Boeing 787 Dreamliner - New First Delivery Date

Boeing today announced a new date for first delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The plane maker expects delivery of the first 787 in the third quarter of this year. The new delivery date reflects the impact of an in-flight electrical fire on ZA002 during testing and subsequently modifications to electrical power distribution panels in the flight test and production airplanes.

“This revised timeline for first delivery accommodates the work we believe remains to be done to complete testing and certification of the 787,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “We’ve also restored some margin in the schedule to allow for any additional time that may be needed to complete certification activities,” Fancher said.

The 787 program has been gradually returning individual airplanes to the flight test program. After receiving interim software and hardware improvements, four flight test airplanes have been subjected to extensive ground testing and a thorough review to ensure their readiness to return to flight. The remaining two airplanes will be returning to flight in the days ahead to bring the full flight test fleet back up to flight status.

Source: Boeing
Image: Boeing

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Chengdu J-20 Uses US Technology

British newspaper The Guardian is reporting today, that the Chinese stealth fighter Chengdu J-20 may be built using US technology. Balkan military officials said China may have gleaned knowledge from a US F-117 Nighthawk that was shot down over Serbia in 1999.
“At the time, our intelligence reports told of Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts of the plane from local farmers,” said Admiral Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia’s military chief of staff during the Kosovo war. “We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies and to reverse-engineer them.”
A senior Serbian military official confirmed that pieces of the wreckage were removed by souvenir collectors, and that some ended up “in the hands of foreign military attaches”.
Continue at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/23/china-stealth-fighter-us-technology

Related:
Video - Chengdu J-20 First Flight
Spotted: China’s Chengdu J-20 Stealth Fighter

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Rollout of 1000th Boeing 767

On Feb. 2, 2011 Boeing marked an important milestone in the company’s history. Boeing celebrated the rollout of the 1000th 767 airplane.

The 1,000th airplane is a 767-300ER (extended range) passenger model for ANA (All Nippon Airways) and was the final 767 to complete assembly on the current production line. Final production work already is underway on the 1,001 unit in a new, smaller bay that repositions the production line toward a leaner, more efficient operation.

Photo

Video

Boeing has offered the 767 as the platform for its NewGen Tanker if it wins the U.S. Air Force KC-X Tanker competition. A decision on the contract award is expected early this year.

The 767 family is settled in the 200- to 300-seat market. The 767 family includes three passenger models – the 767-200ER, 767-300ER and 767-400ER – and a medium-widebody freighter, which is based on the 767-300ER fuselage.

Source: Boeing
Photo&Video: Boeing

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Iran Air Boeing 727 Crashed in Northern Iran (Video)

An Iran Air Boeing 727-286 (EP-IRP) crashed yesterday evening near Urmia (Orumiyeh) Airport (OMH), Iran, killing at least 77 souls on-board.
Flight IR277 was bound from Tehran-Mehrabad Airport (THR) to Urmia. The 36 year old plane crashed during an emergency landing in heavy snow storm after the pilots reported technical problems.

Video

Ongoing international sanctions on the country are blamed for the recent history of deadly aviation accidents. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 still prohibits international supply of aircraft, strongly needed aircraft parts as well as “related material” to Iran.

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Flightstory With New Website

You might have noticed that since last week nothing new has been posted here anymore. It’s because I was getting ready the all new Flightstory website!

I’m happy to announce that as of today the Flightstory Aviation Blog has moved to http://www.flightstory.net/! Many new features are waiting for you!
It’s important to note that this blog will remain online and used as archive. New content will solely be posted on the new website!

… So what do you have to do?

If you’ve subscribed to the RSS feed, you need to update the RSS feed address in your feed reader to: http://www.flightstory.net/feed
If you’re using Feedburner, you don’t need to chance anything since Feedburner has already been updated to use the new address.

… Why the new website?

First of all the new website is more modern, has a more friendly design and most important loads incredibly faster than the old one!

It now has full integration with Facebook and Twitter - so if you like, we can become friends!
Links: Facebook page | Twitter page

The category structure and page layout has been changed and new user functions implemented - like comment rating, new more modern comment form and related postings.

