- Analyst: First Dreamliner delivery could be pushed into 2012
Airlines may not take initial deliveries of Boeing's long-awaited Dreamliner until sometime in 2012, according to a Morgan Stanley analyst. In a research note, Heidi Wood says several of the test planes have been brought back to Seattle, indicating that Boeing sees no quick fix for the unexplained fire that broke out during a test flight. "Redesign may be necessary, and it looks like this affects at a minimum the test-flight airplanes, potentially the 28-odd planes already built," Wood wrote. A Boeing spokeswoman says no further test flights will be scheduled until the company completes its investigation into the fire. Bloomberg (11/18)
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Hobby Lobby RC F/A 18E Super Hornet 90mm ARF Electric Jet (OVERSIZE)
RC F/A 18E Super Hornet 90mm ARF Jet (OVERSIZE)
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Product#: ERC1800
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| Description | Parts & Accessories | Everything You'll Need | Support | ||||||
Big scale jet with 90mm fan and scale electronic retracts  37-3/8 in. wingspan, 52 in. long, 72 oz. flying weight, 387 sq. in. wing area, dual 360 degree thrust vector nozzles. The jet comes complete with a powerful 90mm fan unit with a 1750Kv outrunner brushless motor pre-installed, and an 85 amp ESC with switch mode BEC. The foam airframe is completely pre-painted and decorated and comes with 9 servos pre-installed. Carbon tubes reinforce the wings. The aluminum landing gear is sprung to absorb some of the landing loads and is retractable. Landing gear are servo-less and do not require end point adjustment; they are actuated by small electric motors and worm drives, and operate at a scale-like speed without the need for slow-down modules. Included is a 7-LED Midnight Flyer lighting system with bright red, green and white LEDs.  Watch More Hobby Lobby Videos! Click Here FA-18E Super Hornet PDF Instruction Manual The only items required but not included are a 7-channel radio system and a 6-cell flight battery of about 3700mAh (two 3-cell packs can be used). Assembly is straight forward and each step is covered in the photo-illustrated assembly manual. The programming of the radio is also covered in a step-by-step process. The airframe includes two 360 degree thrust vectoring nozzles for some wild aerobatics and great low-speed, high-alpha handling. Even at very low forward speed the rudder function of the nozzles keeps the model in perfect control. Take-offs are powerful; the fan and motor system produce over 80 oz. of thrust. The jet has a broad speed range with solid handling throughout. It can be flown in a scale manner or take it to the wild side with some all-out thrust vector spins and flips. | |||||||||
Boeing confirms new B737-800NG
Boeing confirms new B737-800NG in United Airlines livery successfully completed its first test flight, signifying start of certification for package of 737 performance improvements set to continue through April 2011. Aerodynamic and engine changes included in package to reduce fuel consumption by 2 percent, and to be phased into production mid-2011 through early 2012. Source_1
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Airplane maintenance
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Airplane maintenance
(P) = Problem (S) = Solution
(P) Left inside main tire almost needs replacement
(S) Almost replaced left inside main tire
(P) Test flight OK, except autoland very rough
(S) Autoland not installed on this aircraft
(P) #2 Propeller seeping prop fluid
(S) #2 Propeller seepage normal - #1 #3 and #4 propellers lack normal seepage
(P) Something loose in cockpit
(S) Something tightened in cockpit
(P) Evidence of leak on right main landing gear
(S) Evidence removed
(P) DME volume unbelievably loud
(S) Volume set to more believable level
(P) Dead bugs on windshield
(S) Live bugs on order
(P) Autopilot in altitude hold mode produces a 200 fpm descent
(S) Cannot reproduce problem on ground
(P) IFF inoperative
(S) IFF always inoperative in OFF mode (IFF-Identification Friend or Foe)
(P) Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick
(S) That's what they're there for
(P) Number three engine missing
(S) Engine found on right wing after brief search
(P) Aircraft handles funny
(S) Aircraft warned to straighten up, "fly right" and be serious
(P) Target Radar hums
(S) Reprogrammed Target Radar with the lyrics
Smoke Aboard Boeing Dreamliner Test Flight Forces Emergency Landing, Could Delay Production (Again)
Posted 11.10.2010 at 11:40 am 2 Comments
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Dave Sizer via Wikimedia
The smoke originated in the tail of the plane at the rear of the passenger cabin. The plane was carrying a range of flight test gear, including equipment for monitoring the system that delivers nitrogen gas to the fuel tanks to prevent vapors from igniting. That part of the test flight seems to have gone well enough, but something went awry somewhere along the way, forcing the flight from Yuma, Ariz., to make an emergency stop in Laredo, Texas.
