First Time Since 2000, Boeing Tops Airbus Orders

The International Herald Tribute reported recently that “Boeing tops Airbus in orders for first time since 2000″, and the delayed A380 program will be a huge loss financially to the company reports for 2006.

Airbus said Wednesday it won orders for 824 airliners in 2006, falling behind Boeing, which won 1,050, for the first time since 2000.

The European aircraft maker delivered 434 planes during the year - 36 more than its U.S.-based rival - to remain the No. 1 commercial jet maker for the fourth straight year.

Airbus’s parent company, European Aeronautic Defence & Space, also said Wednesday that the plane maker will post a loss before interest and taxes in 2006 because of charges related to its delayed A380 program and restructuring.

Major technical delays and supply problems have plagued the highly acclaimed A380 Airbus plane, delaying the project by more than two years. Airbus is playing catchup, technically and financially, to keep up with the complaints and backlog.

 

New Space Rocket Engine With Methane Oxygen

In XCOR’s Methane/LOX Engine Tests Go “Incredibly Well”, a new innovative rocket engine, the 5M15, has been successfully tested using methane-oxygen, a combination targeted towards exploration of Mars.

The 7,500 lbf engine is the first of its kind, as methane-oxygen (a fuel-oxidizer combination superior to those currently in use today) has long been ignored by large aerospace companies and NASA as having too much “technology risk.” The engine is the result of a contract that XCOR has with Alliant Techsystems (ATK). Currently, the engine is a workhorse prototype, and does not have any cooling mechanism. However, XCOR has plans to construct a regeneratively cooled engine during this year.

 

A380 Wiring Glitch Fixed

BBC News reported recently that Airbus has resolved it’s A380 wiring glitch:

Airbus has fixed electrical problems related to its A380 superjumbo, which have led to major delivery delays for the planemaker.

The group said the news meant it had “passed a major milestone” for the plane’s production.

Deliveries to Singapore Airlines, its launch customer, were now on track to arrive in October, it said.

Problems with the A380 have left Airbus two years behind with deliveries, hitting shares at parent company EADS.

For more information on what is causing the delays in Airbus’ new supersized airplane, see this report by the BBC.

 

Cell Phones on Planes: Coming to a Plane Near You?

The International Herald Tribune reports cellphones on airplanes are almost a reality.

Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, installed satellite-based technology enabling voice calls and text messaging on one of its Boeing 777 jets late last year and expects to begin offering the service to passengers on a yet-to-be announced international route early next month. The service has already obtained approval from air safety and telecommunications regulators in 25 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, covering about 30 different routes that Emirates flies. The carrier expects to outfit its entire fleet with the technology within a couple of years.

A half-dozen other airlines, including Air France-KLM, Ryanair and Qantas, are due to offer similar services in Europe and Australia later this year. Travelers in North America, meanwhile, will have to await the conclusion of ongoing reviews of the technology by both the Federal Communication Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration.

It has long been known within the industry, though fought off by the FAA, that cell phones have not been proven to interfere with a airplanes functions or systems, which is why so much excitement was initially expressed during the development of the WIFI Internet program on airplanes which Boeing recently squashed for economic reasons.

According to the article, AeroMobile, the British company providing the cellular technology to Emirates and Qantas, will allow any GSM cell phone to work on their system if the passenger’s phone plan includes international roaming. The initial rates are expected to be USD $3 to $3.50 per minute with the airlines, AeroMobile, and your service plan all splitting the fee.

There are some restrictions, technically, to this new cell phone system. AeroMobile and OnAir report that the cabin crew ill have the ability to switch on and off cell phone activity during the flight, which may include night time flights, allowing passengers to sleep if they desire rather than be disturbed. Aircraft base stations will only be able to handle a maximum of five or six voice calls at a time, with others placed in a queue until a line opens up, similar to the current seat-back phones. Dependent upon how many base stations the plane has, this will limit the number of calls made at any one time.

