Boeing Flying the Wings Off 787 and 747-8F

This past few days since the Farnborough Air Show ended has seen Boeing flying the wings off both the 787 and the 747-8F. The 787 test fleet racked a few first during this past weekend including ZA001 and ZA002 going over the 400 flight hour mark. the 787 test flight fleet surpassing the 40% mark for test flight hours and the 400th flight of the 787.

During Sunday all 5 test 787s were flying at one point or another and Boeing had added well over 65 test flight hours during the period starting from July 23rd to July 25th. Boeing will need to fly the 4 Rolls Royce powered 787s about 10 hours a day combined everyday until the end of November if they hope to deliver the first 787 to ANA by the end of the year.

So far Boeing has accumulated about 1,293 flight hours on the 787 though I think their total is missing one flight. Boeing is also almost half way through to certifying the Trent 1000 powered 787. That version of the 787 needs 2,430 flight hours and Boeing has accumulated a little over 1,200 flight hours on the Trent powered aircraft. The test flight program for the GEnx-1B engines is just getting started and Boeing has less than 90 hour accumulated on ZA005.

Boeing also kept the 747-8F flight crews busy during this weekend with RC 501, RC522 and RC 503 (3 of 4 test aircraft) all flying at one point during this weekend. I believe RC 521 is conducting ground tests in Victorville.

Boeing has cast some doubt on whether it can finish the test flight program and deliver both these airplanes by the end of the year though they are maintaining the guidance for deliveries to start by the end of 2010. If the current pace of test flights becomes a long term (4-5 months) trend within each of these programs, then Boeing is well on their way to start deliveries in December. Careful observation of the test flight program progress for both the 787 and the 747-8F will allow us to know how they're progressing.

Fanborough, 2010 Day 4 and 787/747-8 flight testing

As the Farnborough International Air Show drew to a close, one leaves with the feeling that the industry is slowly turning the corner after a few years in the midst of the worldwide recession. The key was lessors coming in to buy a lot of narrowbody aircraft and rebuild their portfolios. There certainly wasn't a lot of widebody aircraft ordered at this year's airshow but those orders may just be around the corner for many carriers. Airbus, as usual, made a big splash at the air shows with many orders being announced for the first time. Boeing also announced a lot of orders but many were for airplanes that they have already booked.

However the surprise of the show was how well Embraer and Sukhoi did and well Bombardier did not. This may be a sign of things to come in the commercial airline industry and it serves as a warning to Airbus and Boeing.

Airbus:
Aeroflot - 11 x A330-300
Air Lease Corp - 31 x A320, 20 x A321
Garuda Indonesia - 6 - A330-200
GECAS - 60 x A320
Germania - 5 x A319
Hong Kong Airlines - converted 15 XA330 to 15 x A350 (MoU) ordered 10 x A330 (MoU)
LAN - 50 x A320 (MoU)
RBS Aviation - 53 x A320 (previously booked as unidentified customer)
Thai Airways - 7 x A330-300 (MoU)
Virgin America - 40 x A320 + 20 x A320 options (MoU)
Total - 5 x A319, 91 x A320, 20 x A321, 17 x A330

ATR:
Air Lease Corp - 10 x ATR-72-600
Azul - 20 x ATR-72-600
Golden Airlines - 2 x ATR-72-500
Lao Airlines - 2 x ATR-72-500
Total - 30 x ATR-72-600, 4 x ATR-72-500

Boeing:
Air Lease Corp - 54 x 737 + 6 x 737 (options) (MoU)
Air Austral - 2 x 777-200LR (previously booked as an unidentified customer)
Alaska Airlines - 2 x 737-800 previously booked as an unidentified customer)
American Airlines - 35 x 737-800 (not announced at Farnborough)
Avolon Air Lease - 12 x 737 (ordered in 2009)
AzerBaijan Airlines - 1 x 767-300ER, 1 -767-300F, -2 x 737
Emirates - 12 x 777-300ER (30 total, 18 were previously ordered this year as an unidentified customer)
GECAS - 40 x 737-800
Norwegian Air Shuttle - 15 x 737-800 (exercise of purchase rights)
OK Airlines - 10 x 737-800 (previously booked as an unidentified customer)
Qatar Airways - 2 x 777-200LR (previously booked as an unidentified customer)
RBS Aviation - 43 x 737-800 (previously booked as an unidentified customer)
Royal Jordanian Airlines - 3 x 787-8 (previously ordered as an unidentified customer)
Total - 90 x 737, 2 x 767, 12 x 777-300ER

Bombardier:
QANTAS Airways - 7 x Q400
Qatar Airways - 2 x G5000 Business Jets, 1 x Challenger 605
UFO Russian Customer - 4 x Global Express XRS
Vista Jet - 4 x Global Express XRS, 2 x Challenger 605
Total - 10 x G5000 & Global XRS, 3 x Challenger 605, 7 x Q400

Embraer:
Air Lease Corp - 15 x E190
Azul - 5 x E195
Flybe - 35 x E175
Republic Airlines - 24 x E190 (LoI)
Trip Airlines - 2 x E190
Total - 35 x E175, 17 x E190, 5 x E195

Sukhoi:
Kartika Airlines - 30 x SSJ-100 Super Jets (MoU)
Orient Thai Airlines - 12 x SSJ-100 Super Jets
Pearl Airways - 30 x SSJ-100 Super Jets
Total - 42 x SSJ-100

787 and 747-8 Test Flying

Yesterday, Boeing flight test division got very busy. They flew 3 of 4 747-8F and 4 of 5 787s. This included the first flight of RC503, the second production 747-8F that will be delivered to Cargolux late this year or early next year. Boeing is trying to make up ground in the 747-8 flight test program.

