Month: June 2007

787 – Problems Joining Fuselage Sections – Fuselage Gaps

Boeing told that workers have finally joined the nose section of the 787 to the forward fuselage, but a spokeswoman admitted the two composite fuselage barrels were not a seamless fit and the solution proved “challenging.”

A Everett factory source told there were unexpected problems in trying to join fuselage sections and that loads had to be applied by engineers to finally connect the forward and nose sections. This required that some internal structure installed before the sections arrived in Everett be removed to make the massive one-piece composite barrels less rigid, the source said.

This also added to the growing work load that Boeing faces in order to meet the July 8 rollout date.

Boeing engineers calculated the amount of hydraulic load that could be safely applied to the structures to force the sections to fit, the source said.

The problem was on the left side of section 41 – the nose and cockpit – manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita. A bulge of more than an inch and a half was discovered when that section was initially lined up in tooling to be connected with the forward fuselage section 43, manufactured by Kawasaki in Japan, the source said.

Section 41 arrives from Wichita as one piece. Section 43 is connected in Charleston, S.C., with mid fuselage sections 46 and 44 that are manufactured by Alenia in Italy. That entire fuselage structure is flown to Everett for final assembly. (Seattle Times)

Photos of the 787 Fuselage Gaps

787 Fuselage Gaps
787 Fuselage Gaps
787 Fuselage Gaps
787 Fuselage Gaps
787 Fuselage Gaps
787 Fuselage Gaps

Children’s cell phones worry airlines

(yomiuri.co.jp) As the summer vacation season approaches, airlines are growing increasingly concerned about children bringing cell phones, portable video game consoles and other electronic devices onto planes, as they could interfere with navigation systems.

Airlines are especially concerned about children’s cell phones, which contain a built-in crime prevention function that automatically restarts the phone if it is switched off.

In March last year, NTT DoCoMo Inc. introduced the Kids Keitai, which includes a built-in global positioning system that allows the handset to send e-mails or transmit a signal notifying parents of their current location.

About 390,000 units had been sold by NTT DoCoMo as of April this year, and KDDI Corp. has also introduced similar models with the same function.

With the number of young passengers set to increase over the holiday period, airlines are planning various measures to warn passengers of the need to restrict the use of such devices.

Though the crime-prevention function on the children’s handsets can be suspended by inputting a preregistered code, many passengers turn the phones off without doing so, meaning the cell phones can restart during the flight.

All Nippon Airways has called on passengers to suspend the function, and since July has been displaying posters that instruct passengers on how to switch off the power properly.

But many passengers forget their suspension codes, meaning they are unable to switch the phones off at the boarding gates.

ANA and Japan Airlines have held talks with cell phone companies over the issue and airlines now have tools onboard planes enabling the removal of batteries, so phones can be switched off without the code.

ANA said the phones have not caused any serious problems. But a company official said if passengers do not know how to switch the phone off they should notify check-in staff or flight attendants.

The latest portable video game consoles, such as the Nintendo DS and Sony’s PlayStation Portable, also are potential sources of trouble for airlines as they are equipped with wireless communication devices for online gaming.

Airlines currently have flight attendants ask passengers using such consoles to turn off the wireless communication function.

You also may want to read this related article: Why to switch off your cell phone during flight

FAA Computer Glitch Causes Flight Delays

A computer system in Atlanta that processes pilots’ flights plans and sends them to air-traffic controllers failed early Friday, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said. In response, the agency rerouted the system’s functions to another computer in Salt Lake City, which overloaded because of the increased volume of data, magnifying the problem.

The FAA could not immediately calculate the number of flight delays caused by the problem, which was made worse by bad weather, Spitaliere said. Airlines experienced thousands of delays, some lasting several hours, in what was shaping up to be one of the country’s worst days this year for air travel.

Although the computer malfunctions were fixed shortly before 11 a.m. Friday, their impact lingered on into the late afternoon, especially in New York, where computer systems took two extra hours to connect with the central system in Atlanta, the FAA said. Spitaliere said the flight delays in the rest of the country were not as severe.

Delays for arriving flights at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport averaged nearly four hours early Friday evening, the FAA said.

Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said the problem forced controllers to enter flight information manually, which he described as a time-consuming practice. “With some of these East Coast airports, nothing is getting in right now,” Church said Friday afternoon.

AMR Corp.’s American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner acknowledged the computer troubles and said the nation’s largest carrier experienced about 50 cancellations on the East Coast, with New York’s LaGuardia departures being hit the hardest.

Hundreds of flights in both directions were delayed for two to three hours at New York’s two other major airports, Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International, said Steve Coleman, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Betsy Talton, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines Inc., said the Atlanta-based airline was experiencing delays of roughly two hours Friday in the Northeast, but she attributed the backlog to thunderstorms.

Linda Rutherford, a spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines Co., said the airline experienced delays on about 40 percent of its 3,300 daily flights _ the majority due to the air-traffic control problems.

Bryan Baldwin, a spokesman for JetBlue Airways Corp., said some flights experienced delays as long as four hours, and said the problem is likely to continue into the evening.

The company, which has a hub at Kennedy, experienced delays at five out of its 16 daily flights at LaGuardia, he said.

“The New York metro area is the most congested air space in the country,” Baldwin said. “When there’s any type of interruption to the air traffic system, it’s going to affect the most congested areas the most.”

Earlier this year, the FAA highlighted an expanded air traffic control strategy intended to minimize weather-related delays this summer. The agency’s “airspace flow program” is designed to allows airlines to choose between flying longer routes to avoid stormy weather or accepting delays that are aggravating for fliers and costly for the industry.

FAA officials said the program would allow airlines to choose between taking a delay or flying around the storm.

(foxnews)

1 year prison after sex on airplane toilet

A drunken British man who had sex with his girlfriend in an airplane toilet before forcing the flight to be diverted when he became abusive was jailed today.
Trevor Blake, 44, and his partner Nicola Fitzgerald, 27, had to be restrained on board a British Airways flight from Gatwick to Kingston, Jamaica.

The couple later sold their story to a national newspaper for £3,000, in which they boasted of how they twice made love on the Boeing 777.

A member of the cabin crew had first noticed the pair was acting drunk. Fitzgerald gyrated her hips on Blake’s groin as they sat on a seat reserved for cabin crew.
Blake flew into a rage with the cabin-crew member, Ian Walker, when they were told they were not being served with any more alcohol. They had downed two cans of beers and eight quarter sized bottles of wine.

Daniel Robinson, prosecuting at Hove Crown Court, said: “Mr Blake took great exception to being spoken to in this way. He became aggressive and rather obnoxious in his dealings with Mr Walker.

“He swore at him and said, ‘Who the fuck are you to tell me when I’m drunk?’ He called Mr Walker a fucking cunt and was rather voluble and aggressive in the way he spoke to Mr Walker.”

Mr Robinson said that Mr Walker tried to deal with the situation calmly and returned to the galley to speak to a colleague, Gillian Park, before Blake entered.

“They spoke about Mr Blake and he came into the galley and started to abuse Miss Park in an awful way…” Mr Robinson said.

“It seems that having said his piece, Mr Blake turned on his heels and went back to his seat.”

When Blake was issued with a final warning on a piece of paper about his behaviour, he scrunched it up and threw it at the member of cabin crew who had handed it to him.

Mr Robinson said at this point, the plane started to go through turbulence and seat-belts signs flashed up. But Blake and Fitzgerald instead got up to go to the same toilet together.

He said: “Mr Walker told Mr Blake once more not to walk around the plane when the seatbelt signs came on, and Mr Blake swore and screamed at him.”

Blake raised his hand at Mr Walker, and he was promptly restrained in handcuffs and leg restraints, but continued to direct abuse at Mr Walker.

Fitzgerald then became aware of the commotion at the back of the plane and she, too, became abusive, leading to her becoming restrained as well, Mr Robinson told the court.

The plane was later diverted to Bermuda. The couple, of Luton, Bedfordshire, were taken off the plane and sent back to the UK, where they were arrested and charged following the incidents on December 5, 2005.

