787 news thread

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner sets speed and distance world records

Article excerpt from The Australian

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner sets speed and distance world records

BOEING’S 787 Dreamliner is breaking a slew of records – even those that didn’t exist before.

The Dreamliner clocked-in world record distance and speed times for the airplane’s weight class (200,000kg – 250,000kg) – even though the speed “record” was one they created themselves.

The Boeing 787 overtook the Airbus A330 for the furthest an airliner of its class could travel without stopping for re-fuelling, clocking in at 19,835km on a flight from Seattle to Dhaka, Bangladesh.

It also established a new around-the-world speed record for its weight class flying eastbound. 42 hours and 27 minutes is the time to beat for future airliners seeking to top the new category.

Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/news/dreamliner-breaks-speed-and-distance-records/story-e6frg8ro-1226218294891

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA / KSEA) to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (DAC / VGHS) – 12324 miles / 19835 kilometers (what an incredible achievement).

Further reading:

http://logisticsweek.com/air/2011/12/genx-engines-powered-boeing-787-dreamliner-for-world-record-flights/

http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/boeing-787-dreamliner-smashes-distance-and-sets-speed-records-284704

http://www.seattlepi.com/business/boeing/article/Boeing-787-sets-two-world-records-2389842.php

Air India goes for leaseback for Boeing Dreamliners

Article excerpt from IBNLive

Air India goes for leaseback for Boeing Dreamliners

A day after its lenders approved its debt restructuring plan, Air India on Tuesday decided to go in for sale-and-leaseback option for Boeing 787 Dreamliners instead of their outright purchase, as its Board reviewed the latest financial position of the cash-strapped company.

The Board, which reviewed Air India’s operations and the implementation of its turnaround programme and Financial Restructuring Plan, also decided to lease out excess capacity of two Boeing 747-400 planes and some 777-200 LR aircraft after the Dreamliners were inducted, a spokesperson said.

As per AI’s plans, the acquisition of 14 of the 27 Boeing 787 Dreamliners that will join its fleet by 2014, is likely to be made through sale-and-leaseback.

Sale-and-leaseback or leaseback in short is a financial transaction where one sells an asset and leases it back for the long-term. Hence, one is able to use the asset continuously but does not own it.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ai-goes-for-leaseback-for-boeing-dreamliners/207082-7.html

Air India 787-837 Dreamliner, VT-ANA, MSN/LN 36273/25

I suppose it will be quite useful for Airbus to note Boeing’s experiences with the Dreamliner in this area.
It can be quite useful being second to the marketplace sometimes.

Oh don’t worry… Airbus have been compiling “lessons learned” on the 787 for ages now!

I remember that there was a problem with the nosegear on the second or third test flight. Probably nothing to do with this incident though.

Boeing 787 Lands Safely After Landing Gear Trouble

Article excerpt from ABC News

Boeing 787 Lands Safely After Landing Gear Trouble

Boeing’s new 787 plane, which just started carrying paying passengers, ran into its first technical glitch Sunday when the landing gear failed to deploy.

The pilots of Japan’s All Nippon Airways used “an alternate procedure that worked,” according to Lori Gunter, a spokeswoman for Chicago-based Boeing Co. The plane landed safely and there were no reported injuries.

“We are aware of this matter and are on-site in Japan with ANA offering whatever assistance they require,” Gunter said. “Maintenance was conducted and the airplane has returned to service.”

ANA is the first — and so far only — airline to fly the new jet. It started using the plane on short shuttle flights within Japan last week.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory/boeing-787-lands-safely-landing-gear-trouble-14899625#.TrkxY_TiG0s

Further reading:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2016713099_787landinggear08.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/08/uk-boeing-dreamliner-glitch-idUSLNE7A603L20111108

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/11/boeing-787-dreamliner-problem.html

All Nippon Airways Boeing 787-881 Dreamliner, JA801A, MSN/LN 34497/24

I suppose it will be quite useful for Airbus to note Boeing’s experiences with the Dreamliner in this area.
It can be quite useful being second to the marketplace sometimes.

