Airbus and Boeing products running behind schedule

[Samsonite 181]

 

The new 747-8F. Now that is an impressive aircraft.

(As opposed to the Flying Citroen )

Edited April 22, 2010 by Samsonite

[BigDUSA 71]

Boeing 787 undergoes extreme weather testing

 

 

Posted at 2:13 pm by Michelle Dunlop

Herald Writer

 

The Boeing Co. is putting its 787 Dreamliner through a series of extreme-weather tests in Florida as the company works toward certification later this year.

 

Boeing’s new 787 jet is in a hangar at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Elgin Air Force Base. Inside the hangar, the aircraft experiences heat as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit and as low as minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Sensors and monitors will allow the test team to determine if all systems hardware and software operate as expected.

 

Cold-weather testing is being conducted first, with preliminary hot-weather testing to follow. Additional extreme-weather testing will be conducted later in the flight test program.

 

“We have Dreamliner customers who will operate the 787 in a wide variety of environments throughout the world,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “This testing is about ensuring that the airplane meets the expectations of our customers.”

 

Boeing hopes to gain Federal Aviation Administration approval for its 787 later this year so that the aerospace company can deliver the first Dreamliner to Japan’s All Nippon Airways by year’s end, roughly two years behind schedule.

 

A crew of approximately 100 people traveled from Seattle to support the test operations on ZA003, the third 787 airplane to be built. The testing in Florida is expected to last nearly two weeks. Boeing’s second 787 to be built, ZA002, has been undergoing a variety of testing in Victorville, Calif., last month.

QUOTE

[BigDUSA 71]

Boeing’s 787 logs 500 hours of flight, gains additional FAA approval

 

 

Posted at 8:43 pm by Michelle Dunlop

Herald Writer

 

The Boeing Co.’s 787 jet has cleared another regulatory hurdle on its path to first delivery later this year, the company said Tuesday.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration has given Boeing expanded type inspection authorization, which allows FAA officials to accompany Boeing on 787 flights to collect flight-test data needed for certification.

 

The move “is another significant step toward delivering airplanes to our customers. We remain on track to deliver the first airplane to ANA this year," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, Commercial Airplanes.

 

Boeing’s 787 flight test airplanes have logged a total of 500 hours of flight since the first Dreamliner made its maiden flight Dec. 15, 2009. Boeing also said on Tuesday that it has finalized the aerodynamic configuration of the 787.

 

"We have completed sufficient testing to decide that no additional changes to the external lines or shape of the airplane are required," Fancher said. "Having an airplane match its expected performance with so few changes is rare and speaks to the maturity of the design."

 

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, which is more than two years behind schedule, has won 866 orders.

 

The Chicago-based company is set to report its first quarter earnings Wednesday.

QUOTE

[ozijeff 9]

Since we're way off topic,anybody fly the 777-200LR yet?Longest distance bird out there.

Delta is using it Atlanta-Narita.

 

Yep, on Singapore and Air Canada.

Flew on one from Sydney direct to Vancouver last year.

I like the configuration.

Perviously AirCan had to stop in Honolulu to fuel up on this route.

 

BTW in August I am flying on a Qantas A380 Melbourne to LA. Looking forward to it!

Edited April 24, 2010 by ozijeff

[TheFiend 1,181]

The new 747-8F. Now that is an impressive aircraft.

 

That is an ugly dinosaur!

[Samsonite 181]

That is an ugly dinosaur!

It doesn't take more than very little commonsense and some knowledge of basic accounting principles to know the B747 will be around long after the fly citroen is history.

[BigDUSA 71]

SEATTLE – Boeing Co. has asked the companies that make the large sections of its new 787 jetliner to hold back shipping the assemblies for two of the jets for about a month.

 

Boeing Commercial Airplanes spokeswoman Yvonne Leach said Tuesday that 787 final assembly is continuing at its Everett plant and that the temporary delay won't affect work under way. Boeing remains on track to deliver the first 787 to a customer late this year, she said.

