventing optimal loading.

The interference was enough to warrant a simple retrofit to the Dreamlifter that will be prepared in time for the first delivery expected in the second quarter. Boeing plans a service bulletin to address this issue across the LCF fleet.

As the program moves into production phase, FAA audits are being conducted to ensure standardization for type conformity of assembly and integration procedures. The aft fuselage for airplane seven, for example, will undergo a wiring conformity audit prior to delivery to final assembly.

Final assembly for airplane seven should begin later this spring.

Image courtesy of Boeing

The following is the first in a two part report detailing the status of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner program. Part two, which examines preparations for formally commencing production, will be posted on Friday.

Inside its cavernous Everett facility, Boeing is busily preparing Dreamliner One for its first flight before the end of June as the company prepares for assembly of the sixth and final flight test aircraft.

First flight, which was originally intended for late April still remains designated internally as "To Be Determined." However, key systems testing has shifted roughly two months, potentially pushing the expectation of 787 first flight to the June time frame according to several program sources. Late June still falls within Boeing's 2nd quarter target for flying the 787, though it appears the remaining margin is shrinking before potentially eating into the flight test certification program.

Factory gauntlet testing, the first of three extensive systems testing phases, is now designated for early April. Initially, the factory gauntlet was targeted for early February.

Boeing's first 787, ZA001, remains on a slant assembly position on the 767 line until the second week of March when it will make its second trip over the Boeing Freeway to the paint hangars.

The trip to the paint hangar will follow the medium blow pressure test, which is planned for later this week. The test will see the differential cabin pressure raised to 9.43 PSIg.

During the middle of this month, Boeing will make way for the sixth 787 flight test aircraft to begin final assembly. To do so, this requires relocating Dreamliner Three to a slant position on the 747 line which is currently in a lull as it transitions to 747-8F production.

ZA003, which recently received its twin Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines is regarded as the lowest priority of the six flight test aircraft. The eventual ownership of the aircraft has publicly become an open question with Delta Air Lines having appeared to abandon the early build 787s and its place as the North American launch customer for the 787.

When it enters the flight test campaign, Dreamliner Three will demonstrate the passenger environment by testing features like the cabin air system, passenger noise levels and the behavior of the interior structure.

The shift in priority away from Dreamliner Three to Airplanes One, Two and Five, the first General Electric GEnx powered 787, has opened the door for the reshuffling of its flight test aircraft sequence.

"We are approaching the flight test program with flexibility in mind," said Boeing. "We will share more about that sequence at the appropriate time."

The airframer originally intended to have the six flight test aircraft enter the test campaign in the order they were assembled, though a higher level of completion of later shipsets arriving to Everett could see later flight test aircraft flying out of the original sequence.

Boeing added that flexibility encompasses all six of the flight test aircraft, including Dreamliner One.

Following the line move of ZA003-ZA005, Dreamliner Two, which will remain at the fourth assembly position inside the 787 Final Assembly Line, is expected to undergo first power-on.

In addition, the forward and center fuselage for Dreamliner Six will arrive in Everett as the last structural sections for flight test aircraft are delivered.

Those parts will join the wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizers, as well as the aft fuselage which departed Charleston on Feb 15. According to program sources, the aft fuselage took place in a planned FAA audit to sign off on the current return network giving a green-light for future standardized type conformity on this feature.

The delivered barrel section also sports an already painted blue and white passenger door in The Boeing Company colors. The door, an Everett-based source says, was originally used in the July 2007 rollout but returned to Latecoere for completion and then reinstalled completed for Dreamliner Six.

For the two static and fatigue test airframes work continues to progress as ZY997 was handed back over to the Boeing test lab in mid-February. The fatigue airframe, ZY998, which occupies a spot on the Everett flight line, is currently undergoing airframe rework stemming from improperly installed fasteners. According to one source familiar with the rework, more than one hundred staff are tackling the fastener replacement before full-scale fatigue testing can get underway.