Participation has been enhanced as well:

You can submit stories, news and anecdotes or links using a new and better submit form - Link: Submit formPhotos and videos can be submitted as well - even works from any mobile phone! - Link: Submit formIf you’re on Flickr, you can add your photos to the Flightstory photo pool - Every week we’ll pick one entry that will be honored as “Photo of the Week” - Link: Flickr photo contestYou want us to review your products and services or want us to publish your press release, company news or dedicated article you can easily get in touch as well - Link: Contact form

We hope you like the new website! Please feel free to make suggestions and report errors. Any feedback is welcome!

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Dangerous Laser Pointer Events in 2010

Dangerous laser pointer attacks on airplanes may be more common than you think. The FAA today published a list of laser pointer events on aircraft that have been reported in 2010. The list, that only includes incidents within the US, records the huge number of more than 2800 events only last year! This is the highest number of laser events recorded since the FAA began keeping track in 2005.

Los Angeles International Airport recorded the highest number of laser events in the US for an individual airport in 2010, with 102 reports, and the greater Los Angeles area tallied nearly twice that number, with 201 reports. Chicago O’Hare International Airport was a close second, with 98 reports, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport tied for the third highest number of laser events for the year with 80 each.

“This is a serious safety issue,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Lasers can distract and harm pilots who are working to get passengers safely to their destinations.”
Nationwide, laser event reports have steadily increased since the FAA created a formal reporting system in 2005 to collect information from pilots. Reports rose from nearly 300 in 2005 to 1,527 in 2009 and 2,836 in 2010.

“The FAA is actively warning people not to point high-powered lasers at aircraft because they can damage a pilot’s eyes or cause temporary blindness,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “We continue to ask pilots to immediately report laser events to air traffic controllers so we can contact local law enforcement officials.”
Some cities and states have laws making it illegal to shine lasers at aircraft and, in many cases, people can face federal charges.
The increase in reports is likely due to a number of factors, including the availability of inexpensive laser devices on the Internet; higher power levels that enable lasers to hit aircraft at higher altitudes; increased pilot reporting of laser strikes; and the introduction of green lasers, which are more easily seen than red lasers.

Top 20 US laser event reports by airport in 2010

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)–102Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)–98Phoenix/Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)–80San Jose International Airport (SJC)–80McCarran International Airport (LAS)–72Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) –66Oakland International Airport (OAK)–55Honolulu International Airport (HNL)–47San Francisco International Airport (SFO)–39Denver International Airport (DEN)–38Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)–38Tucson International Airport (TUS)–37Miami International Airport (MIA)–36Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)–36Portland International Airport (PDX)–32LA/Ontario International Airport (ONT)–32Bob Hope Airport (BUR)–31Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI)–31John Wayne Airport (SNA)–31 Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)–26

Source: FAA
Images: FAA

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Boeing Wins USAF Tanker Deal

The Pentagon recently announced, that Boeing has won the $35 billion USAF tanker contract. The contract means Boeing will initially build 179 of its 767-based KC-46A tankers to replace the Air Force KC-135 tankers.
Boeing must design, develop, manufacture and deliver the first 18 combat-ready airplanes by 2017. The first tanker is scheduled to fly in 2015.

The contest was not just about the better plane but also about monopoly and immense lobbying - Boeing spent more than $17.8 million on lobbying, just in 2010.
In 2008 U.S. Air Force already selected the competing KC-45 Tanker offered by EADS/Northrop Grumman but the selection was revised later after protests filed by Boeing.

EADS has three days to ask for a debriefing as to why exactly it lost. That debriefing must take place within five days, after which EADS has another five days to decide if it wants to formally protest the decision.

EADS North America officials expressed disappointment and concern over the announcement that the US had selected a “high-risk, concept aircraft over the proven, more capable KC-45 tanker”.

“This is certainly a disappointing turn of events, and we look forward to discussing with the Air Force how it arrived at this conclusion,” said EADS North America Chairman Ralph D. Crosby, Jr. “For seven years our goal has been to provide the greatest capability to our men and women in uniform, and to create American jobs by building the KC-45 here in the U.S. We remain committed to those objectives.”

If selected, EADS North America had committed to build the KC-45 at a new production facility in Mobile, Alabama, with a U.S. supplier base of nearly a thousand American companies.

“With a program of such complexity, our review of today’s decision will take some time,” Crosby said. “There are more than 48,000 Americans who are eager to build the KC-45 here in the U.S., and we owe it to them to conduct a thorough analysis.”

Sources: Boeing, Airbus
Image: Boeing

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