Recently in Open Thread Category

777F to the sky!
Boeing has narrowed its 777F first flight from June 27 to July 9. The heart of that window is this week and sources point to July 3 as the likely date for the new freighter to fly for the first time. This, of course, depends on the weather. Look for the first engine start, low and high sped taxi tests ahead of first flight this week. (You really don't want these to happen...after...first flight)

Also, I'll be doing a preview post running through the flight test program top to bottom later this week with a briefing from 777 Chief Test Pilot Suzanna Darcy-Henneman. In the meantime, take a look at Boeing Unveils Radical Flight Test Reorganization by Guy Norris and North Texans Helping to Build Aviation's Future by Bob Cox.

I'm using 777F as a test run for potential new techniques for covering 787 first flight, so keep an eye out for those.

A380 Number Five
Singapore Airlines collected MSN010 (9V-SKE), the fifth A380 delivered, this past weekend clearing the way for delivery of MSN011 to Emirates, the second A380 customer on July 28th. MSN010 will be tasked with flying Olympic traffic to Beijing during the first week of August leading up to the 08.08.08 start of the Summer games.

Oil, Oil, Oil
The entire industry is already on red alert about the price of oil and there's a distinct possibility we see a price for a barrel going north to $150. (shudder)

New Look
I hit on this a little bit last week, but the new design should be ready this week right as this blog cross the 1,000,000 page load mark since I first joined Flight. The new layout should bear a striking resemblance to David Learmount's new blog, cleverly titled Learmount.

And this...

The caption as it was sent to me:
The attached photo was taken at the UPS first flight ceremony at Nagoya for the start of their Anchorage to Nagoya and Nagoya to Shanghai routes. As chance would have it, the first-ever A380 flight to Japan, a Singapore Airlines flight from Changi to Narita, was diverted to Nagoya because of bad weather in Tokyo. A Boeing Large Cargo Freighter made its scheduled arrival to ferry out 787 components, just as the A380 was departing for Narita. The result is a picture of the largest passenger plane and largest freighter together.

Special thanks to EW for the photo

Boeing's Goings On
Boeing launched its power-on feature at newairplane.com. It gives a good rundown of the power-on process, as well as some of the first shots of a very alive ZA001 flight deck. Also, it looks as though the first sections of LN7, the first production 787 for ANA, have been delivered to the US. Section 43 from Kawasaki stopped in Everett yesterday on its way to Charleston soon.

This week will bring us the commencement of final assembly operations for ZA004 after this weekend's line move and ZY998's Friday transfer to the 767 line. Lastly, Wednesday marks the one year anniversary of the original 787 roll-out.


A380 Convoy
Over the next few days a fresh set of wings and a horizontal stabilizer will be winding across the French countryside on their way to Toulouse. Not sure who the lucky airline recipient will be, but please let me know if you spot it along the way.

GTF to the Sky
Keep an eye out, Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan is expected to take to the skies under the wing of a 747SP in the very near future. This page will feature an exclusive video previewing the beginning of flight testing in the next few days.

Oshkosh B'Gosh
As if next month wasn't going to be busy enough, I've been (happily) assigned to cover the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI in late July. Quite wonderfully, they've opened their doors to bloggers, so it's going to be a new media fest at 'Aviation Paradise'. Also, I'm quite content to fly commercial, but I wanted to see if anyone on the east coast was flying privately and had an extra seat for this blogger. I wanted to do an feature chronicling the journey out there hop-by-hop across the United States. (will help with gas)

F'Blogger@F'Boro
Quick question to you all, what do you want to see from FlightBlogger at Farnborough? Interviews? Topics?

Best. Week. Ever.
FlightBlogger had its highest traffic in a single week...ever.  The combination of the 787 power-on, Hawker 4000 certification, live twittering from Vought, Global Aeronautica and Spirit, and the peek inside Dreamliner Four's flight deck and cabin racked up a staggering 63,000 page loads and 44,000 visitors. That tops the previous best seven day take during the Singapore Air Show in February by over 50%. Worth noting, this blog is rapidly closing in on 1,000,000 hits since it was reborn in November of last year.

Also, what'd you think of Twitter? Love it? Hate it? Jon, what's Twitter?

Moving Day
As the close of the month draws near, Boeing has a big two weeks ahead. First, progressing with power-0on to validate the systems integration is job number one. Yet, even as the task of electrifying 787 ZA001 continues, a delicately choreographed dance is set to unfold in Everett in the next week or so. The fatigue airframe ZY998, will make its move later this week to its temporary home on the 767 line, freeing up a spot for Dreamliner Four to begin final assembly when the nose and center fuselage arrive. With ZY998 moving out, Dreamliner One will come out to play once again as well. Stay tuned.