Still, with these restrictions, which may be temporary as the technology develops, it will be interesting to see how it will work with 40-300 people sitting next to each other in a confined space while a few people chat away on their phones at the top of their lungs. I’m sure we’ll hear a volume of complaints very soon.

 

Bulgaria Aircraft May Lose Landing Rights In Europe

According to an article by Areo-News, Bulgarian Antonov aircraft will be soon banned from landing throughout Europe:

Bulgaria is in danger of losing European landing rights for almost a third of the aircraft in its fleet. The European Union will ban any Antonov aircraft from landing on the continent because of that make’s high accident rate and generally poor safety record…

The European Safety Aviation Agency, together with the Joint Aviation Authority discovered substantial lapses in aviation safety for Bulgarian commercial aircraft. The report said that Bulgaria needed to take immediate corrective steps regarding aircraft airworthiness, maintenance, operations and flight crew licensing.

 

Boeing Phantom Works - Is This the Future of Commerical Aviation?

Boeing’s Phantom Works has revealed the possible future of commercial aircraft. The blended wing aircraft looks more like a B-2 bomber than a traditional commercial jetliner.

There is a lot of speculation about this new aircraft. New Tech Spy claims:

Boeing is preparing a 1000 passenger jet that could reshape the Air travel industry for the next 100 years. The radical Blended Wing design has been developed by Boeing in cooperation with the NASA Langley Research Center. The mammoth plane will have a wing span of 265 feet compared to the 747’s 211 feet, and is designed to fit within the newly created terminals used for the 555 seat Airbus A380, which is 262 feet wide. The new 797 is in direct response to the Airbus A380 which has racked up 159 orders, but has not yet flown any passengers…There are several big advantages to the blended wing design, the most important being the lift to drag ratio which is expected to increase by an amazing 50%, with overall weight reduced by 25%, making it an estimated 33% more efficient than the A380, and making Airbus’s $13 billion dollar investment look pretty shaky.

 

Boeing 787 - Upgrades to Lightning Protection and Defense

The Seattle Times has been running a series called “Building the 787″ and recently an article on “When Lightning Strikes” caught my attention.

The article outlines the new technologies and improvements Boeing is making in the 787 involving lightning strikes. While new protection systems prevent many problems associated with lightning strikes, the articles states no airline crash has been caused by lightning in more than 40 years, an amazing accomplishment since Boeing estimates “that every commercial airplane is hit by lightning on average about twice a year.”

Boeing engineers designing the 787 face new challenges, since they are building the first commercial airframe made entirely from carbon fiber-based plastic.

The composite airframe will not readily conduct lightning away, as traditional metal ones do.

That means Boeing will have to do more to prevent lightning from damaging the planes, said Ed Rupke, senior engineer with respected consulting firm Lightning Technologies of Pittsfield, Mass.

An airplane often actually triggers a lightning bolt to the nose, the leading edges, the tail or the wings as it flies through an electrically charged cloud. The main danger airplane designers must guard against is sparking inside the wings, which serve as the jet’s main fuel tanks.

Most of the time, after a flash and a bang, lightning damage is minimal, and airplanes fly on to their destinations.

With the new 787 constructed on a plastic airframe with composites, lightning protection becomes a major concern.

After a decade of serious accidents internationally from lightning strikes on aircraft, the FAA increased safety requirements and protection systems in the early 1980s.

What caught my attention the most was the interesting “multilayered approach to lightning protection of the 787 fuel tank” that Boeing is taking. Here are excerpts from the article:

• The initial lightning strike must be dispersed quickly around the airframe to prevent concentrated damage.
• The airplane’s electronic flight instruments must be shielded from disruption by the intense electromagnetic field.
• A slight gap between a wing-skin fastener and the hole it goes into could be a source of sparking as current jumps the gap. Boeing will install each fastener precisely and seal it on the inside to ensure a snug, spark-free fit.
• Any gap inside the wings where the wing skin meets internal structural spars could cause a spraying out of electrons in a lightning strike — a phenomenon called “edge glow.” Boeing will seal the edges with nonconducting goop or glass fiber.
• Boeing will install a nitrogen-generating system (NGS) that reduces flammable vapor in the wing tanks by filling the space above the fuel with inert gas, as a backup in case other methods fail.