 

Boeing relies on suppliers from around the world to build huge sections of the plane that are later assembled in Everett. Early on, that approach proved troublesome, with ill-fitting parts and other glitches hampering production of the initial jets. Boeing originally planned to deliver the first 787 in 2008.

 

Leach said some of the manufacturers are having difficulty getting components to finish their sections and some need to complete engineering and design changes Boeing wants. She declined to identify the companies.

 

Boeing asked the companies to hold back sending sections for the 23rd and 24th 787s to be assembled for 24 manufacturing days so they can complete the needed work at their sites. Boeing wants to avoid having to do any catch-up work itself that would hamper production at Everett.

 

"We don't want to be doing out-of-sequence work in final assembly," she said.

 

While there is some out-of-sequence work currently being done at Everett, it's manageable and "this impact would have been larger than we wanted to handle," she said.

 

Boeing built time into its 787 schedule in case of such delays, she said, and has plenty of work to do on 787s to fill any gap in the line.

 

Boeing has orders for 866 of the planes, from 57 customers. The plane first flew in December and extensive flight tests are under way.

 

Boeing shares fell $1.86 or 2.5 percent Tuesday to $72.48 amid a broad decline in U.S. stocks.

QUOTE

[wacmedia 277]

Leach said some of the manufacturers are having difficulty getting components to finish their sections and some need to complete engineering and design changes Boeing wants. She declined to identify the companies.

 

Boeing shares fell $1.86 or 2.5 percent Tuesday

 

Hi,

 

I think oh dear... is the only answer to that.

[Samsonite 181]

It doesn't change the schedule. Boeing has 22, 787s completed or in final assembly, not counting the two static test airframes, for a total of 24, so far. At the current pace they will have 34 flying aircraft completed by the time of the first delivery later this year.

There are 6 aircraft in the flight test program and 3 of those will be delivered to customers, so 31 aircraft will be available for delivery by the end of this year. They will be building at an initial rate of 2.5 a month from August this year on, and that will rise to 7 a month and eventually 10 a month. At the rate of 2.5 a month, they will, by the end of the first year following the first delivery, have completed and delivered at least 61 aircraft. How many a380s have been delivered in the 2 1/2 years since its first delivery? 26.

 

"Boeing halting 787 deliveries to Everett until June

By Jon Ostrower on April 27, 2010 5:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Boeing will hold shipments of fuselage section for Airplane 23 at supplier partners to allow them to catch up, pushing the start assembly to early June, company sources confirm.

 

The halt in deliveries to Everett will not cease production activities at Final Assembly, the aircraft currently on the line, numbers 19, 20, 21 and 22 will continue undergoing assembly.

 

Program sources tell FlightBlogger that the plan is to hold deliveries for up to 24 manufacturing days, beginning at the end of this month and stretching into June. A typical month contains 22 manufacturing days with a 5-day work week. The hold is expected to last a total of four weeks and four days.

 

787 production had been running at a two aircraft per month pace, accepting deliveries from Boeing Charleston and supply partners every 10 manufacturing days. Production was supposed to accelerate from two to two and a half aircraft per month beginning in August."

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightbl...ing-787-de.html

Edited April 28, 2010 by Samsonite

[CheshireTom 1,377]

There are 6 aircraft in the flight test program and 3 of those will be delivered to customers, so 31 aircraft will be available for delivery by the end of this year. They will be building at an initial rate of 2.5 a month from August this year on, and that will rise to 7 a month and eventually 10 a month. At the rate of 2.5 a month, they will, by the end of the first year following the first delivery, have completed and delivered at least 61 aircraft.

 

Scally,

 

You were making the same sort of predictions two years ago FFS.

[BigDUSA 71]

Scally,

 

You were making the same sort of predictions two years ago FFS.

 

That was then. Now the program is nearing the end of the beginning. Try and keep up.

[TheFiend 1,181]

How many a380s have been delivered in the 2 1/2 years since its first delivery? 26.

 

27 actually.... with another couple due to be delivered next month - including the first Lufthansa delivery.

[MrMango 668]

27 actually.... with another couple due to be delivered next month - including the first Lufthansa delivery.