Oh yeah, and 777F first flight should be really soon as well. Most likely before the United States turns a youthful looking 232.

UPDATE: I was rightfully reminded that on June 19 the Government Accountability Office (formerly the General Accounting Office) will be issuing its decision on Boeing's tanker protest.

Get 'Em While They're Hot
QANTAS has put begun selling tickets for the inaugural A380 flights between Melbourne and LA on October 20 and adding Sydney to Los Angeles starting October 24. V Australia, the new international arm of Virgin Blue will begin flights on the Sydney-LA route with a brand new 777-300ER in December. Should be quite interesting to see who gets the better operating economics, the twin-engine Boeing with 350 or the four-engine Airbus with 450.

UPDATE: Looks like QANTAS is giving serious consideration to the 777-300ER as a 747 replacement across the Pacific.

Farnborough
One month from today we'll be in the thick of the 2008 Farnborough Air Show. I've pretty much been prepping for this since I started with Flight in Dubai last November. The last nine months will have been a rehearsal for the big dance next month. I'll be there with bells on, ready to blog, twitter, flickr and other fun noun-verbs at the biggest aviation event of the year.

A Familiar Face
One last item. I took this photo as I was flying out of Wichita over McConnell Air Force Base on Friday. You might just recognize the aircraft on the ramp. I zoomed in to give you a better view. Click the image for a larger version.

I'm writing from Charleston, South Carolina this afternoon and it looks as though it's going to be a very busy week. I'll be reporting over the next several days from Global Aeronautica and Vought here in Charleston covering the progress for the 787 program on location. On Wednesday, I'll be transitioning west to Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita, Kansas for the same purpose. It should be a very packed week with lots going on, with potentially a big story or two coming down the pike.

As a quick refresher, Spirit Aerosystems is responsible for the forward nose fuselage barrel of the 787 (Section 41), the engine pylons and the fixed and movable leading edge of the wings.

Vought fabricates and joins the barrel sections of the aft fuselage (Sections 47 & 48) and Global Aeronautica, a joint venture between Boeing (pending completion of the acquisition from Vought) and Alenia, is next door and acts as a major integrator of the center fuselage.

The center fuselage is the combination of four main structures. The first two are from Japan. The center wing box and wheel well (Section 45/11) and forward fuselage barrel (Section 43). The second two are from Italy. The fuselage crown over the center wing box (Section 44) and the aft fuselage barrel (Section 46).

Current and Future Blogging
In the here and now, I've finally surrendered and I'm giving Twitter a try. If you're not familiar with Twitter it's a microblogging platform that allows for 140 character updates using the web, text or email. It'll make for live blogging of factory tours, air shows and major events that much easier to follow. Not to mention, comments/thoughts about the aviation industry. No individual postings on the blog, just live from me to the internet. You can subscribe and follow it directly on Twitter or through Friendfeed where I've integrated it as well. Let's go ahead and file this under the beta category and see how it works out.

Looking towards the future, Apple announced its iPhone 3G today and a higher-speed connection will benefit this blog greatly. Some of you may know, my iPhone is my numero uno blogging tool after my laptop and lets me get those live shots directly on the blog with zero distribution time with mobile posting. New applications built directly into the phone will add an entirely new dimension which I'm looking forward to exploring. I'm still trying to find what works and what doesn't for this blog, and the technology envelope could always use some more little pushing.

Musing
In closing, I wanted to pose a question to my B.A.B.E. post Friday. I want to turn this one over to all of you. What products do you think are missing from the market? If you were at the top of one of the big four, what would you do with oil heading for $150 a barrel?

As I sometimes say, Onward.

I'll be covering the day's developments on the 787 program live from this thread. Like I did last time, this page will feature liveblogged coverage of the conference call on the morning of April 9 (11 AM ET, 8 AM PT, 1500 GMT) so please feel free to leave your thoughts on the latest 787 news. I'll be live blogging the call, but it won't be a running synopsis.

For a point of reference, below is an image depicting the rough locations of the four airframes currently being assembled in Everett. The image is accurate as of April 9, 2008.

Original Image Courtesy of Boeing
Created by FlightBlogger to reflect current status

See previous assembly status from December 10, 2007

UPDATE 10:28 AM 4/10: Industry reaction: Spirit Aerosystems, ANA, JAL, QANTAS/Jetstar, Air New Zealand, Northwest, TUI

UPDATE 3:11 PM: Synopsis of the call is now found below the fold. Special thanks to NYC777 for doing an amazing job putting that together. Also, Boeing's stock us up over 4% and was above 5% at points during the trading day.