Its only a matter of time before someone cuts 1 corner too many to meet scheduling.

Q.E.D.

I’m actually referring to reports that come out in The Sun, Telegraph etc which are often corrupted and sensationalized versions of reports in peer reviewed journals. I’m pretty sure that they will be monitoring the fatigue and damage tolerances quite closely, as you say it is new technology.

Typical Press sensationalism.

Not really.

Ask the next F&DT’er you run into.

Are they gonna wheel out the full ultrasonic gear every time there is a wee episode of ramp rash? Dispatch times are going to take a hammering if that is the case.

With any step into the unknown comes risks; the 787 and 350 no different.

Typical Press sensationalism. There will be a monitoring regime in the maintenance program.

Is Boeing’s 787 as safe as it seems?…

Article excerpt from the Daily Mail

Is Boeing’s 787 as safe as it seems? U.S. says inspectors ‘don’t know what to look for’ when plastic aircraft start to fail

With revolutionary plastic wings, it has been hailed as the most significant step in air passenger travel since Concorde.
But there are fears that for the long-term safety of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s plastic wings and fuselage.
U.S. inspectors said they do not know what to look for when the new composite starts to fail in a new report, the New Scientist revealed.

The report said it is unclear how the 787 will become damaged over time and it is not known what the damage to the composite will look like.
The aircraft has been trumpeted as the green fuel efficient future of aviation with its carbon-fibre reinforced wings which shave 15 per cent off its weight.
The revolutionary 264-seat Boeing Dreamliner flew passengers from Tokyo to Hong Kong on its first flight last week.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2056792/Boeing-787-Is-safe-Concern-plastic-aircraft.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Article excerpt from the Chicago Sun-Times

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner an aviation game-changer

ABOARD THE BOEING 787 DREAMLINER — As far as airplane delays go, this one was a doozy: Chicago-based Boeing Co. was three years late in delivering its first 787 Dreamliner.

The long-awaited aircraft — hailed by many as an aviation industry game-changer — finally began regular service this week in Japan.

It’s the first mid-size commercial plane capable of flying long-range routes. That has a host of implications, including the potential to ease congestion at O’Hare.

It’s also the first passenger jet made primarily of carbon fiber — basically a type of strong, lightweight plastic — instead of traditional aluminum.

And All Nippon Airways (ANA) is the first on a long list of customers to get the Dreamliner, which I had the chance to check out during a 90-minute flight last Friday out of Tokyo.

More than 200 of us — mostly Japanese men and women in dark suits — filed into the softly lit cabin, designed to raise the bar in passenger comfort. Anyone who’s flown lately knows that bar desperately needs raising.

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/travel/8546725-502/boeings-787-dreamliner-an-aviation-game-changer.html

Now there is a place that I normally look to for answers to technical questions: The U.S. GAO.

Sarcasm intended.

UPDATE 4 – Dreamliner carries its first passengers and Boeing’s hopes

Article excerpt from Reuters

UPDATE 4 – Dreamliner carries its first passengers and Boeing’s hopes

TOKYO, Oct 26 (Reuters) – The Boeing Co Dreamliner, the world’s first carbon-composite airliner, flew to Hong Kong from Tokyo carrying its first paying passengers on Wednesday in a flight that could set a new benchmark in air travel.

Its takeoff into clear blue skies after a salute and shower by an airport fire truck came exactly 53 years after Boeing’s first ever jetliner, the 707, began commercial services in the Pan Am colors.

The Dreamliner does not fly any faster than that first aircraft, but it is not supposed to. Instead, it is designed to make the hours aloft more pleasant for passengers and cheaper to fly for owners battling for profit amid the rise of low cost carriers.

The Dreamliner that flew Wednesday with 240 passengers is owned by All Nippon Airways Co and a jubilant Shinichiro Ito, the airline’s president and CEO, described his brand new plane as a “game changer.”

He acknowledged, however, that production hiccups that delayed delivery for three years had put his carrier “through hard times”.

