Month: July 2007

Boeing Approved for Full-Rate Production of CH-47F Chinook

The Boeing Company has received U.S. Army authorization for full-rate production and fielding of the new CH-47F Chinook helicopter.
The CH-47F successfully completed U.S. Army operational testing at Fort Campbell, Ky., in April, and now will move forward with First Unit Fielding in July.
“This authorization enables us to support the needs of the warfighter today and well into the future,” said Jack Dougherty, director of Boeing H-47 programs.
“The Army put the CH-47F to the test with over 60 hours of rigorous flight test in numerous simulated mission scenarios, including air assault, combat resupply and transport operations,” said Ken Eland, Boeing CH-47F program manager. “The successful test and evaluation of the aircraft is a validation of the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the H-47 program and proves again that the Chinook is ready to meet the diverse requirements of the warfighter.”
Operational testing of the CH-47F was conducted by Bravo Company (Varsity), 7th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
The CH-47F helicopter features

  • A newly designed, modernized airframe, to reduce vibration effects
  • Structural enhancements in the cockpit, cabin, aft section, pylon and ramp — flexible paint system with corrosion preventive compounds
  • A Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System cockpit and a BAE Digital Advanced Flight Control System. The advanced avionics provide improved situational awareness for flight crews with an advanced digital map display and a data transfer system that allows storing of preflight and mission data.
  • Improved survivability features include Common Missile Warning and Improved Countermeasure Dispenser Systems.
  • Modularized hydraulics and triple cargo hooks
  • Composite, manual-folding, tandem-rotor blades with three blades per hub

Powered by two 4,868-horsepower Honeywell engines with digital fuel controls, the new CH-47F can reach speeds greater than 175 mph and transport payloads weighing more than 21,000 lbs. The CH-47F, with the Robertson Aviation Extended Range Fuel System, has a mission radius greater than 400 miles.

Airbus A350 Cabin Design Concepts

Below I arranged several Airbus A350 XWB interior design concepts for you. That should give you an idea how the Airbus A350 XWB could look from inside. Click on the images to view them in full size.

The A350 XWB will be offering the quietest, most comfortable cabin in this aircraft size category. With a cabin cross-section of 220 inches/5.58 meters from armrest to armrest, the A350 XWB provides wider aisles and the widest seats in the industry. Compared to the Boeing 787, the A350 XWB cabin is 5 inches/12.7cm wider, offering superior levels of spaciousness for passengers.

Seating in economy, can be either eight abreast for high comfort or nine abreast for extra high efficiency. The modular cabin features of the A350 XWB Family allow overnight reconfiguration, enabling airlines to easily adapt to specific seasonal needs and changing markets. This capability further enhances operating flexibility.

Thanks to leading edge cabin design, passengers will also benefit from more headroom, wider panoramic windows, and larger overhead storage space.

The use of latest technologies results in enhanced air quality and cabin environment regulation. Improved purity of cabin air is provided by gaseous filters and Ozone/Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) converters. More precise temperature control zones, draft free air circulation, controlled cabin humidity of up to 16 per cent during flight cruise and a typical cabin altitude at or below 6,000 ft, further enhance passenger well-being.

Airbus A350 XWB Interior Design ConceptsAirbus A350 XWB Cabin

Airbus A350 XWB Interior Design ConceptsAirbus A350 XWB Cabin Design Concepts

Airbus A350 XWB Interior Design ConceptsAirbus A350 XWB Design Concepts

Airbus A350 XWB Interior Design ConceptsAirbus A350 XWB Cabin Design Concepts

Design Concept Images © Airbus

Boeing Celebrates the Premiere of the 787 Dreamliner

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Premiere Celebration Flight AttendantsBoeing 787 Dreamliner Premiere Rollout CelebrationBoeing 787 Dreamliner CelebrationBoeing 787 Dreamliner Premiere

Today, Boeing officially debuted the technologically advanced and environmentally progressive 787 Dreamliner in a celebration attended by employees, airline customers, supplier partners and government and community officials.
The 787 Dreamliner Premiere was broadcast live in nine different languages via satellite to more than 45 countries and webcast via www.boeing.com and www.newairplane.com. Distinguished journalist and best-selling author Tom Brokaw served as the master of ceremonies for the event.
Approximately 15,000 people attended the Premiere at the Everett, Wash., final assembly factory. More than 30,000 participated via two-way satellite into the event in Everett from Japan, Italy and locations in the United States. As many as 90 other locations around the globe involving 787 customers, partners and many Boeing employees also chose to download the event live or watch it pre-recorded and host their own viewing event.
In all, the 787 Premiere potentially reached 100 million or more viewers, making it one of the largest corporate TV and Internet broadcasts in history.
“This has been a wonderful and exciting day to celebrate this breakthrough airplane with our customers, employees, supplier partners and our communities,” said Scott Carson, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO. “We are gratified that the 787 has been so strongly validated in the marketplace by our customers. Their response is proof that the Dreamliner will bring real value to our airline customers, passengers and the global air transportation system.”
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the world’s first mostly composite commercial airplane, will use 20 percent less fuel per passenger than similarly sized airplanes, produce fewer carbon emissions, and will have quieter takeoffs and landings.
“Our journey began some six years ago when we knew we were on the cusp of delivering valuable technologies that would make an economic difference to our airline customers. In our business, that happens every 15 or so years, so we have to get it right,” said Mike Bair, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president/general manager of the 787 program. “I am so proud of the men and women of Boeing and of our partner employees in the 70 companies that have brought this airplane to the passengers of the world.”
Following the premiere, the first 787 Dreamliner will be completed in the Everett factory – including the installation of final systems elements, interiors and flight test equipment. First flight of the airplane is expected in late August or September. A total of six airplanes will be included in the flight test program, which will conclude in May 2008 with the certification of the airplane followed shortly by the first delivery of a 787 to ANA.
To date, 47 customers worldwide have ordered 677 airplanes worth more than $110 billion at current list prices, making the Dreamliner the most successful commercial airplane launch in history. The first 787 is scheduled to enter passenger service in May 2008.