UPDATE 12:52 PM: Just wrapped up a podcast on the delay.

UPDATE 12:00 PM: Call concluded.

UPDATE 11:41 AM: Shanahan says time between power on and first flight is 4 months. This should put first flight sometime in October. Though first flight could happen anywhere between September 1-December 31.

UPDATE 11:37 AM: Shanahan: All flight test aircraft will be flying by 1Q09. (This is going to be a rapid fire start up for the flight test program)

UPDATE 11:33 AM: Center wing box issue: "finite element modeling error" - 200 clips and brackets and 500 fasteners to strengthen the wingbox.

UPDATE 11:21 AM: Incomplete work reduced by 75% between Airplane 3 and Airplane 1. 787 wing will be, "taken to the point of destruction" by the end of the quarter on fatigue test frame. Production rate 10 per month by 2012 (16 per month was discussed at one point) ZY997 moves out at the end of April and Airplane 3 final assembly begins around the same time.

UPDATE 11:13 AM: Shanahan: Power on moved from April to June. Airplane 3 will have full interior for testing. Systems at, "near full functionality in labs." Systems being installed in Airplane 1. Two months lost due to wiring and wing box fixes.

UPDATE 11:06 AM: Call now underway. Carson: "More conservative approach to milestones the way to go." "Our actions, not our words that will get this airplane in the air."

UPDATE 9:19 AM: Complete Boeing release.

Key Points:
- Before June 30: 787 static and fatigue airframes will move to their testing; Dreamliner 3 and 4 will enter final assembly; hardware airworthiness qualifications will be complete; and power on will be achieved.
- First Flight 4Q08
- Entry into service 3Q09
- 25 deliveries planned in 2009
- 787-9 delayed until early 2012, previously scheduled for end of 2010. 787-3 will be second variant, no timeline specified.

UPDATE 9:05 AM: BREAKING - Boeing has announced 787 first flight will take place in the 4th quarter of 2008 and first delivery in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

UPDATE 3:10 AM: The Times of London is reporting that, "Boeing is expected to announce today that its 787 Dreamliner has been delayed by 18 months." Based on this estimate, entry in to service appears slated for around November 2009.

The Times also anticipates that, "Boeing is also thought to be ready to postpone or even scrap one of the three variants of the aircraft to enable its engineers to focus on solving existing problems. The likely victim will the 787-3, a high passenger density model designed for the Japanese market."

UPDATE 2:07 AM: Scott Hamilton's pre-analysis of the update call is a must read.

Yeah, it rhymes.

On 787
This week could see a date set for a formal announcement of the revamped delivery schedule for the Dreamliner. The assessment which has been on-going since January is expected at the end of March or early April. Analysts are expecting the new production number to be anywhere from 10 to 30 787s delivered in 2009.

On MRJ
The Mitsubishi Regional Jet got another boost this morning, when it was revealed that Vietnam Airlines is looking at 20 70-96 seat MRJs, "and in return MHI is offering to shift some MRJ parts production to north Vietnam," says Flight's Leithen Francis. The geared turbo fan powered MRJ is yet to officially have a launch customer, though a source familiar with the MRJ program tells FlightBlogger that a launch orders with Japanese carriers JAL and ANA are expected to be completed prior to the Farnborough Air Show.

On Gulfstream
I'll be rolling out part one of the Gulfstream/Honeywell Synthetic Vision flight feature later this week. If you like up-close shots of next-generation glass cockpit avionics in action, then you're going to like this quite a bit.

One teaser shot for you:

On A380
Finally, I'm working on an A380 production update for later this week, so stay tuned for that.

Finally, take a look at this video from NBC Nightly News, it gives you a breakdown of where every dollar of your ticket price goes.

One year ago today, I embarked on a case study to explore what happens when a person has too much free time on their hands.

About a year later on flight back from Tokyo a month ago, our route on the seven month-old 777-300ER took us directly over Everett as we headed for Dulles.

I had a quiet moment to reflect on the fact that the aircraft that was carrying me home was born not far beneath my feet.

An airplane is so much more than the sum of its parts.

It is the combined effort and tireless work of a cast of thousands that sacrifices by giving up time with your family, working crazy hours and sometimes being far from home. Each person that contributes to the development of a new airplane gives a part of themselves help it into the sky. I have had the privilege of getting to know many of you who make this possible.

