January 2010 Archives

I've found my way on board Singapore Airlines A380-800 (9V-SKA) for the second of my two flights to Asia. This particular airplane was the first production A380 (MSN003), which carried the maiden commercial superjumbo service in October 2007 between Singapore and Sydney. I'll be airborne for about 12 hours then I'll hit the ground for a busy, busy week. Catch you on the other side of the world (from the East Coast). Next stop Singapore!

Good morning from London Heathrow! I'm here on the ground during my layover and I thought I'd take this quiet moment to provide a brief update and good round up of all that is going on for Boeing's two primary development programs.

Sitting at seat 23J on 777-222ER (N216UA) I'm getting ready to depart
on my first leg to Singapore. This T7 will take me across the Atlantic
on United 918 by way of North Atlantic Track X to Heathrow. I'll be in
London for about five hours before transferring terminals to fly the
A380 for the first time with Singapore Airlines. When it's all said
and done I'll be in the air for about 22 hours crossing three
continents and over 9000+ miles to Southeast Asia. I'll see Singapore
Sunday morning. Next you'll hear from me it'll be first thing in the
morning in the UK and just after midnight on the East Coast. Catch you
on the other side of the pond!

I wanted to take this opportunity as we head into the first big show of the 2010 to say thank you to everyone for making 2009 an absolutely incredible and unprecedented year for Flightglobal.com and FlightBlogger. 

Boeing has launched 787flighttest.com to track progress of the 787 flight test and certification program during this year. 

Here's my story on the creation of the advanced development teams:

Boeing forms advanced development teams for 737 and 777

A day after Boeing CEO Jim McNerney announced additional research and development allocated for 777 and 737 upgrades, the company has announced the establishment of advanced product development teams to study the future of both aircraft. 

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO, Jim Albaugh, has appointed Mike Bair, current VP of business strategy and marketing for commercial airplanes, and original chief of the 787 programme to head the 737 team. Lars Anderson, former 777 programme VP and general manager will come out of retirement to lead the 777 team. 

"Defining Boeing's airplane product strategy is critical to our future growth. We need a clear vision and roadmap for both our single-aisle and twin-aisle offerings for the future," says Albaugh. "Also, in the global environment in which we operate, we need a sharpened situational awareness of macro-economic and geopolitical realities."

ZA002, Boeing's second 787 flight test aircraft, concluded a two week visit to Everett for an aqueous wash of its fuel tanks and departed Paine Field at 11:32 AM PT for a test flight that should have the aircraft flying for about six hours. The aircraft departed to the south, turned west, climbing to 25,000 feet then turned South down the Pacific Coast toward Oregon and on to Northern California.

The aircraft will spend the day testing the twin Trent 1000 engines and the oxygen analysis system (OAS), which is intended to measure the oxygen content in the fuel tanks while the nitrogen generation system (NGS) is in use. Guy Norris has an excellent rundown of the system and its origins.

The aircraft is expected to be back on the ground at Boeing Field, site of the company's flight test center, around 5:30 PM PT.

Boeing has reported its total orders and deliveries for 2008. This post added in March 2010 and was backdated for January 27, 2010 when the 2009 totals were reported. This post was created for reference and archive purposes.

Here's a completely unrelated video I uploaded last night. I filmed this is a jump seat arrival into Sao Jose dos Campos last September during my visit to Embraer.

Air New Zealand's Game Changing Seat

A good friend - who also happens to be an aerospace engineer - passed these along to me this afternoon. I thought there might be a few of you out there who will get a laugh out of these. Happy Friday!

2010 Top 25 Engineer's Terms and Expressions

(What we say versus what it means) 

1. A number of different approaches are being tried.
We are still guessing at this point.
2. Close project coordination.
We sat down and had coffee together.
3. An extensive report is being prepared on a fresh approach.
We just hired three punk kids out of school.
4. Major technological breakthrough!
It works OK; but looks very hi-tech!
5. Customer satisfaction is believed assured.
We are so far behind schedule, that the customer will take anything.
6. Preliminary operational tests were inconclusive.
The darn thing blew up when we threw the switch.
7. Test results were extremely gratifying!
Unbelievable, it actually worked!
8. The entire concept will have to be abandoned.
The only guy who understood the thing quit.
9. It is in process.
It is so wrapped in red tape that the situation is completely hopeless.
10. We will look into it.
Forget it! We have enough problems already.
11. Please note and initial.
Let's spread the responsibility for this.
12. Give us the benefit of your thinking.
We'll listen to what you have to say as long as it doesn't interfere with what we have already done or with what we are going to do.
13. Give us your interpretation.
We can't wait to hear your bull.
14. See me or let's discuss.
Come to my office, I've screwed up again.
15. All new.
Parts are not interchangeable with previous esign.
16. Rugged.
Don't plan to lift it without major equipment.
17. Robust!
Rugged, but more so
18. Light weight.
Slightly lighter than rugged
19. Years of development.
One finally worked
20. Energy saving.
Achieved when the power switch is off.
21. No maintenance.
Impossible to fix
22. Low maintenance.
Nearly impossible to fix
23. Fax me the data.
I'm too lazy to write it down.
24. We are following the standard!
That's the way we have always done it!
25. I didn't get your e-mail.
I haven't checked my e-mail for days.

