Boeing 787 checks in at Sea-Tac

Workers conduct a gate check of Boeing flight-test 787 Dreamliner ZA005 at the south satellite of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday, May 14, 2012.
Photo: Courtesy Don Wilson/Port Of Seattle / SL

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner quietly slipped into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday to test the airport’s readiness to serve the new airliner.

All Nippon Airways, the launch customer for the 787, announced in December that it will begin nonstop service from Narita airport to Seattle (and San Jose, Calif.) later this year. It will be the first U.S. service for an ANA 787.

Monday’s gate check tested all of the equipment that will serve the 787, including the jetway, electrical plug-ins and cargo loading, according to the airport’s Facebook page. The airplane spent about two hours at the airport.

One geeky note. The airplane that stopped at Sea-Tac — ZA005 — is one of two flight-test 787s with GEnx engines. ANA’s 787s have the other engine option, the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000.

The 787 Dreamliner is the biggest commercial aircraft Boeing has produced. Get quality large scale model planes from Showcase Models.

News source: seattlepi.com

Etihad, Air Berlin Pools Boeing 787s

Air Berlin and UAE’s Etihad Airways announced plans to merge their Boeing 787s, three months after the Abu-Dhabi-based carrier raised its stake and interest in Germany’s second-biggest airline to almost 30 percent.

The UAE airline furthers that the agreement calls for Etihad and Air Berlin to share in infrastructure and pool maintenance, and develop joint training for the aircraft.

They will also purchase bundle of equipment for 787′s engines as well as electronic and inflight entertainment systems and cooperate on product development for the planes.

Etihad has already ordered 41 planes, with 25 options and purchasing rights while Air Berlin has initially requested 25 787s but canceled 10 of them in 2010 due to its uncertainty whether it will increase its long-haul network.

A spokeswoman from Air Berlin said on Tuesday it was not yet clear which routes the 787s would service, and given the partnership with Etihad, it still cannot be concluded that the planes are set forth to fly to Etihad.

Source: news.airwise.com

Boeing is Fixing the Dreamliner Shimming Problems; Obama Praises the “Airplane of the Future”

Boeing discovered that 55 units of its flagship airplane model, the 787 Dreamliner, have a potential to shimming problems in the future. However, the airplane manufacturer stressed that they are addressing the issue and it will only take several days for per aircraft to correct the problem.

Airplane manufacturers apply shimming to fill in spaces between parts of the aircraft. According to a report by the industry publication Flightglobal, the 787 Dreamliner have improperly joined pieces that had caused “parts of the aircraft’s carbon fibre structure to delaminate”. The problem surfaced because incorrect shimming were done on the support structure located at the aft fuselage of some units of Boeing 787.

The discovery of the problem started in early February, but Boeing Vice-President Jim Albaugh assures the aviation community that this is just a minor problem and should not cause safety alarms.

“It’s very fixable and we are in the process of fixing the airplanes that are in flow, there is not a safety or flight issue on the airplanes that we’ve delivered and this is a long term issue that has to be addressed,” he said.

Albaugh is also confident that the shimming problems would not cause delays on their Dreamliner delivery schedule.

“It’s something that we can address in a short period of time. It will impact some short-term deliveries, but in terms of the number of deliveries for the year, it shouldn’t have any impact at all,” he added.

787 Dreamliner is a wide-body jet liner that can seat 210 to 290 passengers. It is Boeing’s most fuel-efficient aircraft and uses 20% less fuel than Boeing 767, albeit they are similar in size. It took its first flight in December 15, 2009 and entered the commercial market with All Nippon Airways in 2011.

The Boeing 787 has been hailed as the “airplane of the future.” Even President Obama is amazed by the fuel efficient aircraft when he toured the Boeing manufacturing facility last week.

source: AFP, http://www.bizjournal.com

JAL sees 787 delivery delay as Boeing tackles fresh glitch

(Reuters) – Flag carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) said on Tuesday it no longer expects its first Dreamliner from Boeing Co. by the end of February as a fresh manufacturing glitch is seen adding pressure to an already-tight 787 production timetable.

