Flightblogger details aircraft program delays, 787 poised to pass half way mark of test program

Flightblogger, in the last few days, detailed issues facing both Boeing and Airbus in their various aircraft development programs. Airbus is facing a delay that, according to a Bernstein Research report, could potential push back the delivery of the A350 into mid 2014. It is already widely known that Airbus has used up all remaining schedule margin in the program and has pushed out the start date of final assembly of the first aircraft as well as the first flight date by 3 months while at the same time reducing the test flight schedule by 3 months in order to maintain the mid-2013 delivery of the A350-900 to Qatar Airways. Airbus continues to struggle with weight and design issues with the A350 as it tries to start production activities at the same time. The result, it seems is that many suppliers are producing parts only to have Airbus hand them redesigns on those same parts.

Flightblogger: Three years before EIS, A350 forecasted to slip to 2014

Flightblogger also wrote about Boeing two most important commercial development programs being delayed further. The 787 is already two and half years late and an uncontained failure of a Trent 1000 test engines at Rolls Royce's test facility in Derby, UK is threatening to pull this aircraft's delivery further to the right. Boeing and Rolls Royce are investigating the failure and Roll Royce may have to repeat some certification tests before first delivery to ANA. Boeing has said that flight testing has not been effect to date and indeed, ZA002 is flying a long 14 hour test flight over the North Pole today to test the aircraft's navigation system. A t this hour as I write this the aircraft is still flying.

Flightblogger: 787 schedule in jeopardy following Trent 1000 testbed failure

Flightblogger: Regulatory authorities confirm Trent 1000 failure was uncontained

Boeing is still flying the Rolls powered 787s in the test flight fleet and in fact ZA002 is poised to make the longest 787 flight to date. It is projected to fly about 14 hours tonight having taken off at 7:54 AM PT. On top of this milestone Boeing is also poised to surpass 1,550 flight test hours. This would mark the half way point for the 78 flight test program (a total of 3,100 flight test hours are to be flown). It has taken Boeing over eight months to achieve this milestone and they will have to fly the remaining 1,550 flight hours over the course of the next three and half months in order to type certify the 787 aircraft. Again Flightblogger has a great article about ZA002's flight to the North Pole:

Flightblogger: ZA002 spending Monday going polar for 787's longest flight to date

Guy Norris of Aviation Week has a great description of the 787 navigation system:

Guy Norris: First 787 to the North Pole

Lastly, Flightblogger wrote about the 747-8I coming together and the assembly plans for Boeing largest passenger jet. RC001's main fuselage is being joined and all the large parts should be assembled together later this fall. The roll out should be around the end of the year with first flight in early 2011. However, Flightblogger is also reporting that the testing of the 747-8F is falling behind schedule and first delivery may not occur until 2011.

Flightblogger: First 747-8I begins to come together as 747-8F nears fresh slip

Eight Months in...787 exceeds 1,500 flight hours and other news

Sorry for the late post.

The 787 test flight fleet has now been flying for eight months and while they continued to move forward, the situation with the horizontal stabilizer seems to have reduced the flight tempo of the test aircraft.

Through August 14th, the 787 flight test team has flown 1,487 hours and 55 minutes or 48% of the 3,100 flight test hours that Boeing has stated that they will need to certify the aircraft.

To date (August 19, 2010) the test flight hours have accumulated 1,509 test flight hours with ZA004 flying a flight loads test and breaking through the 1,500th hour on August 19th. Additionally, ZA001 cross the 500 hour mark with three test flights yesterday with several dedicated to Vmu testing at Edwards Air Force Base. However, in order for the Rolls Royce powered aircraft to be certified by the end of November (102 days), Boeing would need to fly the four test airplanes for another 1,040 hours and 30 minutes which equates to about 10.2 hours per day every day until November 30th. The bottom line is that Boeing needs to aggressively get these airplanes in the air if they hope to deliver by the end of the year.

It is expected that the GE powered 787s will be certified sometime in early 2011 though ZA005 had a hydraulic leak and has been at Paine Field for the last few days getting new parts installed. It should be back in the air as early as today according to sources. ZA006 should be out on the flightline at Everett by August 23rd for an expected first flight around middle of September though I'll hopefully find out more sometime next week. The GEnx-1B powered airplanes have completed under 18% of the required test flight hours. Boeing plans to deliver the GEnx powered airplanes sometime in the 1st quarter of 2011.

Guy Norris broke the news this morning that ZA002 will be flying to the North Pole this weekend for an extensive test of the 787s navigation system while the aircraft is flying polar routes. Traditional compasses are rendered ineffective at the North Pole thus the aircraft will rely on the Honeywell built navigation system. This will be a test of that system at the polar region.

Guy Norris: First 787 to the north pole

AOL Travel has a great article about aircraft testing and they specifically talk about the 787 testing

AOL Travel: What Does a Plane Go Through Before It Can Fly?

Lastly, Jens Flottau of Aviation Week wrote about ANA plans for the 787 in the next hew months after receiving their first airplanes:

Jens Flottau: ANA Plans Quick 787 Ramp Up

Engines and stabilizers

The story that Flightblogger broke yesterday is gaining traction and may herald another delay depending on what happened to the Trent 1000 engine that Rolls was testing earlier this month. The situation is made even murkier because according to Rolls Royce they said that they had implemented a fix which says that they knew of the potential of the IPT (intermediate pressure turbine) to fail though they also said that they are well on their way to understanding the issue. Nonetheless this is an issue that bear watching carefully. Guy Norris has a brilliant summary of the Rolls Royce issue in his latest blog post. Apparently, this issue has not kept the 787 on the ground as ZA001 is conducting wet runaway test (also called the Slip N' Slide) in Roswell, NM and ZA004 is flying a flight loads survey test right now. However, a statement that Boeing sent to Flightblogger use the ominous words "to date" when referring to the impact that the IPT failure to the flight test program. Both Guy's and Flightblogger's post are below.

Flightblogger: Boeing statement on the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine failure

Guy Norris - 787 - More Danger of Delays?