Boeing Honors 7-Series Airplane Family with Special Show

As part of its 787 Premiere, Boeing honored its 7-Series family of airplanes with a special show featuring customers’ Boeing-produced airplanes today in Seattle.
The airplanes on display at Boeing Field included an Omega Air 707; AirTran Airways 717; FedEx 727; Alaska Airlines 737-800; Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 Flying Test Bed 747-200; Continental Airlines 757; Delta Air Lines 767; and Air France 777-300ER (Extended Range). In addition, the Boeing 747-400 Dreamlifter was on static display.
Each airplane – the 707 through the 777 – took off from Paine Field, adjacent to Boeing’s Everett, Wash., facility, and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle – in sequence of airplane model numbers matching to time, beginning with the 707 landing at 7:07 p.m. Pacific time. This special display was part of a Boeing-sponsored event held at The Museum of Flight as part of the weekend’s activities for the 787 Premiere.

7series-show.jpg

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Premiere

Tomorrow, Boeing will broadcast the Premiere of the 787 Dreamliner to viewers around the world. 787premiere.jpg

The 787 Premiere will be carried live and in nine different languages on Sunday, July 8, at 3:30 p.m. PDT or 10:30 p.m. GMT via satellite and Webcast. To view the Webcast, viewers may log on to www.boeing.com or www.newairplane.com.

Boeing will broadcast the Premiere to more than 45 countries using 35 satellite TV networks. Specific satellite channel or frequency information can be found on this website:
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/787family/787premiere.html

Time Zone Conversion for 787 rollout event scheduled for 3:30 p.m. PDT on July 8, 2007

  • Seattle Sunday 3:30PM
  • Tokyo Monday 7:30AM
  • Seoul Monday 7:30AM
  • Beijing Monday 6:30AM
  • Auckland Monday 10:30AM
  • Sydney Monday 8:30AM
  • Mumbai Monday 4:00AM
  • Berlin Monday 12:30AM
  • London Sunday 11:30PM
  • South Carolina Sunday 6:30PM
  • Wichita Sunday 5:30PM

In the meantime you can watch a special series of videos to celebrate the 7-Series family of airplanes – the Boeing 707, 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777 and 787. The videos, along with fact sheets on each airplane, are historical perspectives of the 7-Series of commercial airplanes, showcasing the wonder and glamour of flight since the 707’s debut in 1958. The watch the videos simply go to http://787premiere.newairplane.com/ and click on the button “the seven series”. On this website you can also find some videos explaining the 787 features.

Pic of the Day – Boeing 747 LCF Dreamlifter from Inside

This picture shows the Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) “Dreamlifter” from inside the cargo compartment. The cargo hold has a volume of 65,000 cubic feet (1,840 cubic meters). The Dreamlifter is a modified Boeing 747-400 used exclusively for transporting aircraft parts to Boeing from suppliers around the world.

Boeing 747 LCF Dreamlifter from inside

Three used passenger 747-400 aircraft were to be converted into an outsize configuration in order to ferry sub-assemblies from Japan and Italy to Charleston, South Carolina and then to Everett, Washington for final assembly. The Large Cargo Freighter has a bulging fuselage similar in concept to the Super Guppy and Airbus A300-600ST Beluga outsize cargo aircraft, which are also used for transporting wings and fuselage sections. It can hold three times the volume of a 747-400F freighter. The LCF is not a Boeing production model and will not be sold to any customers or see any airliner operation, and will be for Boeing’s exclusive use.
Boeing 747 LCF DreamlifterIn December 2006, Boeing announced the LCF would also be known as the Dreamlifter, a reference to the 787’s name, the Dreamliner. It unveiled a standard livery for the aircraft that included a Dreamlifter logo reminiscent of the 787’s Dreamliner logo.

The certification was to be in early 2007 however it has been pushed back to June 2007. The plane had its winglets removed after excess vibration and other handling characteristics need to be dealt with prior to final certification. In the meantime as part of the flight test program, LCF delivered major sections of the 787 Dreamliner from partner sites around the world to the Boeing factory in Everett, WA for final assembly.
The LCF is probably one of the ugliest planes ever built. Even the Boeing Commercial Airplanes president apologized to the designer of the 747 that he was “sorry for what we did to your plane.”
Photo Credit: Boeing

Video – 727 landing at Meigs Field

Did you ever try landing an airliner at Meigs Field in Microsoft Flight Simulator? Of course you did! Everyone did! 🙂
Well, I found this video at YouTube showing an United 727-100 landing right there in 1992.
It is used as exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry, which is located near Meigs Field.

As you might know, unfortunately Meigs Field was closed in 2003 in a controversial move by Chicago Mayor and turned into Northerly Island park. Read the whole story at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

http://friendsofmeigs.org/ is running a campaign for building the “Bessie Coleman Skypark” at former Meigs Field area. Featuring parkscape, Air Museum, educational facilities, airfield, event and activity options.

You can help to turn this great idea into reality!

There are 2 online petitions available for you to sign.

  • A general petition opposing the closure of Meigs Field and the way in which it was done is available here.
  • Another (newer) petition in support of the Parks and Planes proposal is available here.