BigDUSA

CHICAGO – Boeing Co. says its new 787 is beginning the final phase of flight testing and repeated that it should be ready for delivery in August or September. The final flight testing includes simulations of abnormal operations. It also tests long-range flying, including the 787's ability to divert to a far-away airport on just one engine. Federal authorities have special rules for two-engine planes that fly more than an hour away from a suitable landing field. Generally, such flights are over water. The idea is to make sure the plane can make it to an airport if one engine shuts down. The testing will be done on a 787 with Rolls Royce engines. Separate tests will be done later on 787s with General Electric engines. QUOTE

Qatar CEO lashes out at Airbus, flicks at Boeing too Posted by Dominic Gates, Seattle Times At the last Paris Air Show in 2009, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al-Baker was upset with Boeing. This year, after Airbus announced a two-year delay at the weekend for its large A350-1000 jet, he has "big issues with Airbus." "Unfortunately, it seems they are still learning how to build airplanes," Al-Baker said in an interview Wednesday at the Air Show (my photo, right). He also characterized an explanation of the Airbus move put forward by the European plane-maker's sales chief John Leahy as "garbage." But despite his expression of intense dissatisfaction, Al-Baker is hardly abandoning Airbus. He will announce some more Airbus jet orders within the next two days. And he said he will buy more A380 superjumbo jets, of which he already has five on order. He said the Airbus slip is very good news for Boeing's rival 777 jet, of which he now may order more. But in the interview, he didn't let Boeing entirely off the hook. Qatar is the launch customer for the A350-1000, the largest of three versions of a new carbon-fiber composite airplane family, the one that will compete with Boeing's large twin-jet 777-300ER. On Saturday, Airbus pushed out first delivery to 2017 so it can enhance the design with higher thrust engines and changes to the wing. "I am disappointed in the delay, I am disappointed they will not have commonality among the three variants," Al-Baker said. "I want compensation. And the less information they give us, the bigger compensation they will have to give us." In addition, Al-Baker is not convinced that Airbus has got the planned revamp of the A350-1000 right and that it will outperform the Boeing jet. "It doesn't satisfy me, not at all," he said. "We need the plane to be better than the 777-300ER." Several airlines that have the plane on order, including another Gulf carrier Emirates, had been pushing Airbus to make the plane even larger and fly much further. In an interview Tuesday at the Air Show, Airbus sales chief John Leahy said that he chose not to give the revamped A350-1000 enough extra power to be ultra-long-range. "Whether I like it or not, I have to admit the 777-300ER has found a sweet spot in the market," Leahy said. "I want to sit right on top of that." Leahy's strategy then is to roughly match the 777-300ER's range and capacity, but to do that with 25 percent better fuel efficiency due to the new engines and composite airframe. But Al-Baker vehemently rejected Leahy's rationale and his performance promises. "That's garbage. That's just salesmanship," he said. "They said that about their other airplanes and it doesn't meet (expectations)." Boeing gains as Airbus slips One thing is clear about the Airbus delay, he said: it's a boost for Boeing. "It is good news for the 777," said Al-Baker, who on Tuesday at the Air Show revealed an order valued at just shy of $1 billion after standard discounts for another six 777-300ERs to add to the 15 already in his fleet and the 15 more pending delivery. "People who have ordered or want to order the A350-1000 will have to look at a different avenue," he added. "We were hoping the A350 family would be replacements for the 777. But ... I don't think that will happen in the near future. It is possible we would order more 777s to fill the gap." "In the long-range twin market," Al-Baker said, "Boeing has the edge over Airbus." Frank talk Al-Baker is a famously outspoken airline chief executive, prone to send strong public messages via the press. At the last Paris Air Show in 2009, he was unhappy with Boeing over negotiations to get compensation for the delays in the 787 program. He complained publicly that Boeing was "run by bean-counters and lawyers." Last month in Singapore, he caused an unprecedented public row at the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). He questioned IATA's financial transparency and complained of the selection process that led to an IATA board appointment for rival Gulf carrier CEO James Hogan of Etihad Airways. As Boeing knows from its experience with the 787 Dreamliner -- and specifically with Al-Baker -- airline chiefs do sometimes go public with complaints of delays, demand compensation, and threaten to switch to the other manufacturer. In the end, after Al-Baker threatened to cancel his order for 30 Dreamliners in 2009, whether through compensation or otherwise, Boeing kept him on board. "Boeing resolved the issues," he said on Tuesday. "The matter is solved." And Al-Baker said that not only will he have another order announcement for Airbus at the Air Show, but he intends to buy more of the Airbus giant flagship A380. He said he needs the superjumbo because it's the only available jet big enough for dense routes into airports where he has limited landing slots. Boeing doesn't get a pass And having let off steam against Airbus, Al-Baker didn't leave Boeing unchallenged at this Air Show. The big debate in Paris this year is over the future narrowbody jet strategy, with Airbus choosing to put new engines on its A320s and Boeing still wavering between re-engining and building an all-new small airplane. Al-Akbar was scathing about Boeing's lack of clarity. "Boeing has done a very big mistake by not coming up with a strong statement of what they are going to do with the narrowbodies," he said. If he were chief executive of Boeing, he said, he would go for the all-new jet immediately. "These things need leadership, decision making that is very bold," Al-Baker said. "They are pussy-footing about it." QUOTE

I just returned from a long road trip and all the hotel's and motel's I stayed at offer free wi-fi. Like you said. It's a cost of doing business and when all the competition offer something..........