The other issue that is being talked about is that of Alenia's workmanship on the parts they build for the 787. The horizontal stabilizer is the part that has gotten the most scrutiny of late but Alenia has had problems in the past with the manufacture of the fuselage sections that they are contracted to produce though it seems that the fuselage sections are being built with better quality. However the sum of all these issues has lead to some speculation that Boeing may buy out Alenia's share of the 787 program and bring the the manufacture of these parts back in house. Saj Ahmad has written an editorial backing such an action by Boeing and I also believe it makes sense but only if the economics of such a buyout keep the program in a forward profit position. Boeing has spoken of bringing more of the 787 program engineering back under their tent and they've done that with the 787-9 which is making great strides in the design nd engineering phase of its development and may prove to be the better of the two 787 models that is produced. Bringing in the manufacture of the parts that Alenia builds will ensure better workmanship and quality.

Saj Ahmad - Boeing needs to buy Alenia out of 787 production

Boeing 787 News Roundup

Let's get to it...

Boeing announced today that they have provisional approval to start pilot training courses for the 787. The provisional approval will become permanent when the 787 achieves final certification. The pilot training program allows pilots to transition to the 787 in as little as 5 days to as many as 20 depending on the level of experience of the pilots. It's Boeing's aim to transition a 777 pilot to the 787 in as little as 5 days due to the commonality that the 787 shares with the 777.

Here's Boeing's Press Release:

SEATTLE, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) Training & Flight Services has been granted provisional approval for its 787 Dreamliner pilot training courses by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). With the 787 pilot training courses, pilots can transition to the new airplane in five to 20 days, depending on pilot experience. Boeing 777 pilots can qualify to fly the 787 in as little as five days, given the high level of commonality between the two airplane types.

"Gaining FAA approval for our courses is a significant milestone as we ramp up to the start of flight training," said Mark Albert, director of Simulator Services and 787 Training Program, Boeing Training & Flight Services. "It validates our approach to provide world-class training solutions at great value for the 787 Dreamliner."

Local FAA offices will approve individual operator training courses and these may be based on provisional approvals.

"This achievement is another important step in ensuring the readiness of our 787 support products and services," said Mike Fleming, 787 director of Services and Support, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Boeing Training & Flight Services is working with the FAA to obtain provisional approval of the training devices at which point formal pilot training will commence. The provisional designation will be removed once the airplane is fully certified.

The Boeing 787 pilot training program uses a sophisticated suite of training devices including a full-flight simulator, flight training device and desktop simulation station to ensure that pilots are ready to fly the Dreamliner.

"The Training & Flight Services team stands ready to provide best-in-class 787 pilot training," said Roei Ganzarski, chief customer officer, Boeing Training & Flight Services. "Our global network of campuses allows our customers to train where they want, when they want."

There are currently eight training suites at five Boeing Training & Flight Services locations around the world in Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, Seattle and Gatwick, U.K.

Today ZA001 flew down to Edwards Air Force Base to conduct landing and take off performance tests which will feature the 787 dragging it's tail across the runway to determine the Vmu (velocity minimum unstuck) which is the slowest speed that the 787 can take off. ZA004 should be taking to the air again by Wednesday but the other three airplanes are not flying and no information is known as to when they'll return to the air. Both Flightblogger and Guy Norris have post up about this:

Flightblogger: Edwards Air Force Base awaits ZA001

Guy Norris: 787 - "Fun" about to start?

Lastly, there is disconcerting news about the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 failure which was broken by Flightblogger. Apparently there was a failure of the intermediate pressure turbine and the failure was not contained (meaning that debris had come through the cowling). This failure has not stopped test flight and Rolls Royce says that they have an understanding of the failure and says that this will not impact the program. Nothing has been said about what fixes may need to be incorporated if any.

Flightblogger: 'Package A' Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 suffers engine failure

A retraction and a 787 update

First a retraction. In my previous post I had speculated that the 787 fuselage sections were offloaded from the 747 Dreamlifter because they needed to be inspected due to issues at Alenia. In fact Boeing had informed me that this was not the case but rather the parts were taken off so they unload a horizontal stabilizer that was in front of the fuselage section in the LCF.

These parts were offloaded so they can unload the horizontal stabs. They were reloaded later on. Here's is Boeing's statement:

The fuselage section captured in Matt Cawby's video happened to be on a Dreamlifter that also carried a horizontal stabilizer that needed to be delivered to the Everett factory first. (The h stab was in the back of the plane, the fuselage section in the front)

So we had to unload the fuselage section in order to unload the h stab. Once that was done, we loaded the fuselage section right back onto the Dreamlifter and delivered it to Charleston the very next day. This had nothing to do with the recent issues.

Ok that's all cleared up, thanks to the Boeing communications team for sending me the correction!

Obviously they had to get the horizontal stab out of the airplane. Speaking of which, there were a couple of articles out today addressing the horizontal stabilizer issue and the review that Boeing is doing at Alenia with regards to workmanship issues on the h stab. First Guy Norris has an article and a blog post about it. In the blog post Guy talks about the h stab becoming an irritant in Boeing because of the inspections it has to conduct on each one of the delivered stabilizers. On a brighter note it has allowed Boeing to hopefully add technology to reduce the drag by the 1%. The technology is called hybrid laminar flow control and wold allow the air passing over the stabilizer to be sucked in before the air turned turbulent while passing over the horizontal stabilizer. Read more:

Guy Norris: 787 - tail wagging the dog

In another article, Guy talks about the current issue with the horizontal stabilizer and the Boeing efforts to inspect and take corrective action. The issue may already be affecting test flights though it is unknown at this moment. The test flight fleet did fly for some 7 to 8 hours yesterday but they were not flying today. However, Boeing now has to inspect new areas of the horizontal stabilizer based up on their audit of Alenia production practices. This may become the long pole in the tent for the 787 program.

Guy Norris: Boeing Extends 787 Inspections To New Areas

Lastly, Scott Hamilton, got some very detailed information on the horizontal stabilizer issue and the fact that Boeing is finding multiple issues with the horizontal stabilizers. Scott goes on to say that the problem is with all the horizontal stabilizers that have been delivered into Everett. Undoubtedly Alenia will have to answer many hard and pointed questions about quality control and workmanship at their plant in Italy. Scott does go on to report that delivery of the first 787s can slip to as late as the 2nd quarter of 2011. Both Scott and Guy report that ZA006 may not fly until late September now though my source has said September 12th.

Scott Hamilton: More 787 problems: 2Q delivery delay coming?

