Plane Nation

News about commerical aviation

Entries for March, 2007

Production ending on Boeing 747-400

Good bye 747-400 Its been a long ride - Boeing is ending production of the passenger version of its 747-400 jumbo jet, and is no longer taking orders for either the passenger or cargo models of what has been one of its most successful aircraft. More….

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Boeing 787-10 picture released

Boeing released an image of the 787-10 - making it ever more likely to be offered for sale. … The plane would take over the market slot currently occupied by the 777-200ER.In the absence of a viable Airbus product (the A350XWB is still to be defined) has allowed Boeing to take its time bringing this program forward.

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Which is more efficient 747-8 or A380…it depends who you ask

That 6% burning issue about fuel
So where do you go to get the real story? As you may have read further below there are interesting numbers on fuel burn. The best place to go is an airline that has data from both planes because they bought both. So here is some data from the only [...]

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Video inside Airbus A380 during its US visit

As reported the A380 visited for the first time the United States last week. PupularMechanics had a reporter on-board during the test flight inside the US.
They published a nicely done video report from the experience flying with largest passenger plane on the planet. The particular A380 is configured for 520 passengers. The video shows [...]

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Airbus A380 Flying Palace interior design released

A U.S.-based design company is nearing completion of an interior design for a prospective customer for the VIP version of the Airbus A380 “Flying Palace” and has released an image to the public. Airbus revealed that in February this year an unnamed customer had signed a letter of intent to purchase a VIP A380 , although the client is yet to sign a firm order for the aircraft.

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One of a kind A340-8000 comes out of storage

The one and only Airbus “A340-8000″ originally destined for the Sultan of Brunei’s brother has been acquired by Saudi Arabian VIP as it updates its widebody fleet, according to Flight’s ACAS database.
The A340-213, line number 204, delivered to Brunei-based HM the Sultan’s Flight in November 1998, never entered service and has been parked unfitted at [...]

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Airbus A380 comes to smoking halt as brakes are slammed on during high-speed aborted take-off test in Istres

Airbus says the potentially hazardous maximum energy rejected take-off demonstration for the A380 that it undertook last weekend was a “non-event”, with the aircraft and systems behaving exactly as predicted. “The test went exactly as planned,” says Airbus chief test pilot Jacques Rosay, who was at the controls of Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered A380 MSN001 (F-WWOW) alongside vice-president Airbus flight test division Claude Lelaie for the trial at the Istres test airfield in southern France on 4 March (pictured below).

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Airbus planning the potentially destructive maximum-energy rejected take-off (RTO) test on one of its A380 test aircraft in the coming weeks

Airbus is planning to undertake the potentially destructive maximum-energy rejected take-off (RTO) test on one of its A380 test aircraft in the coming weeks at the Istres flight-test centre in southern France. … The test requires that the aircraft to be brought to a halt from its maximum V1 speed (at the maximum take-off weight of 569t) using only wheel brakes which must be 90% worn.

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General Electric’s GEnx-1B engine for the Boeing 787 makes first flight on 747 testbed

This will be divided into two main phases, an initial three-month period focusing on steady-state and transient performance, air-starts, combustor operability margins and throttle response, and a second, shorter phase looking at the engine control system. … European Aviation Safety Agency engine certification is due in the first quarter of 2008 and US Federal Aviation Requirement Part 25 aircraft certification for the GE-powered 787 due around mid-second quarter 2008.

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Airbus to decide the future of A380F ‘within days’ as UPS decides the fate of its orders

Airbus admitted yesterday that the future of the A380 Freighter could be decided in the next few days, with the decision by remaining customer UPS to delay taking delivery of the its order for 10 of the type past 2010 potentially affecting the industrial decision to launch the type. Airbus has reached an agreement with [...]

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