Photo Credit Tolga Ozbek

Honeywell Gulfstream G550 N933H

Downtown Boston at night while climbing out for the 50-minute flight
to JFK. That unlit part of the photo at the upper right is Logan
Airport. Beautiful sight.

Yesterday's temporary grounding of the QANTAS A380 fleet due to contaminated fuel probes has raised questions about a design flaw in the superjumbo's fuel system, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

[Lyell Strambi, the airline's executive general manager of operations] denied the fuel-tank problem raised questions about the airline's decision to purchase 20 A380s from manufacturer Airbus for $350 million each, describing the issues as "a few teething problems".

But he refused to rule out the possibility of a problem with the aircraft's design.

"Is this a problem with design? It's too early to tell. We'll have to work out what's caused the contamination in the tank.

Since its entry into service in October 2007, the A380 has seen several groundings due to unrelated faults within the fuel system:

February 18, 2008 - SIA - Problem source traced to electrical relay powering fuel pump.
March 24, 2008 - SIA - Problem traced to "premature failure" of the fuel pump.
March 1, 2009 - QFA - One aircraft prompts cancellation due to fuel leak.
March 2, 2009 - QFA - Two aircraft grounded due to fuel probe contamination.

The new jet has been subject to a higher level of visibility because of the unprecedented size of the airliner, yet all new jets have their teething problems.

During the February 2008 cancellation Airbus said the A380 had been operating with a dispatch reliability of more than 99.5 percent. Adding, "Like with a normal car, things can happen, things need to be repaired."

Though, when discussing the dispatch reliability of an aircraft type with a fleet of only 13 aircraft operating worldwide, aircraft related cancellations or groundings can greatly skew the average drastically.

Overall, Mr. Strambi said of his airline's three superjumbos: "The A380 is actually a fantastic aircraft and, until now, we've had a very good entry to service with the aircraft."

Image courtesy of David Barrie

I'm working on a bunch of other things this afternoon and I'm out and about in Boston, but I wanted to keep in touch via Twitter. I'll be back in DC late tonight. Also this post is the first test of the new Apture plug-in for Movable Type. The photo above is one I took from Oshkosh last summer. The plane is N707JT a Boeing 707 owned and operated by John Travolta.

Snowed in!
My trip to Boston this weekend has been extended a bit as I've found myself sitting under about a foot or more of fresh snow this morning. I'm heading back to DC tomorrow and really, I should be more careful about what I wish for. I have a feeling I'll be leaning on Twitter the next few days.

Korean Air A330s
On Friday, Korean booked an order with Airbus for six new A330-200s, bringing their total -200 fleet to nine. The order is the first for the longer ranger WV058 (Weight Variant) A330-200 with a 238 tonne MTOW, providing it a range of 7,200 nm. The variant was intended to take on early 787-8s coming off the line in terms of performance. To speculate, this order says much more about how Korean views the 787 performance and the delivery timeline much more than it raises any spectre of the airline not taking its order for 10 787-8s.

Korean Aerospace has significant content on the 787 including the wingtips, aft tail cone, nose gear wheel well and flap fairings, so changing any order is not in the nation's overall economic interest. Though perhaps those -8s become -9s to replace the 16 296-seat A330-300s that the airlines operate. Only time will tell.

Air Austral 77W
Somewhere along the 777 moving line in Everett is the first of two 777-300ERs for Air Austral. The Reunion-based airline is leasing the aircraft from ILFC and made headlines recently with the purchase of two A380 aircraft which are expected to seat - wait for it, wait for it - 840 passengers! Before the airline receives those aircraft in 2014, Air Austral will take delivery of its first 777-300ER with a whopping 442 seats (18/40/384), amongst the highest capacity configurations selected for the aircraft type.

Also, Boeing should be celebrating its 777th 777 very, very soon.