Interesting Video of 787 parts in Everett

Matt Cawby who regularly shoots video and photos of Boeing's Everett flight line recorded an interesting piece of video yesterday at Everett which is below:


Matt Cawby Video


In the video the 747 LCF is loaded with fuselage section for the 787. What is interesting is that these are not the pre-stuffed ready to join sections that would normally arrive into Everett to be taken to final assembly but parts that are normally constructed by Alenia in Grottaglie, Italy and then flown to Boeing Charleston to be assembled with parts from Japan to form the main fuselage section that is finally delivered into Everett. Why these particular parts were flown direct to Everett and not Charleston is a mystery but I think we can reasonably speculate that because of Boeing's review of Alenia production processes and manufacturing standards, these parts might be part of the inspections that Boeing has ordered across all the 787 that have been built. Hopefully there is nothing seriously wrong with the parts but it does say that Boeing is a little nervous about one of its major suppliers.

Boeing conducts inspection of Alenia built 787 parts

James Albaugh, head of BCA, gave us quick update of the787 program. among the pieces of information he revealed is that Boeing is doing more of the design work for the 787-9 and is making very good progress with the next 787 version.

However, Boeing is finding more issues with Alenia built parts on the 787 and as a result is conducting more inspections of all the 787s built to date. As of now I do not know what these issues are or which Alenia built parts are subject to the new inspections but Boeing wants to make sure that these parts are "up to Boeing standards." This may explain why the 787s have flown on a limited basis for the last week and a half. Only today did ZA001 and ZA004 flew on an extended basis accumulating about 11 flight hours between the two test flights.

Boeing is planning to move more 787 production in house and I won't be surprised if Alenia's contract to build 787 sections is taken away from Boeing and would be produced at both Everett and Charleston in the next 5 years. Much of this is based on reviewing Alenia's 787 production and assembly in Grottaglie which was initiated by improper workmanship on the horizontal stabilizers. There seems to be no complaint of the Japanese built sections or the parts produced by Spirit. Albaugh also said that Boeing is quite happy that they bought out Alenia's share of Global Aeronautica (now name Boeing Charleston) as well as all of Vought's share of the 787 program.

James Albaugh also said that ZA006 should fly later this month though sources have told me that September 12th is still the date that is being shown on internal Boeing schedules. Albaugh also said that they have delivered 70% of the required certification documentation to the FAA though they've only completed about 47% of the test flights hours so far. Boeing can conceivably be at the 50% mark in about 10 days depending on the pace of test flights.

Bloomberg: Boeing Inspects 787 fleet

787 comings and goings

Boeing is going to start final assembly on the 26th Dreamliner either today or tomorrow (ZA 231 for Air India) as there's been a bit of shuffling on the Boeing flight line as well as in the assembly bays and the ATS Hangar which Boeing is using to help reduce the backlog in 40-26.

Meanwhile, Boeing has continued wit some flight testing mainly with ZA002 and ZA003 but they didn't add significant hours though ZA003 did perform a fly by (no barrel roll folks, sorry) during he Seattle Seafair during which the Blue Angels performed. I was informed by Boeing, though, that the Blue Angels toured ZA003 during this past weekend.

You can read more about this in Randy's Journal:

Randy's Journal: 787 Flyover

Lastly, it seems that the first flight of ZA006 is slipping a little bit more again. The date I've heard is now September 12th. This aircraft is suppose to be on the flight line today but I have no confirmation as of yet if it has appeared or not.

Flightblogger details immediate 787 flight tests

Flightblogger posted an article detailing the immediate flight test agenda for the 787 test flight fleet in the next month or so of flight testing. Thus far, the 787 test flight fleet has racked up just under 1,440 flight test hours but the pace has slowed considerably in the last few days. Still Boeing seems to be on pace to achieve certification by the end of November but they will certainly have to fly the 787s a least 10 hours a day in order to achieve delivery in December. It is still a very tight schedule.

ZA001 should by flying to Edwards AFB, according to Flightblogger, to validate the take off and landing performance of the 787 which will include the VMu (minimum unstick velocity) testing in which the 787 will drag it's tail along the surface of the runway and takeoff at the lowest possible speed. After this testing in California it's on to New Mexico for brake testing which will include rejected take off braking at maximum take off weight.

Flightblogger: Arduous phase of flight-test effort awaits Dreamliner

Flightblogger also confirmed what I had reported earlier, that ZA006's first flight may slip into early September. The date I have is September 7th. ZA006 should be out on the Boeing flightline by August 9th but we'll see. The parts for ZA231 (LN 26) have been arriving and that aircraft should start final assembly sometime tomorrow or Tuesday. Hopefully I should have more information on movements of the 787s in production soon. Stay tuned!

Lastly, ZA003 performed a short flyby at the Seattle Seafair this afternoon which was followed up by the Blue Angels performing before the Seafair crowd. Hope to see pics of that soon.

Boeing loses another order for 15 787s

UPDATE 2 : Well it does indeed look like DAE who has cancelled the 777-300ER and 787 orders that they palced a couple of years ago. The orders for the 737 and the 777 and 747 frieghters are still intact....for now.

UPDATE: Rumor has it that it is Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (leasing) that has cancelled those orders. I'm working to confirm.

This afternoon Boeing posted its weekly order update and in addition to losing an order for 10 777s they had lost an order for 15 787s. The number of customers who have at least that number on order is extensive though it is possible that the customer was also the source of the 10 x 777 cancellations as well.

This is not good news on top of the lost order for Cathay Pacific Airways need for a 777-200/A340-300 replacement. That airline decided on the A350-900 with an order for 30 of the type but also exercised 6 777-300ER purchase rights. There are still some important sales campaigns coming up notably the Air France/KLM decision between the A350 and the 787.

More flying and more movements

Boeing continues to fly the 787 test flight fleet aggressively as it attempts to certify the Roll Royce Trent 1000 powered 787 by the end of November for delivery in December to ANA. Thus far the test flight hours are over 1,400 hours with the half way mark (1,550 hours) in sight. I project that Boeing should be at the half way mark by mid August if not earlier. They still need to be very aggressive with the test flights in order to get to the certification goal by late November which is less than four months away. The Rolls Royce powered fleet has amassed over 1,300 flight hours (they are targeting 2,430 hours). The sole GE powered aircraft has also been flying quite a bit in order to get the GEnx-1B powered airplanes into customer hands in early 2011. The majority of 787 customers, thus far, have elected the GEnx-1B engines on the 787. ZA005 has racked up just under 110 flight hours. ZA006 is not expected to join the test flight program until early September. It should be rolled out to the flight line in about 1 week (August 9th is what I'm hearing) where it will undergo preflight ground testing. Sources confirmed that ZA006 is still inside ATS Hangar 3.

