News about the commercial aviation business

Boeing testing Dreamliner 787 in Iceland for crosswind landings

by Braniff on September 3, 2010

The new Dreamliner, Boeing 787, landed at Keflavík International Airport on September 1st in the morning for test flights in side wind. According to the airport’s information officer Fridthór Eydal, the airplane will be in Iceland for test flights for about a week.

Keflavík Airport is known for strong winds. Runways extend in all directions, so it is possible to conduct test landings in side wind no matter which direction the wind blows, Morgunbladid reports.

The flight to Iceland was the Dreamliner’s first real test flight outside the US. In December a Dreamliner airplane was supposed to be tested in Iceland in side winds but it wasn’t windy enough and so testing took place in Roswell, New Mexico.

Both Boeing and Airbus have used Keflavík Airport for testing before, including Boeing 777 and Airbus A380.

Airbus A380 Testing

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Boeing delays Dreamliner 787 again

by Braniff on August 27, 2010

Boeing has delayed the delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner once more. Boeing said today that it now expects delivery of the first 787 in the middle of the first quarter 2011.

The delivery date revision follows an assessment of the availability of an engine needed for the final phases of flight test this fall.

While Boeing works closely with Rolls-Royce to expedite engine availability, flight testing across the test fleet continues as planned.

Boeing said last month that the cumulative impact of a series of issues, including supplier workmanship issues related to the horizontal stabilizer and instrumentation delays, could push first delivery of the 787 a few weeks into 2011. The delay in engine availability has extended that estimate to mid-first quarter 2011.

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According to Bernstein Research the Airbus A350 first delivery likely delayed to 2014

August 23, 2010

Bernstein Research forecast that A350 deliveries will slip into 2014 and that Airbus will deliver only eight of the next-generation aircraft that year, flagging a significant slippage in the program.

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Boeing 787 Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine failed during testing

August 19, 2010

Rolls-Royce Group said a Trent 1000 engine built for Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner failed during testing and that a probe into the incident has begun.

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Korean Air delivers first Airbus A350 door to Eurocopter

August 14, 2010

Korean Air presented its first prototype of a cargo door for the Airbus A350 XWB to Eurocopter this week at Korean Air Aerospace Division’s Busan Plant, Eurocopter announced Friday.

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Workmanship and design Issues may delay the first delivery of the Boeing 747-8

August 14, 2010

Citing “a couple of workmanship issues, and a design issue or two,” Boeing CEO Jim McNerney planted another seed of doubt about the company’s chances of delivering the first 747-8 before year-end. In fact, McNerney said the 787 Dreamliner-from which Boeing has already exhausted most of its schedule margin for delivery this year-stood a better chance of meeting its 2010 delivery goal than did the 747-8.

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Lufthansa A380 engine shut down during flight

August 10, 2010

German airline Lufthansa said pilots on an Airbus A380 flying from Tokyo to Frankfurt shut down one of the superjumbo’s four engines as it neared its destination.

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FAA orders Boeing 747 fixes

August 10, 2010

Concerned about potentially hazardous takeoff problems affecting the Boeing 747-400, U.S. air-safety regulators have proposed mandatory fixes to ensure the jumbo jets will climb properly.

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Delivery of Boeing 787 Dreamliner pushed to early 2011

July 15, 2010

The first delivery of Boeing’s new 787 jetliner may slip into early 2011 because of inspections and instrument changes on the flight test aircraft, the head of the program said Thursday.

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