The Japanese carrier known as JAL, which has ordered 35 of Boeing’s advanced carbon composite aircraft, said it is now in talks with the aircraft builder for possible delivery in March.

“Negotiations are still ongoing” with Boeing, JAL spokeswoman Sze Hunn Yap said. JAL had expected four 787s by the end of March, but “with this development we are unsure.”

The world’s second-largest commercial plane-maker insists it can fix what it described as “incorrect shimming” in support structures in the aft fuselage of some planes and meet its goal to make 10 Dreamliners per month by the end of next year.

Shims are used to close tiny gaps in joints along the fuselage.

Some analysts, however, say the target was unrealistic to begin with and a new glitch will slow production more.

“We don’t know if this will impact production,” EarlyBirdCapital Managing Director Alex Hamilton said.

“But if you have to go back and correct something and possibly change production going forward, it seems to have a good chance, in our opinion.”

Hamilton, whose company does not own Boeing shares, is among many experts who doubted Boeing’s ability to hit its 787 production target.

The company makes 2.5 Dreamliners per month. It expects to boost monthly output to 3.5 in the second quarter, and five by the end of 2012.

PREMIER CUSTOMER

Much of that output is destined for Japan, where Boeing dominates its European rival Airbus with around a 90 percent market share.

In addition to the 35 jetliners destined for JAL, rival All Nippon Airways has ordered 55 787s and expects a further 20 to join its fleet by the end of March next year. The five aircraft now in service by ANA are operating as normal, a spokesman said.

ANA also said it was in talks with Boeing regarding future deliveries following the fuselage problem.

“We don’t see any big impact, but it might push things back two or three months,” spokesman Ryosei Nomura said.

Boeing’s Dreamliner is the world’s first commercial airplane made largely of lightweight carbon composites and entered service last year with ANA.

Boeing has taken 870 orders for the plane, which boasts greater fuel efficiency over rivals, but has been plagued by development and production delays, including a shortage of nuts and bolts in 2007, a 58-day labour strike in 2008 and a fire on a 787 test flight in 2010.

WAITING

For JAL, which entered bankruptcy in January 2010 and is slated to emerge with a new stock exchange listing this year after a government-led bailout, a further wait for new jets will stall plans for use on high turnover routes including to New Delhi, Moscow and Beijing in March, followed by Singapore and Boston later in the year.

Boeing said it is working to fix the problem.

“We have the issue well-defined and are making progress on the repair plan,” Boeing spokesman Scott Lefeber said on Sunday. “There is no short-term safety concern. Repairs, should they be needed, will be implemented in the most efficient manner possible.”

Lefeber declined on Monday to comment on how many airplanes are being inspected, saying only that Boeing was working its way through the production line. A report from Flightglobal said three airplanes were affected.

Lefeber said that, in some instances, Boeing had discovered signs of “delamination,” which occurs when repeated stress causes laminated composite materials to begin to separate.

The problem occurred in a part of the 787 fuselage made at a Boeing plant in South Carolina. Boeing purchased the plant in 2009 from Vought Aircraft Industries.

“We’ve already taken appropriate steps to address this issue there,” Lefeber said, referring to the South Carolina factory.

But one expert said the problem also raises questions about manufacturing practices at the South Carolina plant.

“This is strictly a production problem,” said Hans Weber, president of Tecop International, a technology management consultancy. “This is not a design problem. This is not even a production process problem. This is a problem of people improperly doing the assembly.”

JUST NOISE

Other analysts however said Boeing is likely to overcome its latest glitch quickly.

Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at Virginia-based Teal Group, said problems related to the 787 are often magnified by the public because the plane incorporates new technology.

