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.
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.
The Boeing 747-8 Freighter successfully took to the sky for the first time Monday Feb. 8.
With 747 Chief Pilot Mark Feuerstein and Capt. Tom Imrich in the flight deck, the newest member of the 747 family took off at 12:39 p.m. local time from Paine Field in Everett and landed at Paine Field at 4:18 p.m.
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This flight was the first of more than 1,600 flight hours in the test program for the newest member of the Boeing freighter family. The airplane followed a route over Western Washington, where it underwent tests for basic handling qualities and engine performance. The airplane reached a cruising altitude of 17,000 feet (5,181 m) and a speed of up to 230 knots, or about 264 miles (426 km) per hour.
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Powered by four General Electric GEnx-2B engines, the 747-8 Freighter will transition its testing program to Moses Lake, Wash., and Palmdale, Calif., where the other two test airplanes will join it in the coming month.
Boeing launched the airplane on Nov. 14, 2005, with firm orders for 18 747-8 Freighters: 10 from Cargolux of Luxembourg and eight from Nippon Cargo Airlines of Japan. All told, Boeing has secured 108 orders for the 747-8, of which 76 are orders for the new freighter. Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air all have ordered the 747-8 Freighter.
South African low-fare airline kulula.com recently came up with a brand-new, funny livery. One of their Boeing 737-86N (ZS-ZWP / OK-PIK), called “Flying 101″ is entirely covered with details and funny remarks about the plane.
Photos - by Malcolm Nason
The captain’s window is marked with the big cheese (”captain, my captain!”), the co-pilot’s window with co-captain (the other pilot on the PA system) and the jump seat is for wannabe pilots.
In addition, the following descriptions of plane parts can be found:
galley (cuppa anyone?)
avionics (fancy navigation stuff)
windows (best view in the world)
wing #1 and #2
engine #1 and #2 (26 000 pounds of thrust)
emergency exit = throne zone (more leg room baby!)
seats (better than taxi seats)
some windows = kulula fans (the coolest peeps in the world)
Today the prototype of the first Russian fifth generation jet fighter, the Sukhoi PAK-FA T-50 successfully completed its first flight!
“In the course of the flight we’ve conducted initial evaluation of the aircraft controllability, engine performance and primary systems operation, the aircraft had retracted and extracted the landing gear. The aircraft performed excellently at all flight-test points scheduled for today. It is easy and comfortable to pilot”, - said the pilot Sergey Bogdan.
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The current prototype is fully developed and intended to replace the MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker in the Russian inventory and serve as the basis of the Sukhoi/HAL FGFA project being developed with India. As fifth generation jet fighter, it is designed to directly compete with the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
Almost one year after the famous US Airways 1549 New York Hudson River emergency landing, Airbus A320-214 N106US (S/N 1044) was put on auction recently. The auction closes March 27 and is open to the general public. Bids can be submitted online. The wreckage is currently stored in Kearny, NJ - wings, vertical and horizontal stabilizers have been separated from the fuselage, the engines are not included in the sale.
On Tuesday night, Boeing moved the first 747-8 Freighter out of the paint hangar, sporting a special “light” livery.
Painted white with blue accents, the 747-8 Freighter unveiled a new twist on the Boeing Commercial Airplanes livery. It features an oversized “8” on the background of the tail as well as “747-8” on the belly.
The light livery, which saves time and expense compared to the full Boeing livery, will remain on the airplane until the flight-test program is completed. After flight test, it will be refurbished and delivered to a customer.
The first freighter will begin preparing for the necessary tests leading up to first flight in early 2010.
On Thursday afternoon, November 12, the first Boeing 747-8 Freighter has left the factory in Everett. The airplane, destined for Cargolux, will be painted and begin preparations for flight test.
The 747-8 Freighter is the new high-capacity 747 that will give cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance. It is 250 feet, 2 inches (76.3 m) long, which is 18 feet and 4 inches (5.6 m) longer than the 747-400 Freighter. The stretch provides customers with 16 percent more revenue cargo volume compared to its predecessor. That translates to four additional main-deck pallets and three additional lower-hold pallets.
Boeing has secured 105 orders for the 747-8 from Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air.
Boeing today announced that they have completed installing reinforcements within the side-of-body section on the first 787 Dreamliner.
The modification entails installing new fittings at 34 stringer locations within the joint where the wing is attached to the fuselage. Installations were completed yesterday.
Boeing expects to complete the installations on the static test airframe and the second flight-test airplane in the coming days.
After airplane No. 1 is restored, the flight-test team will perform another set of gauntlet and taxi tests to ensure that all systems are ready for flight. Fancher noted that with the exception of a single high-speed taxi test, all remaining first flight activities have been successfully completed on the first flight-test airplane.
First flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is still scheduled for the end of this year.
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