Production has slowed a bit though. ZA231 was supposed to have started final assembly in late July is now pushed back to August 9th. Meanwhile ZA103 emerged from the temporary tent hangar on the Boeing flightline and was taken to the ATS Hangar to presumably finish up reassembly tasks. ZA104 has been moved into the spot just vacated ZA103 and is starting it's side of body modifications. ZA115 was taken out of the ATS Hangar and is now on the Boeing flightline with many of the other 787s for ANA. Boeing will be slowing down assembly activities in September to allow the supply chain to catch up and reduce travelled work flowing into Everett.

September should bring some changes though with ZA004 expected to receive improved Trent-1000 (the "package B") with better fuel burn. That would take ZA004 out of flight test for some time while they install and ground test the engines on the aircraft. I would expect that the first production 787s should start getting their engines and interiors around October-November time frame and start flight tests soon after that.

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.

Farnborough 2010, Day 3

Here's the order tally from the Farnborough Air Show today. ZA003 has flown back to Boeing Field and the four other 787s have been flying this past week so it looks like Boeing is trying to pick up the pace of flight testing on the aircraft. With ZA003's return flight back to the US, the 787 test flight fleet has gone over 1,200 flight hour flown. One note from Farnborough, Boeing invited Airbus CEO Tom Enders and salesman John Leahy to tour the 787. According to Dominic Gates of the Seattle Times all he would say is "It will be a very good airplane" after which he added a snarky remark or two about the 787 which you can read here.

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)
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)
Air Austral - 2 x 777-200LR (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)
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 - 144 x 737, 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

Farnborough 2010, Day 2

The order bonanza continues today at the Farnborough Air Show. There were a number of MoUs for Airbus while Boeing announced a few orders some of which were already booked by Boeing. Please note that the totals below will only be for firmed orders that were announced and were not previously recorded on the order books. Here's a cumulative summary of what transpired during the day today:

Airbus:
Aeroflot - 11 x A330-300
Air Lease Corp - 31 x A320, 20 x A321
GECAS - 60 x A320
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)
Total - 91 x A320, 20 x A321, 11 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)
Avolon Air Lease - 12 x 737 (ordered in 2009)
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)
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 - 109 x 737, 12 x 777-300ER

Bombardier:
Qatar Airways - 2 x G5000 Business Jets, 1 x Challenger 605
Total - 2 x G5000, 1 x Challenger 605

Embraer
Air Lease Corp - 15 x E190
Azul - 5 x E195
Flybe - 35 x E175
Trip Airlines - 2 x E190
Total - 35 x E175, 17 x E190, 5 x E195

Sukhoi:
Kartika Airlines - 30 x SSJ-100 Super Jets
Orient Thai Airlines - 12 x SSJ-100 Super Jets
Total - 42 x SSJ-100

There appears to be a big order announcement from Qatar Airways as well as rumors of a Bombardier announcement possibly for the C-Series.

Farnborough 2010, Day 1

While yesterday's attention was focused on the arrival of the 787 to Farnborough and part of today's attention was focused skywards on the flight displays, there were some order announcements that were announced today. Here's a summary of what transpired during the day today:

Airbus:
Aeroflot - 11 x A330-300
Air Lease Corp - 31 x A320, 20 x A321
GECAS - 60 x A320
Total - 91 x A320, 20 x A321, 11 x A330

Boeing:
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)
Total - 55 x 737-800, 12 x 777-300ER

Bombardier:
Qatar Airways - 2 x G5000 Business Jets, 1 x Challenger 605
Total - 2 x G5000, 1 x Challenger 605

Sukhoi:
Kartika Airlines - 30 SSJ-100 Super Jets
Total - 30 x SSJ-100

One note about the Emirates order for the 777-300ER, this order is meant to replace the 737 order from DAE Capital that had placed huge orders for both Boeing and Airbus products in 2007 at the Paris Air Show. This is according to a report by Dominic Gates of the Seattle Times. So this is not a new revenue order for Boeing. This is going to be true for Airbus where the 32 A380s that Emirates ordered at the Berlin Air Show was a replacement of DAE's Airbus order. Read Dominic's post HERE.

Apparently there will be more orders for both large manufacturers and possibly Bombardier (for the C-Series), if Qatar Airways and P&W can overcome hurdles in their negotiations. Look for Air Lease Corp (Steven Udvar-Hazy's new airplane leasing company) to order the 737-800 as well as Saudi Arabian Airlines to order the 777-300ER (though this may be an order that is already booked on Boeing Order web site). Airbus may receive and order for up to 70 A320s from LAN Airlines. There is also a rumor of Turkish placing an order for both the A350 and the 787 at the air show but that's unconfirmed. Boeing and Airbus have both promised more order announcements over the next few days.

787 in Farnborough

Thanks to Jon Ostrower and Flightglobal for the video

Boeing announced the arrival of the 787 at the Farnborough International Air Show after the aircraft, ZA003 (flying as BOE787), landed a the Farnborough Field after a nine and a half hour flight. This is the international debut of the 787. Boeing said the crew and test engineers aboard conduct flight test along the way. Here's Boeing's press release:

News Release Issued: July 18, 2010 11:34 AM EDT

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Makes International Debut

FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom, July 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner made its international debut landing at the Farnborough Airport at 9:09 a.m. (local time) in support of the Farnborough International Airshow that begins Monday.

"It's an honor to showcase the 787 here at the Farnborough Airshow," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "I can't think of a finer stage on which to present this highly anticipated airplane."

This is the first international trip made by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The airplane came via nonstop flight to Farnborough, U.K., from Seattle.

"We took advantage of the flying time to conduct some flight testing on the way," Fancher said. "We're taking every opportunity to complete our testing requirements when we fly."

The 787 Dreamliner is built by an international team and will provide airlines around the globe with a new level of efficiency in operations, with a 20 percent reduction in fuel use when compared to similar-sized airplanes. The 787 also brings a new level of passenger comfort to travelers including bigger windows and more personal space as well as an environment designed to help them arrive at their destinations feeling refreshed.