“There are people who are concerned about the use of composites. It’s a minority view,” Aboulafia said. “Delamination, of course, goes to the very heart of the risk associated with this particular technology – composite materials in primary structures.”

RBC Capital Markets analyst Rob Stallard said the shimming issue spoke to the integrity of the composites used in the 787, but he did not think it would disrupt the program.

“When you think of the big problems we’ve seen on the 787 over many, many years, this just looks like noise,” Stallard said. “I’m sure these things happen in development programs all the time.”

Airbus recently blamed a combination of manufacturing and design flaws for wing cracks on its A380 superjumbo. The company said it had found a simple remedy for the problem, easing concern among analysts.

 

-reuters.com

Upgraded GEnx-1B Flies on Boeing 747 Flying Testbed

GE today will make the first flight test of the improved GEnx-1B version capable of meeting the 787 fuel burn specification at its Victorville, Calif., site.

The GEnx-1B Performance Improvement Package (PIP2) is due to be certified for icing by the end of February and will complete FAR 33 engine certification in June or July. The PIP2 engine flying today on GE’s Boeing 747 flying testbed will make about 26 flights as part of the certification effort, the engine maker says.

Boeing is expected to begin test flying on the 787 in early 2013, with entry-into-service later that year. “That’s contingent on Boeing’s flight test schedule, but we’ll be ready to go,” says GE Design and System Integration Engineering Manager Kevin Kanter.

The first PIP 2 engine to undergo ice certification meanwhile arrived at the GE-StandardAero Testing, Research and Development Center (TDRC) in Winnipeg, Canada, today. Initial fuel burn results are “very promising,” Kanter adds.

The Winnipeg test site is currently completing FAA certification, but is expected to be up and running within days, says Kanter. The $50 million site was developed after GE was forced to move its existing icing facility from Montreal Mirabel Airport due to expansion at the Quebec Airport.

Unlike Mirabel, which was dedicated to icing, the TDRC will have the capability for endurance, bird ingestion and other testing. The site, which will be maintained by StandardAero, augments GE’s main test site in Peebles, Ohio. Designed for engines up to 150 in. in diameter and 150,000 lb. of thrust, the TDRC will support icing certification and further tests of several other engines in coming years.

Following the PIP2 tests on the GEnx-1B, the site is scheduled to test the revised fan of the GE Honda HF120 business jet engine. It will also test the Passport 20 for Bombardier’s Global 7000/8000, as well as the CFM Leap for the Comac C919, Airbus A320NEO and Boeing 737 MAX.

Further off, the site will also support development of the GE9X for the 777X. First engine to test is set “for the 2016 timeframe” says Kanter. Aimed at the 90,000- to 100,000-lb. thrust range, considerably less than the current GE90-115B rating, the GE9X will combine technology from the GEnx and Leap programs “plus other new technologies.” Kanter adds, “We have configuration studies under way for the combustor and turbines.”

 

-aviationweek.com

All Nippon finally receives Boeing 787 order

Boeing’s 787 landed in Japan early July 3 to start a weeklong dress rehearsal with All Nippon Airways Co., signaling the end is near on a delay of more than three years for the world’s first composite-plastic jet.

The Dreamliner, which landed at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, will make test flights on ANA’s normal domestic routes, with pilots and mechanics from both companies working alongside each other. The exercise will ensure the plane can fit into airport parking slots and use boarding bridges and fuel hoses, said Megumi Tezuka, an airline spokeswoman.

“It’s been a long wait,” said Hidetaka Sakai, an ANA spokesman who watched today’s landing. “We want to compete with global air companies with this plane.”

The trip is one of the final validations ahead of the 787’s entry into service as soon as next month. Boeing missed the original May 2008 delivery target, stalling its ability to book profit from a model with an average list price of $202 million and forcing customers to reshuffle their plans.

“People are going to be happy to see the plane arrive in Japan,” saidRyota Himeno, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. in Tokyo. “The key will be when demand for air travel rebounds.”

