NewsCommercial
Landing gear tweak key to 747-8 future in passenger market
As of mid-June, Boeing had 51 747-8 aircraft in the order backlog. The company is building 18 freighters and passenger airliners a year combined. That means the assembly in Everett, Washington, is exhausted by early 2017, unless Boeing’s sales team can find new orders. “We need to sell a few more,” says Pat Shanahan, Boeing senior vice-president and general manager of airplane programs. Therein lies the challenge. The future of the venerable, four-engined jumbo – and, not least, the next Air Force One – depends on whether Boeing can sign up new customers. Adding more range – and weight – means the fate of the 747 program may come down to a singular engineering question: how much more load can be absorbed by the jumbo jet’s landing gear?
Link
Thai Airways Names New Acting President
The Thai Airways board has appointed Air Chief Marshal Siwakiat Jayema as acting president from July 1 as the country's military rulers reshuffle and restructure the loss-making carrier hit by months of political unrest. Siwakiat, also a board member, replaced Chokchai Panyayong, who had resigned from the acting post while maintaining his job as senior executive vice president in charge of corporate strategy and sustainable development, the airline told the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Friday. This month the airline said other board members, including former chairman Ampon Kittiampon, would step down.
Link
French Ministers Oppose Hotel Tax Increase
French ministers have attacked proposals to increase taxes on hotel stays and called for them to be scrapped as they could undermine plans to boost the tourism sector. France, whose economy came to a standstill in the first quarter, has made tourism one of its priorities. The sector accounts for more than 7 percent of the country's gross domestic product and employs two million people directly or indirectly. An amendment to France's draft budget this week raised maximum hotel taxes to EUR€8 (USD$11) from €1.50 previously in a bid to bring them more into line with other European cities including Berlin, Rome and Brussels.
Link
TUI, TUI Travel Revive Merger Plans
Europe's biggest tour operator TUI Travel and its majority owner TUI plan to merge in an all-share, nil-premium deal worth around GBP£4.4 billion (USD$7.49 billion) to cut costs and create the world's largest leisure tourism group. Investors have long expected such a tie-up since TUI Travel was created in 2007 from the merger of Britain's First Choice and the travel business of TUI, which now owns around 55 percent of the London-listed firm. The two companies last held merger talks in 2013 but a deal collapsed after TUI said an offer would not make sense given their share prices at the time.
Link
American Airlines continues to update aircraft livery
American Airlines Group is making progress on updating aircraft with its new livery. In a message to employees, American said it has repainted all of its Boeing 777 family of aircraft, and nearly half of its Boeing 737-800s. The project is expected to be finished in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Link
Southwest CEO: Dallas-Houston will still be tops from Love Field
Gary Kelly, the CEO of Southwest Airlines, said he expects flights to Houston will still be popular after the carrier expands destinations from Dallas Love Field. "I think Houston will still be the number one but we'll have, again, very nice new long-haul opportunities beyond the Wright Amendment states come October," Kelly said. After the amendment expires on Oct. 13, Southwest can fly nonstop routes to 48 states from the airport.
Link
JetBlue to debut service between NYC and Cape Cod, Mass.
JetBlue Airways announced the beginning of seasonal non-stop service between New York and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The service operates daily between New York and Hyannis, the gateway city to Cape Cod, through September 9. Flights depart John F. Kennedy International Airport at 11:59 a.m. and arrive at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis at 1:05 p.m. Flights from Hyannis depart at 1:45 p.m. and arrive in New York at 2:53 p.m.
Link
Boeing 747 reaches milestone of 1,500 aircraft produced
Boeing reached a milestone this week, delivering its 1,500th 747 since the aircraft started production in 1968. "It's the most recognizable aircraft produced today," says Eric Lindblad, vice president and general manager of the 747 program. "Fifteen-hundred 747s is a huge number, especially for an airplane this size."
Link
Air Astana: Boeing's 757 replacement near
Asia's Air Astana says it's talking with Boeing about purchasing a plane that's a successor to the 757 the company last built nearly 10 years ago, and that the manufacturer has indicated it plans to build a mid-sized replacement jet soon. "They made absolutely clear that this is now firming up and that they'll be making an announcement soon," said Air Astana President Peter Foster.
Link
Air Astana to delay 787 deliveries: CEO
Air Astana will defer the arrival of its first Boeing 787-8s for two years until 2019 amid concerns that the devaluation of the Kazakhstani tenge has dampened demand, chief executive Peter Foster says. The Almaty-based carrier had been due to receive the first of three 787s in 2017 but is now delaying them all to 2019. “We are slightly dancing around that one as there was a devaluation of the currency in February this year primarily driven by economic events in the region and the market did take a hit at that time as indeed did our balance sheet,” Foster said during a London media event.[url=
Link
Airbus said to be tapping Rolls-Royce for A330 engines
Airbus is preparing to announce it'll go with Rolls-Royce engines for its new A330, sources say, though the Airbus board will need to approve the deal. Airbus is said to be courting Delta Air Lines with the A330neo, as the revamped A330 is called.
Link
JetBlue looks to the future of inflight entertainment
JetBlue Airways is mulling a purely wireless cabin and flexible organic light emitting diode screens for its inflight entertainment system. "I do definitely see a future where streaming to devices instead of having the seat-back is there," noted company director of product development Jamie Perry.
LinkMilitary
Lockheed remains confident in F-35 ahead of international debut
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is finally poised to make its international debut, with an F-35B scheduled to fly in July at the Royal International Air Tattoo and the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. But while the events mark a milestone in the 13 years since Lockheed won the F-35 contract, the aircraft is still at least one year away from being ready for war. Meanwhile, questions linger about the state of the stealthy fighter’s advanced software, and the effect of constricting military budgets on its worldwide demand.