No one is more aware than I that I have ruffled some feathers in the last year. I’d like to believe I’ve been fair and accurate. And if in any instance either has not been true, you’ve rightly corrected me.

For all the challenges the Dreamliner has faced, I’m left thinking that the context by which to understand this aircraft is found in the fact that finding and tackling problems now is the best thing you can hope for. I was saving this quote for when flight testing began, but I think it’s appropriate to share it after this week:

“I'm sure for the press it’s hard to understand that failures of any kind are acceptable, yet to us at this stage of the game that success.

When people take that information and blow it out of proportion or misinterpret it, or try to make a creative dramatic story out of it, I get frustrated, because it's not, I view it as somewhat of an attack on the pilot community, but also it's sort of a break in the trust that should exist in both directions.

At the same time I understand that it's a different world to most people, they relate to what these things would mean in the airline world with them flying as a passenger, and its a totally different environment, we're looking for totally different things, and the goal is to solve the problem before we even get to the airline world.”

-- John Cashman
777 Chief Test Pilot

I only hope in some way I’ve been able to contribute to the public understanding of what it takes to bring a new commercial aircraft from an idea to a flying machine.

The past year has brought more than three-quarters of a million visitors to the pages of FlightBlogger and more than 1.2 million page loads to date. I am grateful to each and everyone one of you who has taken the time to visit. It is no understatement to say that you have all changed my life in a very significant way.

The blog really began with one simple question: Does this site have something you can’t find anywhere else?

I do hope you can answer is yes.

I still occasionally go back and look at that original FlightBlogger post. I never could've imagined what kind of journey lay ahead. The last line always makes me smile:

“To all those who aren't paying attention to this blog yet, I say welcome. Stay tuned.”

With deepest thanks.

Onward,

Jon Ostrower

March 21, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

Last week I got pretty excited about the FlightBlogger FriendFeed which allows me to post all kinds of items during the course of my day that aren't necessarily blog worthy. There was one drawback though, as a reader, you had to go somewhere else to see the feed.

Many of you subscribed to the FlightBlogger FriendFeed, which is great, but I wanted to make it only one-stop for the information. I found a way, using some clever coding, to put the FriendFeed directly here at FlightBlogger. You can see the new feed right here on the main page so you can check back in periodically to see new items here. A definite upgrade to the page. A full layout overhaul should come later this year.

Please let me know if you like it, love it, hate it or "don't really care, just get back to writing about airplanes"?

Happy Friday everyone!

Wow, this video makes me miss flying so much I can't stand it. I probably shouldn't have put finishing my private license on my New Year's resolution list, now it'll never happen. Free advertising and my first born to the flight school that helps me get it! (just kidding...sort of...)

Also, a brand new blog to tell you about. My Flight International colleague Megan Kuhn just launched her very first blog about the wild and woolly world of airports. Head over to Terminal Q and welcome her to the blogosphere.

There's been a great response to the FriendFeed. Thanks to all those who have subscribed so far. Now all I have to do is find a way to embed it directly into the FlightBlogger main page and you'll have one-stop shopping.

Lastly, I wanted to let you all know about a few items I'm working on for the coming weeks. I've got 787 and A380 production updates in the works, plus more photos from the Embraer factory, and a two (or three) part (illustrated) feature on a test flight I did with Gulfstream and Honeywell to show off the new Synthetic Vision System.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Being personally and professional obsessed with the internet, I'm constantly finding little things that I really want to share or blog about.

However, I usually only post around once to twice daily and prefer to write longer more substantive stories that you won't be seeing elsewhere. I never really wanted to do an entirely new post if I found an interesting article, posted a new photo on Flickr or a youtube video I wanted to share, especially if I didn't have the slightest amount of value to add.

It always felt that was a waste of a post and I was never good as a basic aggregator of things on the internet. The internet has plenty of those and you didn't need another one from me.

Yet, I still really wanted to share all those little things I find throughout my day with you. Maybe add a one sentence comment and have the ability for you to comment also. Something quick and easy.

Well everyone, today is the day that it becomes a reality.

Meet FriendFeed.

FriendFeed allows me to share all those little things with you throughout the day (or night). I know a lot of you come back a couple times a day to see if anything new has been posted, so here's a way to fill the time in between.

Subscribe to the new FlightBlogger FriendFeed!

It will have all those little things I find but don't have time to blog about, as well as all of my new posts as they are published.

Think of it as FlightBlogger Plus.

SUBSCRIBE NOW