Blake admitted affray and Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to drunkenness on an aircraft. The total cost of diverting the plane amounted to more than £12,000. Recorder Christopher Morris-Coole jailed Blake for 12 months and handed Fitzgerald a three-month prison term, suspended for 12 months. She will also have to complete 100 hours’ unpaid work.

In addition, the couple were ordered to pay £3,000, the sum of money they received for selling their story.
(guardian)

Video – Farewell to the F-14 Tomcat

A few great videos as a farewell tribute to the F-14 Tomcat which was retired from active service in the US Navy in 2006.
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat was a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable geometry wing aircraft. The F-14 was the United States Navy’s primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor and tactical reconnaissance platform from 1972 to 2006 and is now replaced by the F/A-18E/F. Most of the F-14 will be destroyed, 20 have been saved to US museums.
Some F-14 Tomcats are still in active service by Iran Air Force.

Emergency Landing at Lanzarote

An airplane with 140 passengers on board has been on the verge of crashing yesterday during take off of the airport of Lanzarote.

According to AENA sources an Air Plus McDonnell Douglas MD-88 underwent an electrical failture at one of its engines during takeoff. Despite the sudden power loss the pilot was able to stabilize the plane and gain enough height to avoid collision with near highway LZ-2 (Arrecife-Tías). Further on he was able to gain sufficient height to return and to make an emergency landing at Guacimeta Airport.

The plane, headed for Barcelona, was evacuated on the runway and instantly all fuel pumped out.

No one was hurt and all passengeres arrived their destination with 11 hours delay unsing a stand-by machine.

Note: Some sources report a different aircarft type, eq. a Boeing 737. But it’s clearly seen on the picture that its an MD-88.

*Thanks to Andrew for submitting this news!

Sikorsky Piasecki X-49 “Speedhawk” – First Flight in June

Piasecki Aircraft is preparing its X-49 experimental compound helicopter for a first flight before the end of June. [Source]

The modified Sikorsky H-60, with wings and tail-mounted variable-thrust ducted propeller (VTDP), has been moved to Boeing’s Wilmington, Delaware facility for ground and flight testing.

Sikorsky Piasecki X-49 “Speedhawk”
Sikorsky Piasecki X-49 “Speedhawk”

The X-49A “Speedhawk” is an experimental helicopter currently under development. It is the subject of a $US 26.1-million U.S. Navy-sponsored project that consists of a Sikorsky YSH-60F helicopter modified by Piasecki as a testbed to test the “Vectored Thrust Ducted Propeller” (VTDP) system. One YSH-60F will be converted to test the feasibility of VTDP under an advanced technology demonstration program. The YSH-60F is powered by two General Electric T700-GE-401C engines.

The demonstration contract was awarded in October 2000 by the Naval Air Systems Command to Piasecki Aircraft. Piasecki will install a lifting wing with flaperons and a vectored-thrust ducted propeller (VTDP), or “ring tail,” to a U.S. Navy Sikorsky YSH-60F.

The compound helicopter technology that will be added to the YSH-60F was first demonstrated in trials of the Piasecki 16H-1 and 16H-1A in the early 1960’s, when the helicopters were flown at speeds up to 225 mph (360 km/h).

The X-49A YSH-60F flight demonstrator will be updated with a lifting wing taken from an Aerostar FJ-100 business jet. A ring tail will also be added and the helicopter drive train will be modified to accommodate VTDP. Piasecki will conduct integrated tests of the modified drive train at the Navy’s helicopter transmission test facility.

The cockpit controls will be modified with the addition of a manual prop pitch override on the collective for the ring tail. This will be the only visible change to the aircraft’s existing mechanical controls in the cockpit. The other controls needed to operate the compound helicopter’s systems will be integrated into the aircraft’s existing mechanical controls to reduce pilot workload. Weight added to the X-49A YSH-60F will be about 1,600 lb (725 kg). It will have an unrefuelled combat radius of 1,411km following a rolling take-off, and 963km after a vertical take-off, representing a three-fold increase over the standard H-60.

As of 2004 the X-49A YSH-60F/VTDP demonstration program was being transitioned from the U.S. Navy to the U.S. Army.