OK that adds up to an average of 1 per month. at that rate how long will it take to complete the backlog?

 

Face it - The 380 is a joke - Almost nobody is buying it and it will never make money,

[CheshireTom 1,377]

That was then. Now the program is nearing the end of the beginning. Try and keep up.

 

Give us a shout when they deliver the first one and I'll say well done to them all.

[TheFiend 1,181]

OK that adds up to an average of 1 per month. at that rate how long will it take to complete the backlog?

 

Face it - The 380 is a joke - Almost nobody is buying it and it will never make money,

 

The 747-8 mega-dinosaur is a bigger joke - how many orders has that got???

[bigdelta 46]

Here's a joke for you EADS supporters (even w/o subsidies)LOL!:

 

Airbus chief does not rule out A350 delays-report.(now there's a newsflash)

 

FRANKFURT, April 18 (Reuters) - The chief executive of European planemaker Airbus (EAD.PA) said in an interview due to be published on April 19, that he could not exclude the possibility of deliveries of the A350 jetliner being delayed.

 

Talking to German weekly magazine Focus, Chief Executive Thomas Enders said that Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS, was stepping up all possible efforts to keep to the schedule, but "It is a hellish ride," he was quoted as saying.

 

The schedule envisages the first flight of the A350 XWB in 2012 and start of deliveries in 2013. It was drawn up in 2006 and had been ambitious at that time, Enders said.

 

The now positive development of A380 superjumbo deliveries after delays was freeing up engineering capacities, which could be used to the benefit of the A350s, Enders said.

 

EADS is still recovering from a multibillion-dollar blowout on its Airbus A400M military airlifter.

 

Enders declined to say whether Airbus had decided to compete with Boeing (BA.N) for a contract to build aerial tankers for the U.S. Air Force after its former partner Northrop Grumman (NOC.N) dropped out of bidding in March.

 

He did say Airbus would only compete if there was a chance of eventual success, but this depended on the materialisation of competent U.S. partners. (Reporting by Vera Eckert, Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Airbus chief does not rule out A350 delays-report.(now there's a newsflash)

 

Do you think that anyone seriously believes it won't?

[MrMango 668]

The 747-8 mega-dinosaur is a bigger joke - how many orders has that got???

Come on, put down the Kool-Aid. Defending the Airbust dinosaur by saying it is not quite as big as the 747 is stupid. One does not justify bad decisions by blaming other company’s bad decisions.

[Samsonite 181]

Give us a shout when they deliver the first one and I'll say well done to them all.

They are built and parked on the flight line waiting for certification by the FAA.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

They are built and parked on the flight line waiting for certification by the FAA.

 

I'm well aware of that. When they are certified and deliveries begin, give me a shout.

[TheFiend 1,181]

They are built and parked on the flight line waiting for certification by the FAA.

 

Just because they have 2 or 3 customer liveried planes sitting awaiting flight testing, it doesn't mean they are ready for delivery!

[Samsonite 181]

Just because they have 2 or 3 customer liveried planes sitting awaiting flight testing, it doesn't mean they are ready for delivery!

Eighteen actually, and 4 more in final assembly. There have been minor changes here and there, and there might be a few more as the flight test program continues, but for the most part they are done. The engines will be installed as they arrive from the manufacturer (GE or RR) and interior options, as picked by each buyer, will be done just prior to delivery.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Samsonite

[TheFiend 1,181]

Eighteen actually, and 4 more in final assembly. There have been minor changes here and there, and there might be a few more as the flight test program continues, but for the most part they are done. The engines will be installed as they arrive from the manufacturer (GE or RR) and interior options, as picked by each buyer, will be done just prior to delivery.

 

So the reality is that they are only part built

[jacko 8,814]

So the reality is that they are only part built

Either they are built or they are not......

Minus engines doesn't sound like an aircraft 'ready to go' to me.

[MrMango 668]

Either they are built or they are not......

Minus engines doesn't sound like an aircraft 'ready to go' to me.

I did not see in the posts where anybody said the 18 were "ready to go"

 

Do not put words in other posters mouths please