Plane Nation

An interesting story and a follow on to a similar piece before can be read
here. Apprently, this aircraft was seen by Edward Horgan at Shannon
airport on Sunday afternoon at 2.30 pm. It took off about two hours later.
Its previous stopping points include, Guantanamo, Baghdad, Kabul,
Shannon and many of the usual suspect airports. The “CIA” Boeing 737
is apparently flying secret prisoners around Asia and Europe. The plane,
tail number N368CE, is registered to a “shadowy” company called
Premier Aircraft Management and incorporated in North Las Vegas,
Nevada, has been sighted in Frankfurt, Germany, Luxembourg, Baghdad,
and Kabul in

General Electric has finalized the architectural design for the GEnx engine that will power Boeing’s recently launched 747-8 Intercontinental and freighter aircraft. The completion of this milestone, referred to as “Tollgate 6″ in GE’s New Product Introduction nomenclature, begins the detailed design phase of the engine, which is the sole powerplant for the new Boeing 747-8 aircraft.

YDNEY (AFX) - Air New Zealand Ltd said has become the launch customer for the new Boeing 787-9 aircraft, modifying its previous order with Boeing Co for 4
of the original model 787-8, with the newer airframes carrying a list price of 183 mln usd each. Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe said the first of the new
’Dreamliner’ aircraft will enter service in December 2010. He said the range and seat capacity of the 787-9 is greater than that of the 787-8 model and this will
provide Air New Zealand with new capabilities for its long haul international operations. The 787-9 will have a range of some 13,000 km with 280 seat capacity

Airbus is working on a dramatic redesign of its planned A350 long-range
widebody twin that is aimed at an all-new aircraft family capable of
leapfrogging the rival Boeing 787 as well as the 777, Flight International
reveals in this week’s issue.Airbus went back to the drawing board on
the A350 after vocal criticism from key customers such as International
Lease Finance, and is expected to reveal details of the initiative in
July.The new family is expected to comprise three versions, the A350-
800, -900 and -1000. Key design changes from the earlier A350 include a
wider fuselage cross-section, larger all-composite wing, higher Mach 0.85
cruise speed and more powerful engines in the

Europe’s completion specialists are gearing up for what they believe will
be a growing market for VIP conversions of next-generation commercial
airliners, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787. Jet Aviation is
building a new hangar at its Basle completion and maintenance facility
capable of handling the A380 and Boeing 747. The Swiss company
expects a market of around 10 A380 corporate conversions over the next
10-15 years. “It depends on the economic situation,” says chief executive
Heinz Kohli, “because much of the potential business is from oil-producing
Gulf countries. If the oil price remains high, we see a good future.”
Lufthansa Technik (LHT) chairman August Henningsen broadly agrees,
predicting an

AMSTERDAM - Airbus SAS will decide by midyear what changes it will
make to improve its A350, which is lagging behind Boeing Co.’ s 787 in
the market for twin-engine planes that can seat 300 passengers. Tom
Enders, co-chief executive officer of Airbus’ parent, European
Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., told shareholders at the company’s
annual meeting in Amsterdam this week that Airbus and EADS are
weighing key customers’ criticisms of the A350, and aimed to announce
in the middle of the year any improvements to be made. That would
coincide with the weeklong Farnborough International air show in
England, the world’s largest aerospace trade event, which starts July

Supersonic business jets are on their way, the man hailed as the saviour
of engine giant Rolls-Royce predicted at EBACE today.Speaking at the
opening session, Sir Ralph Robins, retired chairman of the UK engine
manufacturer, said that the technology and the business need was “very
close to making a business jet capable of travelling at Mach 1.6 without
audible sound waves”. Robins, a regular business aviation user when he
ran Rolls-Royce, said that coming up with an economic powerplant, using
the core of a large jet engine, would “not be too difficult”.He also said
there would be a big market for a supersonic business jet, particularly
from executives

Airbus is potentially developing an A370. The information is from
secondary and tertiary sources so it may be inaccurate - essentially a
paper plane at this stage. It appears the 370 is a follow on to the 350.The
A370 appears to be targeted at Emirates and Singapore, to forestall 787
orders. Other airlines probably have been contacted. The information
suggests Airbus will keep the current A350-800. The A370 would come in
two sizes; approximately sized like the A350-900 and A340-600. The
A370 would feature an all new Al-Li fuselage with a ~236 inch (5.99m)
cross-section that would allow 9-abreast seating in coach. This compares
to the 5.28m cabin width

The first Airbus A380 customer aircraft - manufacturer’s serial number 003
for Singapore Airlines (SIA) - is due to be positioned to the manufacturer’s
Finkenwerder plant near Hamburg soon to undergo cabin furnishing and
painting.The aircraft (pictured below in Toulouse last week) will complete
at least one test flight at Toulouse and will then be ferried to
Finkenwerder where it will enter the cabin furnishing facility for its interior
installation. It will also be painted in full SIA colours (the fin and rudder is
painted prior to final assembly).

When Boeing names an airplane design after a Muppet, it must be pretty
different. Two small teams at the company are re-imagining the airplane in
futuristic configurations that sprout wings, tails and engines in
unexpected shapes and places. The research, illustrated in internal
documents obtained by The Seattle Times, aims in two directions: low-
cost airplanes, and environmental-friendly planes that will be quieter, use
much less fuel and leave fewer pollutants in the upper atmosphere.