What's next for NextGen?
With the Obama FY10 budget unveiled, funding has been allocated to pay for the development of the revised US air traffic control system for the 21st century. WIRED magazine also penned an interesting feature article tracing the fragile, if not already broken, ATC system to the New York ARTCC. Make sure to explore the visual elements of this piece as well, including amazing animations depicting air travel over the US during the course of a normal day.

Fun with IFe™
I was joking around with IFE Guru Mary Kirby (Runway Girl) earlier today and I officially coined the term IFe™ to signify in-flight internet as a feature for in-flight entertainment. So, I'm on record saying it started here, folks.

Programming Note
I haven't had a formal 787 update since late January and there is quite a bit to cover in the next edition (no. 23?) that will be released soon.

Four decades ago today, an aircraft that requires no article ahead of its name, Concorde made her first flight from Toulouse. F-WSST, the first of two prototypes took flight at 3:40 PM on March 2, 1969, just three weeks after the 747-100. The second prototype, which was built in Filton in the UK, took flight in April. May I recommend a look into our archives from 1969? I went exploring through our cutaway archive this morning and found incredible array of Concorde content.

Even a cursory glance at the milestones of 1969 make it the most influential year for aerospace with the first Moon landing that followed in July. One of my most vivid memories growing up was from a summer visit to Jones Beach on Long Island. I remember being transfixed by the extraordinary noise and speed generated by Concorde as she blasted across the sky headed for Europe. It was the only time I had a chance to see her fly.

Today's Movie Monday is a celebration of the supersonic transport and her legacy. Today's four clips, totaling about 40 minutes, take you inside the flight deck of Speedbird 001 from Heathrow to JFK for the takeoff, trans-Atlantic acceleration, landing at JFK and return departure on board the Mach 2 airliner. The clips come from a 5-hour look a the Concorde produced by ITVV in 1996. 
Clips 2-4 after the jump.

On Friday, two events transpired for two very different titans of the airline industry.

For Michael O'Leary, Friday may have marked the high or low water mark in a strange marketing campaign that had the Ryanair chief announcing that the airline, which turns 25 next year, is considering charging £1 for use of the lavatory on board its fleet of 737-800 aircraft. The airline industry has been trending in this direction for a while; un-bundling its ticket prices to keep air fares low.

For O'Leary, the shock factor of charging to use the lav is a point of conversation that generated over 6,000 blog posts (including this one) about his airline in the last 24 hours. Is this type of coverage hurting Ryanair? No. Traffic on his budget airline was up 11% in January (over January 2008) even as European air travel dropped 5.6% last month (IATA). The cringe inducing idea of paying for a lavatory allowed O'Leary to come back to his central point: keeping fares cheap, which in a bad economy is something that can keep people flying.

Perhaps in contrast for Richard Branson, the close of last week marked the inaugural flight of his fledgling trans-Pacific spin-off carrier V Australia. Branson moved his brand into one of the most traditionally protected markets with the help of the US-Australia bilateral Open Skies agreement signed a year ago. The four engine A380 and 747 has found a long range competitor across the south Pacific on the US-Australia routes with the 777-300ER.

Branson was concluding a highly publicized eight-day, round-the-world trip that covered four continents and culminated in the launch the first commercial service by V Australia from Sydney to Los Angeles and celebrated 25-years (four months shy) of operations by Virgin-branded airlines. Yet, the event was a manifestation of Branson's modus operandi - to push his way into markets introducing new competitive dynamics (read: price wars) on routes long dominated by legacy carriers.

What connects these two seemingly unrelated events are the personalities of their respective leaders, each known for eccentricity and surprising, often shocking (may be NSFW), marketing techniques. Both are strong believers in the fact that any publicity is good publicity and finding a way to use bad publicity to your advantage. (In the airline industry this has a few notable exceptions)

Each airline chief has very different ideas about what their brand represents and who it serves, though both have a keen regard for getting ears and eyes on their products. In these unconventional economic times, unconventional approaches may just help to keep people flying, just as it did during better times. Perhaps it's even more necessary now.