Boeing executives and members of the board of directors, dignitaries from the United States and U.K. and a wide variety of media were on hand to welcome Captains Mike Bryan and Ted Grady as they stepped off the airplane and welcomed visitors aboard. About a dozen people traveled on the airplane to conduct testing during the flight.

Fancher and other Boeing executives will provide a media briefing on the 787 at the airshow's main press chalet at 10 a.m. (local time). The airplane, referred to as ZA003, will depart Tuesday afternoon, July 20.

Saj Ahmad of Fleetbuzzeditorial.com got some nice photos of the 787 at Farnborough

Saj Ahmad: Boeing 787-8 Debuts At Farnborough

Seven Months In...787 Flight Test Update

As BOE787 (ZA003) is winging its way over Canada, the North Atlantic and on to Farnborough, questions have arisen over the current pace of flight testing in the 787 program an whether Boeing can increase the pace of flight tests in order to deliver the first 787s to ANA on time by the end of this year.

Scott Fancher has raised a yellow flag of caution late last week by saying that delivery may slip by a few weeks into January of 2011. Now a few weeks in the whole scheme of things is really nothing and in context of the more than two and a half years of delays in program it's a few raindrops in a lake, however, what is concerning is that pace still has not risen to what it needs to be even if Boeing hopes to delivery in January, 2011.

As of July 14th and completing 7 full months of flight testing, the Test Flight Fleet has amassed over 1,162 flight hours. This is not even 40% of the required 3,100 flight hours that Boeing needs to certify both the Rolls Royce and GE versions of the 787. If Boeing hopes to certify at least the Rolls Royce version, they've got over over 1,200 flight test hours to complete over the next four and half months...that's pace of over 266 flight hours per month the Rolls Royce powered airplanes...not an easy task given the current pace of test flights. In June Boeing flew only 49 test flight though they did fly for over 209 flight hours. This still is down from the previous month (May) where Boeing flew 104 flights and accumulated over 349 flight hours. July is not looking much better with over 96 flight hours flown thus far.

Another area of concern is that the GE powered 787s are due to be delivered to some major airlines such as JAL, Air India, RAM and Continental but only one of the GE powered aircraft is flying (and flying a lot). The last GE powered 787, ZA006 is still on the ground and program sources have told me it may not fly until early September. It does seem to me that there will be a delay in delivering the GE powered airplanes to customers as a little over 9% of the needed GE fight hours have been flown and the second airplane that's needed won't be off the ground until early September. The pace of test flight on ZA005 will be watched to see if Boeing can get the GE powered 787 certified in time. Of course the pacing item will still be getting the over 2400 hours on the Rolls powered airplanes completed by early December at the very latest.

You can check out my latest tracking of the 787 test flight progress below:

ZA003 to fly to Farnborough this evening

Boeing has filed the flight plan for it's third 787 to fly to Farnborough in the first transcontinental flight of the 787 since test flights began 7 months ago. Usually ZA003 flies under the flight number of BOE003 but for this special occaision the 787 is flying there and back under the flight number of BOE787. The flight plan calls for an expected arrival time of 7:30 AM on Sunday morning but Boeing has said the airplane will arrive at about 9 AM. The difference is due to test flying around the North Pole to test the inertial navigation system where ZA003 will fly in figure 8s and then proceed to Farnborough Field.

Thsi will be the first 787 flight abroad and this appearance at the show is of huge importance to Boeing to demonstrate that the program is past the hurdles that have plauged to program for the past two and a half years despite the warning from Scott Fancher that deliveries MAY slide into 2011. I will be putting up another post reviewing hte test flight program to date in a day or so so more on that issue in that post.

787 first delivery may slide into early 2011

In a new twist in the continuing saga that is the 787, Scott Fancher said today that the first delivery of 787 to launch customer ANA may slide into early 2011 though they are still targetting the end of 2010 for first delivery. Scott Fancher said that this is a "cautionary note" as issues that have to be resovled including the horizontal stabilizer issue has eaten away at the schedule margin in the program.

Another issue is changing out the instrumentation in the test airplanes has taken more time than Boeing had thought meaning that the aircraft is spending more time on the ground getting its test instrumentation changed out.

Seattle Times article on potential delivery slip

Flightblogger article on potential delivery slip

Additionally, Boeing said today during the conference call that first flight of ZA006 has slipped into August due to horizontal stabilizer inspections and rework. However, a source has told me that first flight for this airplane is now listed internally as September 7. If true then there may be more involved then just horizontal stabilizer rework though that is speculation on my part.

Boeing is under tremendous pressure to get deliveries going. Many carriers are trying to get early delivery slots just as QANTAS has done (for its Jetstar subsidiary) and now Aeroflot and the Russian government are pressuring Boeing to deliver the 787 before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Aubrey Cohen of the Seattle PI has a great article on todays news from Boeing:

Aubrey Cohen's 787 blog post

On a final note, Boeing is getting ZA003 ready for Farnborough and is even giving the airplane a bath today.

Farnborough 2010 Story: 787 Prepares for Farnborough

Flightblogger gives details of Boeing's upcoming 787 production hold

Boeing's plan to hold parts deliveries into Everett for the second time this year became more clear today when Flightblogger posted details for the plan. Airplane 27, whose parts will be delivered in about a month, will be the last airplane to enter final assembly for 6 weeks.

The main impetus behind the temporary stop is to allow suppliers to catch up with the rest of the supply chain. There is still a lot of travelled work flowing into Everett mostly coming from Boeing's North Charleston plant. The ultimate aim is to have all parts arriving from suppliers into Everett to have a 100% completion rate starting with airplane 28 (ZA232) for Air India. Flightblogger says that suppliers of items such as doors, floor grids and wiring (with the floor grids being the most critical) are holding up the ability for parts to be delivered fully complete into Everett.

Flightblogger ends with two important points. The first is that when airplane 28 arrives at Everett it will signal that start of production going to almost 3/month. Flightblogger ends with this second (and most important) point:

"Yet, the question remains for Boeing: As the ramp up continues toward building 10 aircraft per month byt the end of 2013, how does the company avoid overwhelming its supply chain forcing additional halting stops and starts on its road ahead?"

This question can only be answered by the supply chain that Boeing is quite dependent on.

