Boeing today announced that it now expects delivery of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the middle of the first quarter 2011.
The delivery date revision follows an assessment of the availability of an engine needed for the final phases of flight test this fall.
While Boeing works closely with Rolls-Royce to expedite engine availability, flight testing across the test fleet continues as planned.
Boeing said last month that the cumulative impact of a series of issues, including supplier workmanship issues related to the horizontal stabilizer and instrumentation delays, could push first delivery of the 787 a few weeks into 2011. The delay in engine availability has extended that estimate to mid-first quarter 2011.
An AIRES Colombia Boeing 737-73V (HK-4682) crashed on landing today at San Andres Island-Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Airport (ADZ), Colombia. One passenger died, more than 100 were injured.
Flight 8250 was bound from Bogotá to San Andres Island. According to early reports the airplane may have been hit be a lightning bolt during landing on runway 06. The engines separated from the plane, it crashed on the runway and broke into three sections.
Boeing is sending a team to provide technical support to the Colombia DJAC to assist in the agency’s investigation of the accident, at the invitation of the Colombian authorities.
Today a USAF McDonnell Douglas C-17A Globemaster III, assigned to the 3rd Wing at Anchorage-Elmendorf Air Force Base crashed near the AFB. At the time of the accident, the C-17 was on a training mission for the upcoming Arctic Thunder air show.
All four crew members have been killed. Three of the crew were members of the Alaska Air National Guard and the other was active-duty Air Force from Elmendorf.
Today a Lufthansa Cargo McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (D-ALCQ) crashed during landing at Riyadh-King Khaled International Airport (RUH), Saudi Arabia. Flight LH8460 was bound from Frankfurt to Hong Kong with stopovers in Riyadh and Sharjah.
Both crew members were able to leave the aircraft down the emergency slide and have been treated in hospital.
The aircraft was delivered in 1993 and taken over by Lufthansa Cargo in 2004. The freighter completed its last comprehensive maintenance check (C-Check) on 22 June 2009, an A-Check was carried out prior to the flight to Riyadh.
Boeing announced that the 787 Dreamliner will make its international debut this month at the Farnborough International Airshow outside London.
“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 Sunday, July 18, approximately 9am 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.
I had the amazing chance to enter a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and see it from inside. This very plane was built in 1961 and is still on active duty, at least till 2020. It seems like nothing was modernized since then as you can see on the photos below. Climbing through the cramped inside and sitting in the cockpit was quite a surreal experience. Big thanks to the crew!
The first Boeing 747-8 Freighter painted in customer livery left the Boeing paint hangar on June 7. The airplane sports an updated livery for launch customer Cargolux. The Luxembourg-based cargo operator has a total of 13 Boeing 747-8 Freighters on order.
“The design stands for continuity and commitment while confirming the fundamental principles that made Cargolux successful. The red, white and blue stripes symbolize the company’s roots in Luxembourg, its hub and home base,” said Ulrich Ogiermann, chief executive officer of Cargolux. The new livery features a distinctive new red tail and an additional logo on the belly further promotes the brand.
Boeing will deliver the first 747-8 Freighter to launch customer Cargolux in the fourth quarter of this year.
I just came across that great video on YouTube. It’s demonstrating a tactical approach into Naval Air Landing Facility San Clemente. It’s fun to see how they use the thrust reversers in flight to massively reduce speed…
Southwest Airlines recently published this video, featuring the making of “Florida One”. N945WN, a Boeing 737-7H4, wears a special livery representing Southwest Airlines’ ties to the Sunshine State since beginning service in January of 1996. Southwest has been growing from 17 daily nonstop departures to 284 daily nonstop departures and now carries 20 percent of all air traffic to the state of Florida. And last Southwest will begin service to the seventh Florida city, Panama City Beach, on May 23, 2010.
The challenge of this plane was to recreate the Flag Logo without the use of tools, using only the drawing for reference and the stencils for outline, while at the same time making both sides exactly symmetrical.
Interesting facts:
Process time: 8 days
Number of People: 32 over 3 shifts
Paint colors: 16
Total gallons: Approximately 46
Premask (stencil outline): 15 boxes or approximately 150 different pieces to create the logo
Video
Florida One joins thirteen other 737s in Southwest’s fleet that carry a unique paint scheme: Arizona One, California One, Illinois One, Lone Star One (Texas), Nevada One, New Mexico One, Maryland One, three Shamu aircraft (SeaWorld), Silver One (celebrating Southwest’s 25th anniversary), Triple Crown One (recognizing Southwest’s top rankings for ontime performance, baggage handling, and Customer satisfaction), and Slam Dunk One (tribute to our NBA partnership).
Boeing today released the following picture. During ultimate-load testing the wings of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were flexed upward by approximately 25 feet (7.6 meters). The test exposed the airframe to the equivalent of 150 percent of the heaviest load it is ever expected to see while in service.
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