ANA, Asia’s largest listed airline by sales, suffered a 20 percent drop in domestic travel in April, the month after a record earthquake and tsunami disrupted air service in the country and led to the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

The Tokyo-based carrier is counting on the twin-engine Dreamliner to help add flights to China, Europe and the U.S. while paring fuel costs. Japan Airlines Co., which has 35 of the 787s on order, has said it will start service to Boston from Tokyo with the jet next year, the first direct link between the city and Asia.

For Boeing, getting the Dreamliner into service this quarter would end a series of seven postponements that led to late penalties and analysts dubbing the company’s fastest- selling plane the “7-Late-7.” Boeing’s 27 percent slide from the initial, October 2007 delay through June 30 was almost twice the drop for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

 

-bloomberg.com

Boeing 787 Dreamliner in France

The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, ZA001, has joined the historic line up of Boeing airplanes on display at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France. The all-new jetliner will be on display for the next two days.

“We are making great progress toward finishing certification of the 787 with Rolls-Royce Package A engines,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “It’s an honor to bring the 787 to the Paris Air Show on behalf of all of the hard working men and women around the world who have designed and built this amazing airplane.”

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a long-range, mid-size wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Boeing states that it is the company’s most fuel-efficient airliner and the world’s first major airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction.

The longest-range 787 variant can fly 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles (14,800 to 15,700 km), enough to cover the Los Angeles to Bangkok or New York City toTaipei routes. It will have a cruising airspeed of Mach 0.85 (561 mph, 903 km/h at typical cruise altitudes). The 787-8 and −9 will be certified to 330 minute ETOPS capability.[123] External features include raked wingtips and engine nacelles with noise-reducing serrated edges. The two different engine models compatible with the 787 use a standard electrical interface to allow an aircraft to be fitted with either Rolls-Royce or General Electric engines. This aims to save time and cost when changing engine types; while previous aircraft can have engines changed to those of a different manufacturer, the high cost and time required makes it rare.

More than 800 787s are on order by more than 50 airlines, a testament to the airplane’s unique capabilities. Launch customer ANA is expected to take delivery of the first 787 in August or September.

Source : Boeing, Wikipedia

A350-900 still with the production-weight issues

Airbus is pressing hard to ensure the A350-900 program will not suffer another delay, but also is having to look at cutting weight off the twin-widebody.

The first development aircraft are heavier than Airbus wants, says A350 chief engineer Gordon McConnell.

“We are about 2% away for the first aircraft from where we want to be,” McConnell says. The design for the first production aircraft is not locked, yet, so the weight savings program for in-service aircraft continues.

But McConnell stresses he has “no doubt at all” the weight mitigation program will be sufficient to meet performance guarantees made to airlines. Detailed design optimization should yield the improvements. “We are in reasonably good shape,” McConnell says.

Moreover, Airbus and its suppliers are pressing to prepare the first aircraft structures for the pre-final assembly line (FAL) process at major Airbus sites, before the FAL process itself is to begin by year-end. The first aircraft to be built is the static test model, followed by the first flight aircraft (MSN1) in 2012.

An area being watched closely is the large number of clips and other smaller items that are needed to assemble the aircraft, says A350 Executive VP Didier Evrard. “It is not rocket science, but it is a question of coping with the volume” on the accelerated schedule, he adds.

Evrard acknowledges there is pressure on the A350 program at major suppliers, but insists there are “no blockers” to the pre-FAL. In some places Airbus is working with suppliers and also helping them manage their own supply chain.

Once the pre-FAL process starts, Airbus feels it will have more control over the process, although Evrard notes that program challenges will remain.

Evrard says “traveled work” will be unavoidable, the kind of late work that has to be undertaken in the FAL, rather than earlier where it was supposed to be done; an abundance of “traveled work” crippled the Boeing 787 production ramp-up. Evrard says managing the amount of “traveled work” will be important.