Read more:

Airplane 28 to follow six-week hold, 787's chance to catch up

Lastly, Boeing announced that they have settled on a site in North Charleston, SC for it 787 interiors manufacturing facility. This facility will manufacture interior parts such as stowage binds, partitions, cockpit doors and other items. Boeing expects the facility to start construction by the end of the year and should be ready in time to support the final assembly of the first 787 to roll off the North Charleston line by the end of 2011/early 2012. The facility will be 10 miles away from the final assembly line and will ad about 150 jobs to the region. Boeing is also planning to manufacture the 787 tail for North Charleston assembled 787 on site at the South Carolina facility. Currently, the tail is built at a facility in Washington State and will continue to assemble the tails for Everett built 787s.

Here's Boeing's press release:

Boeing to Manufacture Certain 787 Interior Parts in North Charleston, S.C.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) today announced that it has chosen North Charleston, S.C., as the location for its new 787 Dreamliner interiors fabrication facility. In addition, Boeing will purchase land from Stone Mountain Industrial Park Inc. BRPH will design the facility, and Pattillo Construction will provide construction services. Employees at the facility will manufacture and assemble airplane interior parts.

"This decision is another significant step toward creating a solid aerospace presence for future generations to come in South Carolina," said Ray Conner, vice president and general manager, Supply Chain Management and Operations, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The selected location for our new interiors facility will provide us with the continued flexibility we need to leverage our production capability and meet the needs of our 787 customers."

The new fabrication factory will be 10 miles (16 km) from Boeing's 787 final assembly and delivery site in North Charleston. The close proximity of the two facilities will help improve the efficiency of the final assembly and delivery process in South Carolina.

The interiors fabrication facility, which was first announced in May, is expected to create more than 150 new jobs.

At the new facility, the Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina team will manufacture 787 interior parts, including stowbins, closets, partitions, class dividers, floor-mounted stowbins used by flight attendants, overhead flight-crew rests, overhead flight attendant crew rests, video-control stations and attendant modules.

Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010.

787 Flight Testing picking up

787 flight test picked up this week with 4 of the 5 test airplanes, ZA002, ZA003, ZA004 and ZA005 having flown this week. ZA001 is expected to fly by this coming Sunday (July 18th) but may fly as early as today (July 15th). ZA005 had flown to Great Fall, Montana on Tuesday July 13th to test high wind performance of the 787 and did a a series of take offs and landings in winds with gusts of up to 50 mph. Boeing meteorologists were looking for those types of conditions to test the 787s high wind performance.

Coming up will be ZA003's highly anticipated flight to Farnborough the 787s first flight overseas. It should leave sometime on Saturday evening head towards to North Pole to fly figure 8s and test the navigation system and then fly on to Farnborough where it will land around 9 AM local time on July 18th after an 11 hour flight from Boeing Field. The airplane will leave Farnborough on the afternoon of the 20th to head back to Boeing Field.

6th 787 first flight delayed again; 25th 787 to start final assembly on July 12th

Boeing has delayed the first flight of ZA006, the last test flight airplane and the 2nd with GEnx engines. Sources have told me that internal schedules show the airplane having its first flight on August 30th (delayed from July 13 and July 26). No reason of the delay was known at this time.

I'm not sure but the delay may have an impact on delivery of the first GEnx powered aircraft which is to happen early next year. Boeing may opt to have some tests that were to be flown on ZA006 to be tested on ZA005, the current GEnx 787 that is flying.

Boeing will start final assembly of the 25th 787 to be built on Monday. After a line move that will put ZA006 in the ATS Hangar, ZA176 to the paint hangar, and ZA101 in building 40-24; ZA230 which is destined for Air India with GEnx-1B engines will start final assembly on July 12th. A second 787 (ZA231) for Air India will follow about two weeks later on July 27th. Boeing will start final assembly on the 27th 787 in mid August after which there will be a resequencing of part deliveries in order to allow the production system to catch up with work. At this rate Boeing should have about 36 airplanes either assembled or in final assembly at Everett. There is supposed to be a slight increase in the production rate from 2/month to 2.5/month but I'm not sure if that is still to be implemented around August/September as planned.

It's official: Boeing sending 787 to Farnborough

Boeing has pulled the trigger, as widely expected, and is sending the third 787, ZA003 to Farnborough in the aircraft's international debut. The airplane will fly into Farnborough on July 18th and will be part of the static display for two days and then will fly back to the US.

There will be specially arranged tours of the aircraft for show attendees while it is in Farnborough. The airplane will leave Farnborough on the afternoon of the 20th. Boeing will have a 787 program update on the morning of the 20th. Here's the press release by Boeing:

Boeing Plans to Debut 787 Dreamliner and New Unmanned Systems at Farnborough

CHICAGO, July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing 787 Dreamliner will make its international debut this month when the doors open on the Farnborough International Airshow outside London. Boeing also will feature an extensive display of new, advanced unmanned systems and technologies.

"We've chosen Farnborough as a venue for spotlighting the breakthrough capabilities and innovations of both our commercial airplanes and our defense, space and security businesses," said Tom Downey, senior vice president, Boeing Communications. "We look forward to an optimistic mood this year as industry leaders meet amid signs of economic recovery."

The 787 flight-test airplane, ZA003, will touch down at Farnborough the morning of Sunday, July 18 and will remain on static display through mid-day July 20. The airplane will be open for tours on a scheduled basis July 19 and 20. Boeing is using ZA003 to test and certify seats, galleys and associated cabin safety and comfort systems, among other test points.

Boeing's exhibit at the show will focus on unmanned systems, including the international debut of the recently unveiled Phantom Ray demonstrator, the A160 Hummingbird and the Unmanned Little Bird. The Boeing Unmanned Systems Display will showcase more than a dozen products, including the new Integrator and the ScanEagle Compressed Carriage.

During the show's daily flying demonstration, Boeing will demonstrate the capabilities of its advanced, combat-proven, multi-role F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter. The company and its customers will display several other systems, including the air show debut of the 737-based Peace Eagle airborne early warning and control platform for the Turkish Air Force. Visitors also will see the C-17 Globemaster III military transport; the F-15E Eagle fighter jet; and the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter. In addition, Qatar Airways will display its newest Boeing 777-300ER July 19-22.

Boeing will hold a series of media briefings during the show, as listed below. Media at the show should check the briefing schedule daily at the Media Centre and the Boeing media chalet, situated in chalet row B 1-6, for updates.

