Month: March 2009

20 Bombardier CSeries Aircraft Ordered by LCI

Bombardier Aerospace announced on Monday that Lease Corporation International Aviation Limited has signed a firm purchase agreement for three CS100 and 17 CS300 jetliners. The purchaser, which also took options on a further 20 CSeries aircraft, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lease Corporation International Limited (LCI). LCI is a privately owned aircraft leasing company that owns and leases planes to major airlines. LCI customers to date include Air France, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, British Airways, Finnair, GOL, Hainan Airlines, Hongkong Express, Iberia, Kingfisher Airlines, Oman Air, SAS, Shanghai Airlines, Shenzen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, TAP Portugal, Thomas Cook and Virgin Atlantic.

LCI Bombardier CS300

The 110-seat and 130-seat CSeries family of aircraft brings fourth-generation aerodynamics; increased use of composites and advanced aluminium alloys in structures; the very latest in system technologies, such as fly-by-wire, electric brakes, and a next-generation engine – the Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1000G engine. PurePower represents a significant breakthrough in turbofan technology, especially on the environmental front where it will set new benchmarks from dramatically reduced fuel burn, noise, and emissions.

Source: Bombardier
Image: Bombardier

Finnair receives its first A330-300

Finnair has taken delivery of its first Airbus A330-300. The new aircraft is the first of eight A330-300s ordered by Finnair for the development of its medium and long haul operation. Powered by General Electric CF6-80E1 engines, the carrier’s new A330 can seat 271 passengers in a two-class cabin (229 seats in Economy and 42 in Business Class).

Finnair Airbus A330-300

With the brand new Airbus A330-300, the Finnair fleet now includes 35 Airbus aircraft: 11 A319s, 12 A320s, six A321s, five A340s and the first A330. Finnair was also the first airline to order the Airbus A350 XWB, signing for 11 aircraft with first delivery in 2014.

Source: Airbus
Photo: Airbus

Photos – Boeing Prepares for 787 Flight Test

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Flight Test PreparationMatt Cawby over at http://kpae.blogspot.com is reporting that Boeing starts preparation for the 787 flight test. A instrumentation van and a wideband telemetry antenna was put in place at the runway.

Photos:
http://paineairport.com/kpae1858.htm
http://paineairport.com/kpae1857.htm

Last week the final of 6 Boeing 787 Dreamliner designated for flight test entered final assembly and the first flight test airplane, ZA001, got its paint job done. – Related: Boeing 787 Dreamliner for Flight Test Enters Final Assembly

Embraer: Phenom 100 Delivered to Pakistan Air Force & Super Tucano Ordered by Ecuadorian Air Force

Phenom 100 Delivered to Pakistan Air Force

Embraer delivered the first Phenom 100 jet to Pakistan’s Air Force. The Pakistan government has acquired four of this aircraft model, which will be used to transport government officials of that country.

Pakistan Air Force Embraer Phenom 100

This is the first Embraer aircraft delivered to a customer in Pakistan, and it is also the first Phenom 100 to be operated by a government. The country’s Air Force chose this model after carrying out a detailed analysis of such aspects as performance, comfort, technology, acquisition price, and operating costs, among others.

The Phenom 100 jet can accommodate up to eight occupants. Its range of 1,178 nautical miles (2,182 km), including NBAA IFR fuel reserves, means the aircraft is capable of flying nonstop from Islamabad (Pakistan) to Karachi (Pakistan) or Katmandu (Nepal), from New York to Miami, in the U.S., or from London to Rome, in Europe.

Super Tucano Ordered by Ecuadorian Air Force

Embraer confirms signing the Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) for the sale of 24 Super Tucano turboprop aircraft, through a contract that was finalized last year. The tandem seat airplanes will be used on border patrol missions and for pilot training. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2009.

Ecuador Air Force Embraer Super Tucano

The deal with FAE includes an extensive Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) package and an advanced Training and Operation Support System (TOSS), covering not only the aircraft, but also ground support stations and a flight simulator.

This is the fourth export contract signed by Embraer to supply Super Tucano aircraft to a Latin American air force. In August 2008, the Company announced a contract with the Chilean Air Force (FACh) for the sale of 12 aircraft, and at the beginning of 2009 it
confirmed the sale of eight planes to the Dominican Republic Air Force. The Super Tucano currently operates in the air forces of Brazil and Colombia, successfully carrying out border patrol and other missions.

Source: Embraer
Photos: Embraer

Video – FedEx MD-11F Crashed in Tokyo-Narita

Today a FedEx McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N526FE) – flight 80 – crashed during landing in Tokyo-Narita (NRT) (Japan) killing the 2 pilots on board.

The plane bound from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) (China) to Tokyo-Narita Airport (NRT) (Japan) landed in high winds on runway 16R/34L The airplane bounced on first touchdown, then dropped from 50-100 ft onto the nosewheel, the plane then rapidly banked to the left. The left wing touched the ground and burst into flames. The MD-11 rolled further onto its back and slid off the runway.

The crash was captured by a CCTV airport security camera.

Videos:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7958392.stm

Photos: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/22/japan.planecrash/index.html#cnnSTCPhoto
Gallery with 50 photos

Pilatus PC-12 Crashed in Montana

Yesterday afternoon a Pilatus PC-12/45 (N128CM) crashed in Butte (KBTM), Montana (USA) killing all 14 persons on board – mostly children.

The single-engine turboprop plane carrying children on a school ski trip nose-dived into a cemetery and burst into flames. The aircraft was believed to have been suffering technical difficulties and had diverted from its original flight path to Butte, but crashed prior to arrival.

Video:

News story & pictures: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/03/23/montana.plane.crash/

Northwest Retro Uniform Week

Northwest Airlines Retro HatApril 1st will mark the first day all Northwest Airlines staff has to wear the new Delta uniform. To remember the great history of Northwest, during the next week March 23 – 29 flight attendants are asked to participate in the retro uniform week to wear their vintage uniforms from the 80s or maybe even the 70s.

Unfortunately we’ll see those vintage uniforms on flights within the United States only. Wearing retro uniforms on international flights is prohibited by Northwest because of international security restrictions.

So, if you’re flying Northwest Airlines within the US over the coming week, keep your eyes peeled for the flight attendants and maybe share some photos. 🙂

Curious what uniforms you can expect to see? Check out http://www.uniformfreak.com/1northwest.html

Boeing 787 Dreamliner for Flight Test Enters Final Assembly

The 6th and final Boeing 787 Dreamliner designated for flight test is now undergoing final assembly in Everett, Washington. The airplane, designated ZA006, will be powered with General Electric GEnx engines.
The first flight test airplane, ZA001, is getting its paint touched up this week before finishing factory testing. Power was brought onto the second airplane, ZA002, in late February and build verification tests are progressing well. Production work continues on ZA003, ZA004 and ZA005. In all, assemblies for 31 Dreamliners are currently in production throughout the supply chain.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA006 Final Assembly (designated for flight test)

Source: Boeing
Photo: Boeing

Video – “Flying Car” Takes First Flight

The “roadable aircraft” called “Transition” successfully did its first flight earlier this month. The light plane built by a company called Terrafugia Inc., is designed to change configurations, enabling it to operate as a traditional vehicle on public roads. The plane can carry two people plus luggage and will operate within a range of 100 to 500 miles (800 km), on a single tank of premium unleaded gas.

Related: Video – “Roadable Aircraft” to be built