Plane Nation

Boeing recently completed work on the first BBJ 3 (Boeing Business Jet). The BBJ 3 is a new, larger business jet based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737-900ER (Extended Range). The BBJ 3 has 1,120 square feet (104 square meters) of floor space, and provides 35 percent more interior space and 89 percent more luggage space than the BBJ 2. The BBJ 3’s range is between 5,435 nmi (10,066 km) and 4,725 nmi (8,751 km) depending on the number of passengers flown.

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Investigations have begun into an incident today involving a Qantas Airways Boeing 747-400 that was forced to make an emergency descent and diversion to Manila after a large section of its fuselage separated, resulting in a rapid decompression.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says it is dispatching a team of four investigators to the Philippine capital to assist local authorities with the probe into what it describes as “a serious incident”

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Qantas says the aircraft suffered “a hole in its fuselage”. Pictures released by the Manila International Airport Authority show a large gash several metres long on the right side of the aircraft just forward of the wing exposing part of the cargo hold.

The ATSB says: “At approximately 29,000ft (8,839m), the crew were forced to conduct an emergency descent after a section of the fuselage separated and resulted in a rapid decompression of the cabin.

Here is a picture of a Boeing 767 with blended winglets.

Bombardier today announced that its Board of Directors has granted approval for the launch of the CSeries family of aircraft, a new game-changing five abreast commercial airliner family, with the economics, performance, environmental and passenger-oriented improvements demanded by airline customers for the next quarter century. Entry into service is scheduled for 2013.

Launch customer, Lufthansa, a leading German airline, has signed a letter of interest (LOI) for up to 60 aircraft, including 30 options. The approximate list price of each aircraft is $46.7 million US. Additionally, discussions with a number of established airlines worldwide are progressing well.

Bombardier made the announcement today at the Farnborough International Airshow during a press conference at its CSeries pavilion hosted by Pierre Beaudoin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc.; Guy C. Hachey, President and Chief Operating Officer, Bombardier Aerospace and Gary R. Scott, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. Nico Buchholz, Senior Vice President, Corporate Fleet, Lufthansa attended the event as well as: David Moloney, Assistant Deputy Minister, Industry Canada; Raymond Bachand, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export, Government of Québec; Right Honourable Shaun Woodward MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; Arlene Foster MLA, Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment; and Steve Finger, President, Pratt & Whitney. Also in attendance were representatives from the Shenyang Municipal Government, AVIC I/SACC, Rockwell Collins, Parker Hannifin Corporation, and Liebherr Aerospace Toulouse SAS.

Boeing Wednesday increased its 20-year forecast for global commercial jetliner deliveries for the sector by 2.8%, forecasting that demand for fuel-efficient replacement aircraft will outweigh capacity reductions by U.S. carriers.

Encompassing all airline manufacturers in the sector, Boeing now expects a market for 29,400 new commercial airplanes (passenger and freighter) by 2027, up 2.8% from its previous estimate of 28,600. Boeing added that the forecast factors-in the sector’s near-term challenges, including a slowing global economy, surging fuel prices, slowing traffic growth in some markets, and a concerted action by airlines to lower costs.

Boeing added that single-aisle airplanes will make up the bulk of the sector’s deliveries during the next 20 years. Strong domestic and intra-regional air travel growth in emerging Asia-Pacific markets, along with continued growth of low-cost carriers worldwide, is driving demand in this segment, the company said. Orders from Asia will comprise 31% of the deliveries; North America, 29%; and Europe/Asia, 27%.

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Boeing had pegged Dreamliner No. 4 as a turning point for its delayed 787 jet program. But now the crucial program has been set back by a production problem on this fourth flight-test airplane.

A major mishap inside a Charleston, S.C., assembly plant last week structurally damaged the upper half, or crown section, of Dreamliner No. 4’s center fuselage, Boeing confirmed Monday, the day the fuselage was to have been in Everett.

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The horizontal stabiliser of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was successfully tested by a Finmeccanica company, Alenia Aeronatuica, early this month.

The destructive test was overseen by Boeing engineers, representatives of the US Federal Aviation Administration and members of the European Aviation Safety Agency, in Alenia’s Pomigliano plant in Naples.

Previous testing and assessment had revealed the horizontal stabiliser to fulfil minimum requirements, withstanding 150 percent of the maximum load it would ever encounter whilst air bound.

However, this still required destructive testing, which establishes exactly how much the stabiliser can endure prior to failing.

This procedure was the final testing requirement in the seven months of examination that has been undertaken by both Alenia and Boeing.

Chief Executive Tom Enders of European aircraft maker Airbus said Wednesday the company would look at producing a longer version of the A380 aircraft if a sufficient number of clients asked it to.

It’s “very encouraging” that our customers are asking for versions of the A380, indicating how they value the aircraft, said the CEO on the sidelines of a conference in Rome.

Air France-KLM’s CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta urged Airbus to build a longer version of its A380 superjumbo, according to an interview published this week by French business daily La Tribune.

“We would look at it if a sufficient number of customers are interested for different versions of the A380,” said Airbus’ CEO. The aircraft maker’s “hands are full for now,” he said.

Boeing and ANA celebrated the inaugural flight of the first 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighter this week, as well as completion of the airplane’s journey to Seattle on the airplane’s second flight. The home city of Boeing Commercial Airplanes will be the base for the 767-300BCF’s flight test and certification activities that will take place over the next few months.

After a first flight of just more than three hours April 9, the airplane departed for Seattle April 10, from the ST Aviation Services Co. (SASCO) facility at Paya Lebar airport in Singapore, where the conversion from a passenger jet to a freighter took place. The 50-tonne-capacity freighter flew nonstop to Seattle, completing the 14-hour, 51-minute flight at 10:13 a.m., the same day but 15 time zones away.

Boeing Flight Operations pilots stationed in Seattle will conduct the flight test program. Delivery and certification of the freighter are expected in June.

The airplane is painted in the livery of Japan-based ANA, the launch customer for the 767-300BCF, and the livery of ALLEX, a joint venture between ANA, Nippon Express and Kintestsu World Express./