The company will keep the news media and the public updated about activities at the show at www.boeing.com/farnborough2010 starting July 15 and through Twitter feeds: @BoeingAirplanes, @BoeingDefense and @BoeingCorporate.

Note: All times listed below are local to Farnborough

Sunday, July 18 – Tuesday, July 20

Approximately 9am Sunday – 787 Arrives Farnborough Airport*

The 787 will be available for media viewing during the following
times:

Sunday: 11.30 to 13.00

Monday: 12.00 to 13.00

Tuesday: 09.00 to 10.00
*See separate 787 media advisory for further details


Monday, July 19
09.45 Boeing Commercial Airplanes Update – Radlett Suite (Media Centre)

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh will assess current industry and market conditions and provide an update on Boeing commercial airplane products and services, development programs and product investments.

11.00 Boeing Defense, Space and Security Overview - Hatfield Room (Media Centre)

Boeing Defense, Space & Security President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg will present an overview of how BDS is repositioning for even greater global competitiveness and future growth, detailing accelerated change and highlighting opportunities in international sales and adjacent markets.

13.00 A New Generation of Air Refueling – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Charles Johnson, vice president, Air Force Mobility, C3/Networks and Support Systems, will discuss the importance of air refueling as a key enabler of airpower, and how Boeing's NewGen combat-ready, multi-role tanker is best suited to meet the Air Force's future refueling requirements at the lowest cost to the warfighter.

14.00 NAVAIR/Bell Boeing
V-22 Update – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

NAVAIR V-22 Program Manager Col. Greg Masiello will provide an update on the V-22 Osprey program.

15.00 Boeing/Bigelow Aerospace – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Roger Krone, president of Network & Space Systems and Robert T. Bigelow, founder of Bigelow Aerospace, will discuss the Boeing/Bigelow Aerospace collaboration. Bigelow will provide an update on his plans to build an Orbital Space Complex. Boeing will provide an update on the development of critical technologies and capabilities for NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) initiative and plans to support NASA and Bigelow with a commercial crew transportation system.


Tuesday, July 20

09.30 Integrated Unmanned Solutions – Boeing Unmanned Systems Display

Darryl Davis, president of Phantom Works, and Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, will deliver a briefing on the company's broad range of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle capabilities, followed by a media walk-around of individual systems. This will be the international debut of the A160, Phantom Eye and Phantom Ray.


10.00 787 Dreamliner: From Concept to Reality – Radlett Suite (Media Centre)

Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 Dreamliner Program; Capt. Mike Carriker, chief pilot for the 787 Program, Mike Sinnett, vice president and chief engineer for 787 Systems; and Marlin Dailey, vice president, Sales & Marketing; and John Roundhill, Commercial Airplanes Senior Advisory Group member, will provide an update on 787 development and flight test progress.

11.00 U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F and EA-18G Programs – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Capt. Mark Darrah, F/A-18 and EA-18G program manager, PMA-265, provides a detailed overview of the Navy's combat-deployed, frontline Super Hornet strike fighter, and its new electronic attack aircraft, the EA-18G Growler, as it readies for first deployment.

12.00 The Strike Fighter Evolution – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Shelley Lavender, vice president and general manager of Global Strike Systems, will discuss "the evolving strike fighter" and the new capabilities and technologies that will shape the advanced strike platforms of tomorrow.

13.00 Factory-to-Flight-Line Support – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

A panel featuring Jim O'Neill, vice president and general manager, Integrated Logistics; Mike Kurth, managing director of Boeing Defence UK; and Phil Dunford, vice president/general manager, Rotorcraft Systems, will highlight the UK Chinook Through-Life Customer Support, Apache Support and C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership as model support programs. Customers will also be represented by Rear Adm. Tony Johnstone Burt, head of the Joint Helicopter Command, and Air Cmdr. Baz North, Deputy Chief of Air Staff.

15.00 Boeing / U.S. Navy P-8 Programs – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Bob Feldmann, vice president and general manager, Airborne Battle Management, and Martin Ahmad, principal deputy program manager, Naval Air Systems Command, will discuss P-8 program activities including flight testing, assembly and recent/upcoming milestones.


Wednesday, July 21

10.00 Air Battle Management – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Bob Feldmann, vice president and general manager, Airborne Battle Management, and Jeff Trauberman, vice president, Business Development, Boeing Network and Space Systems, will highlight the integrated approach to Battle Management/C4ISR with AEW&C, AWACS and NC3S/Vigilaire. They will also provide an update on the Wedgetail AEW&C program for Australia.

12.00 Environmental Technology Update – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Billy Glover, Boeing Commercial Airplanes managing director of Environmental Strategy, and Tom Bell, vice president, Boeing Military Aircraft Business Development, will brief the media on recent companywide achievements and progress in reaching environmental goals

13.00 International Rotorcraft – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Phil Dunford, vice president/general manager, Rotorcraft Systems, will cover an update on the Chinook, AH-6i and Apache rotorcraft programs, highlighting growing international demand and opportunities around the world.

14.00 VIP/Executive Fleets – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Stephen Taylor, president of Boeing Business Jets, and Tony Parasida, president, Global Services & Support, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, will detail Boeing platforms for Presidential / VIP fleet recapitalization and other special-mission derivative aircraft.

15.00 C-17 SAC – Boeing Media Chalet Theatre

Tommy Dunehew, vice president of Business Development, C-17 program, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and Gunnar Borch, general manager of the NATO Airlift Management Agency (NAMA), will provide an update on the NATO-led Strategic Airlift Capability initiative, which this month marks its first year of operations.

Around the 787 world...an update

Well as my "real" job kept me very busy (I bet some of you didn't have to work till 4:30AM the next morning), the 787 continued its flight testing activities. So far ZA004 and ZA005 have been flying with ZA005 undertaking flutter testing with the GEnx engines configuration. ZA004 has started the important flight loads survey testing whose data will be compared to predicted data.

Flightblogger has posted a flight test update on his blog but he also revealed that ZA003 and ZA001 are undergoing horizontal stab rework. While ZA003 should finish this work by July 9th, Boeing is keeping the option of sending ZA002 to Farnborough instead of ZA003 in case the work is not completed. It has been suspected that ZA003's return from Arizona to Boeing Field meant that there may need to have some rework done on this aircraft and now it looks as if that is true.