ZA002 is making its second flight this afternoon, a quick ferry flight from Boeing Field back to Everett. Randy Neville and Van Chaney will at the control of the aircraft for the quick flight north, the first since December 22nd. Here's why:

Debris forces second 787 back to Everett
Boeing's second flight test 787 is set to make its second flight, a return trip to Everett, for a thorough cleaning of its fuel tank following the discovery of foreign object debris (FOD). 

The FOD was found trapped in the fuel filter following the aircraft's 22 December first flight to Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington. 

Boeing confirms that "crews discovered very small amounts of debris" inside the aircraft's fuel tank during a planned non-operating period following first flight. Programme sources say a piece of cheese cloth left in one of the aircraft's fuel tanks is said to be responsible for the return to Everett, where the facilities to accomplish the cleaning are located.

While there are no overt red flags that came out of the Airbus press conference on Tuesday in Seville, the event marked a rhetorical course correction three and a half years out from first delivery of the A350 XWB. 

We have today, more than 3000 Airbus engineers working on the program, plus another 3000 engineers with our partners. It is clear we need further ramp up in resources, we need further reinforcements, particularly in the fuselage and wing areas. We have important milestones ahead of us. Manufacturing has started, as you would imagine, as such a stage that program has a lot of challenges for us: New materials, processes, weight, schedule, just to mention the usual suspects.

Movie Monday returns this week with a stroll down nostalgia lane and a look at the first year of service for the Boeing 707 in 1959. 50 years after it was produced, we take for granted how jet travel transformed how quickly we can move across the planet. The narrator talks of the time between points shrinking by half, making cross-country commuting a reality to "be home by dinner" on the West Coast after having lunch in New York. An act that has become a regular part of our lives in 2010 was an unequivocal transformation in how people move by the beginning of 1960.

The seemingly ubiquitous Liz Matzelle captured ZA001 coming home to Boeing Field after more than five hours of test flight over eastern Washington this afternoon.

It was a busy first week of the year and one of my resolutions is to make sure to do on the web posts more consistently, so here's a recap of week one of FlightBlogger on the Web:
Guggenheim cancels orders for two Boeing 747-8Fs - FlightGlobalWhile the most visible part of the 787 programme is centred on the start of flight-testing the largely composite twin-engined jetliner, Boeing continues to evolve the Dreamliner's production system while tackling the challenges that lie ahead for the base of global suppliers.

FlightBlogger on Tumblr
Keeping with the 'In Beta' policy for FlightBlogger, I've added a new channel for content for the blog that I hope will really further enhance and streamline this site. I've tried for a while to pull together the disparate social media multimedia services into an integrated package while still making sure that this page is still for comprehensive written content. I've created a new page at Tumblr (http://flightblogger.tumblr.com) that allows me to record and share and upload audio, quick video, links, quotes, photos on the fly. Tumblr is designed for speed. It will be put into full effect during the Singapore Air Show early next month and we'll see how it goes.

That might be a more practical product line that will have a wider application with more customers than the -3 and we're encouraging Boeing to come up with a 787 derivative to address that middle market which has wide global appeal to airlines in North America, European airlines, Middle East, China and South America and intra-Asia and US trans-con market and so forth. The -3 doesn't quite do it. It seems too heavy.

Airbus has moved closer to launching a revamped A320 family after signing agreements with CFM International and Pratt & Whitney which will lay the groundwork for re-engining the twinjet, FlightBlogger has learned.

While the scope of the agreement - which was signed within the past week - remains unclear, multiple industry sources say that this step is more technical in nature. The agreements are aimed at formally establishing specifications, performance and fuel burn requirements for such an engine, rather than any new A320 version's commercial viability. Additionally, the sources add that the agreement is a clear signal of the seriousness by Airbus to re-engine the A320.