With its mostly carbon-composite body, Boeing’s technological flagship offers a 20 percent improvement in fuel efficiency and a 30 percent reduction in maintenance costs.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/26/dreamliner-idUSL3E7LQ1J120111026

Article excerpt from Seattle Pi

GAO: Questions remain about safety of composite jets, such as Boeing 787

U.S. and European regulators followed procedures in certifying Boeing’s mostly composite 787 Dreamliner aircraft and took steps to address potential safety concerns, but it’s too soon to say whether these steps are enough, Congressional auditors reported Thursday (pdf).

“It is too early to fully assess the adequacy of FAA and industry efforts to address safety-related concerns and to build sufficient capacity to handle and oversee composite maintenance and repair, given that composite airframe structures in currently in-service airplanes are mostly limited to the secondary structures,” Gerald Dillingham, directors of Physical Infrastructure Issues at the Government Accountability Office, wrote in a report requested by the top Democrats on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, that committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight and the Aviation Subcommittee of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Boeing’s 787 and the competing Airbus A350 XWB are about half composites, up significantly from other airliners, which use aluminum for the fuselage skin and wings.

While composites are lighter and stronger than most metals, the GAO wrote: “Some industry observers have raised concerns about the state of the science underpinning the expanded use of composite materials in commercial transport category airplanes and FAA’s preparedness for this transition.”

Source: http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/2011/10/20/gao-questions-remain-about-safety-of-composite-airliners/

There’s probably a technical auditer looking over their shoulders

There’s probably a technical auditer looking over their shoulders.:D
Amiga500 I couldn’t resist getting this in before you did.:D:D:D:D
In fact it’s reported that a ‘thingy’ resembling a variant of Honda Asimo or i-Robt was seen with a clipboard in the vicinity.:D

Why are you slandering the maintenance techniques of ANA by alluding to the possibility that they just ‘walked away and left it’?

You (not you personally Amiga) really have to think that Boeing released this aircraft (and the FAA certified it) with a published set of inspections for occasions like this – for all areas of the aircraft.

All airlines are under time pressure to dispatch; I’m not in any way singling ANA out – they are no different from any other, and probably better than most.

The inspection techniques now needed for what are now PSEs (such as a rear fuselage section around a cargo door) are far more time intensive than historical metallic inspections.

Its only a matter of time before someone cuts 1 corner too many to meet scheduling.

Engine cowling has been made from composite materials for many a number of years now and incidents like this can unfortunately be common. That is why there are well researched and tested methods for inspection and repair as necessary.

Why are you slandering the maintenance techniques of ANA by alluding to the possibility that they just ‘walked away and left it’?

You (not you personally Amiga) really have to think that Boeing released this aircraft (and the FAA certified it) with a published set of inspections for occasions like this – for all areas of the aircraft. No, this type of thing shouldn’t happen, but neither should a lot of things. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Flight global

This is indicative of why I’m not stepping on a B787 or A350 any time soon.

All Nippon Airways has admitted that its first Boeing 787 suffered some slight surface damage to its engine inlet cowl after it hit a passenger boarding bridge.

The incident took place while ground crew were towing the aircraft, JA801A, on 13 October, said the spokesman.

He added that the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered aircraft suffered only surface damage, and that it resumed regular flight tests on 14 October after the company did some checks.

“Everything was fine. There was only some surface damage, and the aircraft was back in operation on schedule,” said the spokesman.

So they did extensive NDT of the local laminates? Aye… I’m sure. :rolleyes:

Its only a matter of time before something is declared OK when its really not even close. Hopefully it can be caught before an aircraft is lost.

It also shows up the complete bulls!t branded about a few pages back about “managing” ground ops. :rolleyes:

I have not seen one yet and can not wait to photograph one and I think that CDG or Orly would be good airports to go for the Algerian 787`s.

Oops. Do you know i was going to post a new thread, saw this one and thought better not start another one.
Must pay more attention.
Off to open a new thread.

Interesting.

But nothing to do with the Boeing 787.