The 747-8F program has the most ground to make up and Flightblogger has an article explaining why the program is behind. Read it here:

Flightblogger: In Context: Why Boeing's Jumbo Freighter May Slip to 2011

The 787 got a big lift with many of the test flight airplanes flying during the day though not all at the same time. ZA001 took the longest test flight of the day which clocked in at just under 8 hours. Boeing will need to fly the Rolls Royce powered 787s at least 10 hours a day everyday if they hope to deliver the first airplanes to ANA by the end of this year.

787 and 747 News - June 10, 2010

Flightblogger and Guy Norris reported just yesterday that the FAA has moved one step closer to giving Boeing approval for type commonality for crew qualifications between the 787 and the 777 aircraft. Boeing wants to have this approval to allow 777 pilots to be qualified to fly the 787 after only 5 days of training. In doing so this would allow airlines to have one pool of pilots that would be able to fly both aircraft with minimal costs. The savings would be huge and bolsters the 787s economic case.



According to Guy Norris, the approval needs to be completed in three steps. The first is systems which has been completed. The second is handling qualities...both aircraft should have similar handling qualities. It is this second step that has been completed and approved. The last step is validation of the training course for pilots which includes the 787 check rides with the FAA. There is no word on when the third step will be completed but I have to assume that Boeing would like to have it done prior to first delivery to ANA who is a large 777 operator.



ZA001 is still in layup after having its engines changed out and should fly again towards the end of the month. Boeing is also adding artificial ice shapes to the leading edges for tests and then the airplane should be at Edwards Air Force Base later this summer for Vmu (velocity minimum unstick) testing. Here ZA001 will basically drag its tail on the ground and see what the slowest speed the 787 can take off at. ZA004 is also expected to be back in the air by the end of June for flight loads testing. It is currently getting additional instrumentation in order for them to conduct the testing. ZA002 and ZA003 are currently flying with the Boeing test fleet accumulating over 938 hours.

Guy Norris : 787 closer to 777 commonality approval


Flightblogger : Carriker: 787 designed with 777 handling in mind

Flight testing appears to be going very well for the 787. So much so that Boeing is closer to deciding to send the 787 to Farnborough. As I had reported earlier, Boeing will most likely not make a decision until early July but odds are that they will send ZA003 to Farnborough. Flightblogger reported yesterday that Boeing is planning to send both ZA003 (787) and RC503 (747-8F painted in Cargolux livery) to Farnborough. Later Boeing tweeted that they're "planning on the 787" but "the 747-8 is looking less likely." This is pretty much true in my opinion as Boeing is behind in flight testing of the 747-8F. I don't think they could spare the aircraft or the time to send the aircraft to Europe.

Flightblogger : Boeing's Farnborough Outlook ZA003 and RC503

Boeing Photo


Lastly, Boeing showed solid proof of the progress of the 747-8I. The first fuselage panels of the aircraft are now in Everett. The first airplane should be rolled out towards the end of this year with first flight early next year.

787 and 747 news

Here's a rundown on news bits regarding the 747-8 and 787 programs.

Boeing and ANA will test the 787 in Japan this fall. No word on when this fall it will take palce but theDreamliner will be spending a week flying around a select few Japanese airports and allowing ANA staff to perform maintenance during the testing.

Dreamliner Test Flights to Start This Fall in Japan

In a related story, ANA is planning to start flying the 787 on international revenue service in March, 2011 after taking delivery in November, 2010. Prior to next March international debut for the ANA 787, the airline plans to fly the airplane on domestic service. There you have it folks...ANA is expecting first delivery in about 6 months. ANA also plans to start pilot training in September.

All Nippon Plans First 787 Overseas Flights in March

Flightblogger: ANA sees November 787 delivery, January EIS, March International Debut

Yesterday, ZA002 performed a 12 hour test flight out of Victorville. Sources have told me that testing during this flight included, NGS/Tank Thermal Testing, airspeed calibrations, and TEVC (trailing edge variable camber) cruise optimization testing. The same sources said that testing went so well that additional test conditions were also completed during the same test flight. Both ZA001 and ZA004 are still undergoing work on the ramps. ZA005 will start the mini-gauntlet on June 6th (this weekend) and then start the run up for first flight on June 16.

RC521 (747-8F) in tug collision, Boeing details test flight program for the fourth 747-8F, and engineers fix the flap buffet issue on the 747-8F. Flightblogger has a great update including the imminent start of NAMS testing on RC521 as well as what roles the 4th test flight aircraft (RC503) will in the 747-8F flight testing.

Flightblogger: Boeing details role of fourth 747-8F flight test aircraft

Lastly, some news about the 787 competitor. Louis Gallois, CEO of EADS is saying that much of the schedule margin in the A350 program has been eaten up and that from a scheduling perspective, the program is "tense." The program has already delayed final assembly and first flight on the first A350 though they have not delayed the first delivery which is scheduled for 2013.

Bloomberg: Airbus A350 Timing ‘Tense’ as Gallois Takes Cue From Dreamliner