Airbus chief operating officer of customers John Leahy said at the Dubai air show in November that "The more you convince yourself it is 2024 for the next-generation single-aisle, the more you realise you must do something with the existing aircraft."

Although Airbus did not explicitly confirm or deny such a formalized agreement exists between itself and CFM and P&W, the airframer says it "is constantly in technical dialogue with all the major engine suppliers".

P&W declined to address the existence of such an agreement, saying that "We are in discussions with all aircraft makers about the benefits offered by the [PW1000G] with its geared turbofan technology."

The engine maker adds: "Our preferred channel to market for the next generation or re-engined Airbus and Boeing single-aisle aircraft is through our successful partnership International Aero Engines (IAE). We will continue to work with our existing technology partners to bring this engine to market for our customers."

IAE says that it "continues to discuss all potential future engine developments to enhance the aircraft's performance". P&W and Rolls-Royce are major partners in the IAE consortium that offers the V2500 engine on current A320 models. CFM engines power both A320 Family and Boeing Next Generation 737s.

During the 2009 Paris air show the head of IAE partner MTU Aero Engines Egon Behle told Air Transport Intelligence that as IAE crafts its strategy for an engine to power A320 and Boeing Next Generation 737 replacements, "There are certainly some obstacles to remove." Behle noted Rolls-Royce and Pratt "do have different proposals" to narrowbody development.

The PW1000G geared turbofan engine has been selected by Bombardier to power the 100-149-seat CSeries family, as well as the 150-240-seat Irkut MS-21 and Mitsubishi's 70-96-seat MRJ.

Airbus says of its future relationship with IAE on the A320 that "our aim, as we have clearly stated previously, is that any such offering(s) should come to market via the established CFM and IAE partnerships respectively".

Airbus and P&W partnered in 2008 to test a PW1000G demonstrator under the wing of an A340-600 at the airframer's Toulouse base. While the move ignited speculation about the future application of the engine, both parties were quick to say it was not a sign of a formal plan.

While CFM denies there is a legal agreement signed between itself and Airbus, the joint venture between General Electric and Snecma says that it is in "constant negotiation" with Airbus and continues to supply the European airfamer with data for potential "study engines" for the A320.

Any offering by CFM for the A320 is almost certainly to come in the form of the LEAP-X engine, the successor to the CFM56.

The LEAP-X1C was selected in December by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) to power the C919 aircraft, a direct future competitor to Airbus and Boeing in the 150-to 200-seat narrowbody market expected to enter service in 2016.

A December 2009 report by AirInsight concluded that "Airbus will decide to re-engine the A320, and make that announcement and engine selection early in 2010." Adding that, "We expect both LEAP-X and the P&W GTF, the latter offered through IAE, will be selected as the candidate engines."

If you look closely, all those red marks on the ZA001's wing, flaps and engine pylon are pieces of yarn. All the computer models running on all the super computers in the land are no match for seeing it with your own two eyes in flight.

When Mike Carriker discussed the new instrumentation added to ZA001 between first and second flight, the addition of yarn to the left wing was exactly what he was talking about.

The yarn will demonstrate how the airflow moves over the wing of the 787 and validate (or challenge) the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models developed for the program.

You're probably thinking: "What the heck is Jon talking about?"

Suffix	Equipment Capability
	NO DME
/X	No transponder
/T	Transponder with no Mode C
/U	Transponder with Mode C
	DME
/D	No transponder
/B	Transponder with no Mode C
/A	Transponder with Mode C
	TACAN ONLY
/M	No transponder
/N	Transponder with no Mode C
/P	Transponder with Mode C
	AREA NAVIGATION (RNAV)
/Y	LORAN, VOR/DME, or INS with no transponder
/C	LORAN, VOR/DME, or INS, transponder with no Mode C
/I	LORAN, VOR/DME, or INS, transponder with Mode C
	ADVANCED RNAV WITH TRANSPONDER AND MODE C (If an aircraft is unable to operate with a transponder and/or Mode C, it will revert to the appropriate code listed above under Area Navigation.)
/E	Flight Management System (FMS) with DME/DME and IRU position updating
/F	FMS with DME/DME position updating
/G	Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), including GPS or Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), with en route and terminal capability.
/R	Required Navigational Performance (RNP). The aircraft meets the RNP type prescribed for the route segment(s), route(s) and/or area concerned.
	Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM). Prior to conducting RVSM operations within the U.S., the operator must obtain authorization from the FAA or from the responsible authority, as appropriate.
/J	/E with RVSM
/K	/F with RVSM
/L	/G with RVSM
/Q	/R with RVSM
/W	RVSM