Flightblogger: Horizontal stabilizers of ZA003 and ZA001 being reworked, ZA002 on deck for Farnborough

Guy Norris also put out an article at Aviation Week describing Boeing reaction to the horizontal stab workmanship issues and how Boeing is trying to figure out who the problem got past quality control inspections. He says that Boeing still has margin in the schedule so any rework shouldn't impact the remainder of the test schedule. Guy also gives a look ahead to the test flight schedule.

Guy Norris: 787 To Debut At Show, Despite Tail Issues

Max Kingsley-Jones of Flightglobal.com reported that the 787 fatigue test airframe, ZY998, is about to start it's 3 year testing of the durability of the 787 airframe. The airframe will undergo rigorous testing which will subject it the equivalent of 165,000 flight cycles over those three years. The frame was moved to it's test fixture in late January and the past few months have been spent installing instrumentation and other test fixtures.

Max Kingsley-Jones: Boeing targets 787 fatigue test buffer over lead aircraft

On the production front, the first painted 787 for Japan Airlines made its debut on the Everett ramp. The aircraft is LN 20 (ZA 175) and is in spot 106. There are 12 787s on the Everett ramp including one in the "circus tent" undergoing side of body modifications. There should be line move later this weekend to make room for the 25th 787 to be built, the first for Air India. Parts for this aircraft have already started arriving into Everett. ZA006 first flight has been put back to sometime in August though I don't have atarget date as of yet.

Lastly, the 787 test flight fleet exceeded 1,100 flight hours flown. ZA005 flew the flight that achieved that milestone. Thus far the test flight fleet has flown almost 36% of the required test flight hours.

Update to 787 test flight fleet status

I got a little update on the 787 flight test status.

The quick and dirty is that airplanes will be back in the air very soon.

ZA005 should fly again very soon, probably tomorrow. ZA004 can return to the skies as early as Saturday July 3rd and ZA002 should fly again around July 9th. Both ZA001 and ZA003 will return to the air on July 12th. This plan does give Boeing room to do any rework on the horizontal stabilizers as well as conduct post rework inspections and certify ready to resume flight testing.

787 Flight Tests on temporary hiatus?

Ok I'm still trying to find out more information but we all know that ZA001, ZA004 and ZA004 are in planned layups. ZA003 probably has to have rework done on its horizontal stabilizer not to say that the other 3 aircraft don't need it, they may but if they do need rework it can be done while they're in layup.

This brings us to ZA002 since it seems like the only 787 that is not in a pre-planned layup and doesn't have the horizontal stabilizer issue. The thing is that this airplane hasn't flown in a couple of days. Well I found out that this airplane is getting additional instrumentation for hot weather testing and that this testing will go remote (not flown out of Boeing Field but maybe Arizona, New Mexico or California). ZA002 should return to flight around July 9.

Lastly, Boeing is still planning to send ZA003 to Farnborough but with the current rework needed to be done on this 787, it might be a little tight in terms of schedule. Boeing plans to send the aircraft there on July 17th and leave around July 20th. Boeing has not definitively decided to send ZA003 to England and all depends on the progress of the rework and the results of the post rework inspections that would need to confirm that the rework has solved the problem and the aircraft is safe to fly.

Boeing Complete Firm Configuration of 787-9

Boeing Photos
UPDATE: A source has told me that Boeing has planned a tentative roll out date for the first 787-9 for February 2012.
In a press release this morning, Boeing confirmed that they have finalized the 787-9 configuration which will allow Boeing and partner engineers to begin detail design work and release those plans for manufacture of parts.

The 787-9 is the stretch version of the 787-8 though they are keeping the same wing as the 787-8 thus allowing for weight savings. The 787-9 is looking at a range of about 8000 nm to 8500 nm though that is said to be improving as Boeing is finding ways to save weight in the 787-9 (some of these design changes are planned to be incorporated into the 787-8 at later stages). The aircraft should seat about 250 to 290 passengers. The follwoing article by Saj Ahmad goeing into a nice analysis of the 787-9:

On the 9 by Saj Ahmad

Boeing is planning to have the 787-9 compete head on with the A350-800 (as well as the A300-300) but sources have told me that they feel that the 787-9 would be extremely competitive against the A350-900 which will be Airbus' first A350 off to be delivered. Right now both the A350-900 and the 787-9 are planned for first delivery in 2013 though some sources are telling me to expect further delays to the A350. If the 787-9 can meet or even exceed weight expectations as well as getting SFC (specific fuel consumption) improvements from both engines, then the 787-9 can be a true economic engine for many of the airlines that order it.

Here's video and a report Boeing put out about the 787-9 this morning:

Boeing Finalizes Configuration for Newest Dreamliner

Here's the test of Boeing's press release for the 787-9 configuration:

Boeing Completes Firm Configuration of 787-9 Dreamliner

EVERETT, Wash., July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) today announced the completion of firm configuration for the 787-9 Dreamliner. Boeing reached this milestone after years of collaboration with airline customers and partners to determine the optimal configuration for the new stretch version of the Dreamliner.

"Firm configuration means the airplane's structural, propulsion and systems architectures are defined and not changing," said Mark Jenks, vice president of 787-9 development, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Boeing has completed the trade studies required to finalize the airplane's overall capability and basic design, allowing the airplane manufacturer and its suppliers to begin detailed design of parts, assemblies and other systems for the 787-9. As detailed designs are completed and released, production can begin. The first 787-9 delivery is scheduled for late 2013.

"We have a disciplined process in place to ensure we have completed all of the requirements for the development stage of the program," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The team has done a fantastic job to get us through this important milestone."

The 787-9 is the second member of the 787 family. A slightly bigger version of the 787-8, the airplane will seat 250-290 passengers, 16 percent more than the 787-8. The 787-9 will have a range of 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles (14,800 to 15,750 km).

"We have been working closely with our customers for years to reach this milestone," said Mark Jenks, vice president of 787-9 development. "We are excited about the performance and capability this airplane will offer our customers."

The 787 Dreamliner is an all-new twinjet designed to meet the needs of airlines around the world in providing nonstop service between midsize cities with new levels of efficiency. The airplane will bring improved levels of comfort to passengers with larger windows, bigger baggage bins and advances in the cabin environment, including lower cabin altitude, higher humidity and cleaner air. Delivery of the first 787 is planned for the fourth quarter of 2010.