Link
US Navy funds additional X-47B development
Northrop Grumman has received an additional $63 million from the US Navy to carry out “post-demonstration” development of its X-47B carrier-based unmanned air vehicle. Announced on 26 June, the contract – dubbed Phase II – will see continued development of the test vehicle created under the navy’s unmanned combat air system – demonstration (UCAS-D) program. The newly-contracted work is expected to continue until March 2015.
LinkCorporate
Cessna clinches US approval for its high-speed Citation X+
Cessna has secured US certification for its Citation X+, which – with a verified maximum speed of Mach 0.935 – has simultaneously secured the mantle of the fastest civil aircraft in service. The Gulfstream G650 comes in close second, with a maximum speed of M0.925. The Citation X+ was launched in 2010 as an upgraded version of the then 14-year old Citation X. The latest model is powered by a pair of FADEC Rolls-Royce AE3007C2 turbofans – the latest version of the AE3007C that powers the Citation X.
Link
Aviation Quote
Never fly anything that doesn't have the paint worn off the rudder Pedals.
— Harry Bill
On This Date
---In 1901... At enormous personal risk, Herr Berson and Professor Süring of the Berliner Verein für Luftschiffahrt establish the first ratified altitude record for balloons. Their 8,510-cu. ft. balloon Preussen (Prussia) ascends to 35,435 feet.
---In 1908…A mysterious explosion occurred in the skies over Siberia. It has since been attributed to comet fragments.
---In 1910... The first airplane bombing tests are made as Glenn H. Curtiss drops dummy bombs from his own Curtiss biplane on the shape of a battleship marked by flagged buoys on Lake Keuka, New York.
---In 1911... The Curtiss A-1 seaplane is tested for the first time by Glenn Curtiss.
---In 1954…A SNCASO S.O. 4000 (prototype of the Sud Vautour fighter-bomber) becomes the first European aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in a shallow dive.
---In 1956…a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 and a Trans World Airlines Lockheed Super Constellation collide in mid-air over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA, killing all 128 passengers and crew aboard both airplanes in the deadliest air disaster in history at the time; the crash triggers sweeping changes in the regulations governing cross-country flight over the United States, which would include the creation of the Federal Aviation Agency.
---In 1967…The McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63 receives FAA Certification.
---In 1968…First flight of the Lockheed C-5A Galaxy.
---In 1977…US president Jimmy Carter cancels the B-1 Lancer program.
---In 1989…First flight of the Boeing 737-500.
---In 2010…Arrow Air ceases operations.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
Flying Quotes
When a flight is proceeding incredibly well, something was forgotten.
(Robert Livingston, "Flying The Aeronca")
Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral will be held on a sunny day.
(Layton A. Bennett, "Never fly the 'A' model of anything")
When a prang seems inevitable, endeavour to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slowly and gently as possible.
(Advice given to RAF pilots during W.W.II)
The Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.
(Attributed to Max Stanley, Northrop test pilot)
A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to its maximum.
(Jon McBride, astronaut)
If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible.
(Bob Hoover)
If an airplane is still in one piece, don't cheat on it; ride the bastard down.
(Ernest K. Gann, advice from the 'old pelican')
Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death I Shall Fear No Evil For I Am 80,000 Feet and Climbing.
(Sign over the entrance to the SR-71 operating location on Kadena)
You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.
(Paul F. Crickmore)
Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you.
(Richard Herman, Jr., "Firebreak")
There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.
(Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970)
The three best things in life are a good landing, a good orgasm, and a good bowel movement. The night carrier landing is one of the few opportunities in life where you get to experience all three at the same time.
(Anon)
"Now I know what a dog feels like watching TV."
(A DC-9 captain trainee attempting to check out on the 'glass cockpit' of a A-320)
Trivia
GENERAL TRIVIA
1. What is the primary reason to avoid operating an engine with excessive oil temperature (other engine parameters being normal?
2. Tropical depressions. Tropical storms and hurricanes are defined by their sustained wind speeds. A depression has a maximum of _____knots, a tropical storm has a maximum of _____knots and a hurricane has a minimum of _____knots.
3. Why are some pilots in the habit of applying full power at the instant of touchdown while attempting a full-stop landing?
4. Air Traffic controllers often use the expression “souls on board” when asking the number of people aboard an aircraft in distress. How did this expression originate?
5. What are the two weather conditions most likely to produce extreme turbulence?
6. What was the first airliner (not a seaplane) to have both hydraulically boosted controls and a flight engineer’s station?
7. Why do balloon pilots customarily carry champagne and cheese on their flights?
8. Which of the following aircraft has not been operated successfully from an aircraft carrier?
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady
North American F-86 Sabre
North American P-51 Mustang
9. A pilot planning a flight to Honolulu wants to minimize the length of the oceanic leg. He should take off from:
Alaska
California
Oregon
Washington
10. Most pilots have observed lightning strike a mountain top, so it would not be surprising to see lightning strike at or near the summit of Mount Everest? True or False.
11. The L in the LTIO-540 Lycoming engine indicates that it is the left engine on a twin with counter-rotating engines. True or False.
12. An airport with a precision or non-precision approach may be designated as an alternate airport if the forecast for the alternate at the estimated time of arrival is “600 and 2” or “800 and 2” respectively. True or False.
Queso wrote:Good video this morning! I can understand why the C-5 is a maintenance hog, the main gear are very complex in themselves. Never really thought much about the mains having their own steering, let alone fully rotating and angling the bogies in to stow them. What a mess!