Although the decision to delay fielding of the -800 model by two years was not required to keep the -900 on schedule, Evrard acknowledges “that it will definitely help” as extra engineers will be on hand to perform design clean up on the digital mock up that generally is required once assembly starts.

 

-aviationweek.com

All Nippon: 787 Delivery Assurance Eases Uncertainty

All Nippon Airways is showing increasing impatience over delays of Boeing 787 deliveries. It will ask the manufacturer for an assurance that it can meet the latest schedule.

The carrier, launch customer for the 787, says Boeing’s announcement of a new delivery schedule is welcome, because it eases uncertainty.

“However, the aircraft is now three years late and has been delayed seven times, so we will be looking to Boeing for assurance that it can meet this latest delivery date,” says a spokeswoman. “We will also be seeking from Boeing a full schedule for delivery of all the 55 aircraft on order from ANA to allow us to prepare properly for the introduction of the new aircraft and plan our new route network and fleet expansion strategy.”

Boeing now says the first 787 will be delivered to All Nippon in the third quarter.

Separately, the airline plans a major increase in services to China as part of a 17.4% boost in international capacity for the financial year beginning on April 1.

The previously announced joint venture between the Japanese carrier and United and Continental will begin on the same day, All Nippon says.

The increasing gravitational pull of the Chinese economy is attracting increased services to major cities in the country, a resumption of service to another, a new service to one, and the deployment of larger aircraft.

All Nippon will also increase its Japanese domestic capacity, by 2.6%, while seeking to use its aircraft more intensively as it awaits delivery of “the much anticipated Boeing 787.”

“Following the expansion of capacity at Tokyo airports in FY2010, ANA has worked to establish new destinations and increase flights on existing routes,” the airline says. “A further increase in runway slots is planned in the medium term, and this represents an opportunity for ANA Group to expand operations in what is becoming an intensely competitive business environment.

“In addition, the airline industry generally is facing more competition from other modes of transport, for example the opening of full Shinkansen bullet train services to Kyushu.”

The 2011 network will introduce All Nippon’s first service to inland China. The planned daily service, between Tokyo Narita and Chengdu, is part of a trend in which non-Chinese airlines are trying to make money from the big mainland cities other than Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Those markets are often challenging, however, because such cities are less developed, have few of the national corporate offices that generate strong international business traffic and are often poorly known to foreign leisure travelers.

Services between Tokyo Haneda and Beijing and Shanghai will double to twice daily, while 767-300s replace narrowbodies on one of the two daily flights from Narita to Beijing. The service to Shenyang in northern China will also be increased in frequency.

The suspended service between Chubu and Shanghai will be resumed at a daily frequency.

Domestically, All Nippon will maintain the increased frequencies it introduced in last year in the face of rising competition, including competition from fast trains. Routes from Haneda to seven domestic destinations will edge up in frequency, including the service to Itami, which is rising to 15 services a day from 14.

 

-aviationweek.com

 

Boeing Resumes Flight Testing On 787

Boeing began resume flight test activities on the 787 Dreamliner after suspending flight test last month following an in-flight electrical incident on a test flight in Laredo, Texas.

Boeing has installed an interim version of updated power distribution system software and conducted a rigorous set of reviews to confirm the flight readiness of ZA004, the first of the six flight test airplanes that will return to flight.

“Initially, we will resume a series of Boeing tests that remain to be completed in the flight test program. That testing will be followed later by a resumption of certification testing,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program.

Testing included an intentional deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), which is a small turbine that is deployed when back-up power is required. Boeing and Hamilton Sundstrand completed testing of the interim software updates earlier this week.

Verification of the system included laboratory testing of standalone components, integration testing with other systems, flight simulator testing and ground-based testing on a flight test airplane.

In the last several weeks, the company continued ground testing as part of the certification program. Additional ground testing will be done by the company on the production version of the airplane to further verify performance of the changes being made.

- AvStop -

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