What bad habit's are you referring to? At least I don't go around making up phony quotes.

So far Airbus is having a good year. Let's not forget. The more Airbus sells. The deeper the EU Taxpayer has to reach into his pocket to support Airbus. EU Taxpayer Airbus.

SYDNEY – Australia's flagship carrier Qantas said Wednesday it has reached a 95 million Australian dollars ($100 million) settlement with Rolls Royce over last year's mid-air disintegration of a superjumbo engine, which temporarily forced the grounding of its entire fleet of A380s. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the terms of the agreement are confidential, but said the settlement's profit and loss impact would amount to a 95 million Australian dollars ($100 million) boost for the Australian carrier. In November, a Rolls Royce engine on a Qantas A380 disintegrated shortly after takeoff from Singapore, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau's interim report on the A380 incident said a manufacturing defect in an oil pipe deep within one of the engines led to an oil leak, which sparked a fire. The fire caused a disintegration of one of the engine's giant turbine discs, sending pieces of it shooting through the plane's wing. QUOTE

Thanks for the heads up. I've a ton of miles on Delta. I want to use.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner launch customer All Nippon Airways Wednesday announced the schedule for 787 service validation flights. The flights, set for the week of July 4, will simulate service from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Osaka, Okayama and Hiroshima using Boeing’s second flight-test 787, which bears ANA’s livery. Boeing plans to deliver the first 787 to ANA in August or September. ANA plans to update its special 787 website with information and images. Read more aerospace news. Visit seattlepi.com’s home page for more Seattle news. QUOTE

Years ago I lived in a 40 sgm room and I installed a 23,000 btu AC and it worked well. I do like to keep a room cold. I took a look at Consumer Report's and they recommend LG for a large unit.

So few Rolls Royce Trent engines used on the A380 and so many problems.

So many problems with the Trent series of Rolls Royce engines. So few in service and yes it's a potential disaster.

Request a wheelchair meet you at the gate in BKK. You will go through immigration with no wait.

Where is Crazy Daves located?

Looks good for the price and how did it work out with the maid?

Great post.

Prostitutes are very good at telling you what they think you want to hear.

Personally when someone runs a financial con on me. I consider it malicious.

I agree 100% with MM on this. I've walked into so many bars and look at the guys sitting around. They look as if they haven't had a good time in years. So many with a sour look and the attitude to match. No wonder the BG IGNORE them. They look toxic. When I walk into a bar, I put on a little show. I smile, laugh and have a great attitude. I'm looking to have a good time and it shows.

I've spent many a late afternoon at this bar. Fun place to watch people go by. Sorry to see it gone.

Why buy when rent is so cheap? What's the rush to buy?

I've purchased perfume off of street vendors in Pattaya. My daughter who uses a lot of different perfumes. She thinks the knock offs are a great buy.

Why were the E. German border guards shooting people trying to escape E. Germany? I lived in Germany for three years and there were reports in the newspaper regularly on border shootings.

I remember when the first 747 entered service and a couple of airlines had a baby grand piano installed in business class. This didn't last long before they replaced the piano with seats. I wonder how long the "Duty Free Showcase" will last?

What is a Nexus One? Sent from my state of the art Sandy Bridge computer.

Investigators detail events in Qantas Airbus A380 engine explosion The failed Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine on the Qantas Airbus A380. (Australian Transport Safety Bureau) | Click picture for photo gallery. Australian investigators Wednesday disclosed the sequence of events that led to the explosion of a Qantas Airbus A380 shortly after takeoff on Nov. 4, 2010 from Singapore. The problem started with a manufacturing defect in an oil-feed pipe, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said in releasing an interim factual report. “That defect resulted in fatigue cracking in the pipe, so that oil sprayed into an engine cavity where it ignited because of the high air temperature.” The fire weakened the engine’s the intermediate pressure turbine disc, causing it to separate from its shaft, increase its rotation speed and break into several parts. Disc sections and other engine components then blew into areas of the aircraft, particularly its left wing. Investigators said they are looking at how the defects in the pipe could have been found before the incident and how the blowout affected the airplane and flight crew workload. They expect to release a final report in May 2012. The aircraft returned safely to Singapore with no injuries among its 459 occupants. It remains there awaiting repair. QUOTE