 

Boeing Crawlers - Moving 777 Production Assembly Lines

The Seattle Times reports on a new “aircraft crawler” developed by Boeing and Nova-Tech Engineering of Lynnwood, Washington, to turn the 777 production line in Everett, Washington, into a form of “moving assembly line”. The old method used cranes to lift the fuselage sections into a fixed structure where all the parts and pieces were installed, and then the crane would move the section to the next phase, a dramatic and hazardous routine. The new crawler will replace the crane and the fixed structure, becoming an assembly line.

They are highly maneuverable, capable of rotating aircraft sections full circle and can expand or contract to fit the different fuselage lengths of various 777 models…

…The fuselage sections will sit in two cradles atop the crawlers, and mechanics standing on attached work platforms will install the systems as they move forward at a rate of 1.8 inches per minute, following a white line on the factory floor…

…Starting sometime in 2007, the crawlers — this time moving at a rate of 10 feet per minute — will also transfer completed fuselage sections from systems installation over to the tooling where the aircraft sections are finally joined together.

This technique will allow Boeing to move heavier aircraft section pieces as the crane has weight limitations. These new crawlers are expected to drop the “work-flow days” from the current 20 days, eventually down to 12.

 

Squished Seating Sadness

It seems that Boeing blogger, Randy Baseler, recently stirred up a fuss over his post on Width is Which, about the issue of seat spacing in aircraft. So much so that he had to post a response to all the ruckus.

Airplane interiors - now that’s a topic that really gets people squirming in their seats!

The blog we did a couple of weeks back about the so-called “7 inch” difference between the A320 and the 737 turned out to be one of the more controversial topics we’ve done.

Some people took it quite personally. We’ve now posted your thoughts on the subject in our comments section.

Yes, Randy, people get really uptight about being crammed into airline seats like cattle, especially when food and drinks now come at a premium, and airline travel is becoming more hassle than fun.

But the fact of the matter is, as Randy explains, that seat spacing has little or nothing to do with the aircraft manufacturers and more with the customer’s interior configurations.

To point out the fact that when Airbus talks about “7 inches,” that dimension is on the outside of the A320. And that an outside measurement has little to do with interior comfort.

Yes, the A320 is a wider fuselage. And on the inside, at seat bottom, or knee level, that equates to about 5.8 inches wider - or less than an inch per passenger in six abreast economy class.

There is more to the issue of seat spacing. I’ve worked on many airplanes, new and old, and each airline has their own interior configuration and customization. Some like it tight, some like it spacious. Some want to cram in as many seats as possible, while others want their passengers to have a little more leg and shoulder room. Some want a large business section with more space and others want the whole plane to be a cattle truck. It depends upon the airline and what their specifications are, not necessarily the aircraft itself.

If you are worried, check with the aircraft specifications for each airline before you buy your tickets.

Still, as tall as I am, I long to be able to sit in an airplane and not have my knees jammed against the seat in front of me, pushing me backwards, crushing my spine into my seat.

 

Airplane Deaths Down, Accidents Up

“Accidents Up and Fatalities Down” reports The Airline Hub via Yahoo News.

Accidents in the United States involving commercial airlines and private aircraft rose last year, but fatalities declined, according to safety figures released on Friday.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is responsible for investigating transportation accidents, said in its annual review that civil aviation accidents rose to 1,779 last year from 1,717 in 2004…Fatalities fell to 600 last year from 636 in 2004.

Virtually all of the accidents and deaths occurred in general aviation crashes, those involving small planes. The fatal accident rate and the fatality rate both increased for that group of aircraft.