Related Articles
 | The Dreamliner Unveiled |
 | 787 Dreamliner's First Flight Delayed Yet Again |
| Boeing Delays Dreamliner Again |
Tags
Technology, Clay Dillow, aviation, boeing, boeing 787 dreamliner, Dreamliner, emergency landing, test flightsBoeing’s most recent projections for delivery of finished Dreamliners put the planes in the hands of Japan’s All Nippon Airways in the first quarter of next year, but it’s now unclear if Boeing will be able to keep that timetable.
[USA Today, Reuters]
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Qantas grounds Airbus A380 fleet after engine cover falls off plane
November 4, 2010 10:06 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Singapore Airlines temporarily halts flights of its A380s
- A passenger says she heard a loud bang, then another
- Qantas has six A380s in its fleet of 191 planes
- The Airbus A380 are the largest planes in the world
The airline said flights of the twin-deck planes -- the world's largest airliners -- will remain suspended until an investigation into Thursday's incident is complete.
"As long as it takes," said airline CEO Alan Joyce, when a reporter asked how long the suspension would last. "We are being very cautious until we know exactly what caused this."
One of the four engines on a Qantas airliner shut down six minutes after takeoff Thursday from Singapore's Changi Airport, Joyce said. The plane -- with 440 passengers and 26 crew members -- was headed to Sydney, Australia, but it returned to Changi.
While in the air above the western Indonesian island of Batam, part of the engine's covering, or cowling, tore off.
Qantas' A380 fears 
Plane engine rips apart in flight 
Qantas grounds the Airbus A380 
Passenger: 'We heard a loud bang' 
Map "I am not sure what actually happened with the debris and why parts of the engine left the aircraft and fell into the ground," Joyce said. "We're still looking at what exactly was the cause of that."
Local television stations in Indonesia showed debris parts with red-white markings. Pictures of the Airbus A380 after it landed showed the cowling torn off in the back half.
Trifuadi, a security officer at an engineering firm in Batam, said he heard a loud explosion and saw smoke coming out of the engine of a plane flying overhead.
Shortly afterward, debris fell from the plane to the ground, said Trifuadi who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name.
The flight -- QF32 -- landed in Singapore safely, without injury to passenger or crew.
Passenger Meg Graham said she heard a loud bang within minutes of the plane taking off. "And then another bang," she said.
Ulf Waschbusch, who said he was on his way to Australia for the first time, said the crew kept passengers apprised of what was happening.
"We all stayed pretty calm," he told CNN. "It was an almost eerie calm."
The airline said it will work with the plane's manufacturer as well as Rolls-Royce, the maker of the engine, to determine what went wrong. A spokesman for the Rolls-Royce told CNN that "safety is always our highest priority. We are currently analyzing the available information and working with our customers to support their operations."
Qantas now has six A380s in its fleet of 191 planes. Airbus will at some point deliver another 14, the airline said.
Singapore Airlines announced Thursday that it has temporarily halted flights of its 11 Airbus A380s to do precautionary checks in light of the Qantas incident.
Lufthansa, which operates three Airbus A380s, said its operations currently are "normal."
"We are on standby to go further but no decisions have been taken. We are checking with Rolls-Royce and Airbus to see if they think there is a broader view, do they think we need to make special checks," a spokesman for the company said.
"We do a lot of engine monitoring. We have a lots of information to see if there is anything abnormal and we do not have anything at the moment."
Link to original article from CNN
Link to original article from CNN
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
The Space Concorde: NASA Pushes for Extraterrestrial Hypersonic Flight
Posted 11.03.2010 at 3:45 pm 3 Comments
NASA is looking for a way to get into space without having to use those pesky, bulky rockets. That means hypersonic travel, which was added to NASA’s Aeronautics 2010 proposal solicitation yesterday. The type of craft that NASA's hoping for would be able to fly at five times the speed of sound--fast enough to make the jaunt from New York to Sydney in two and a half hours. We've seen some exciting hypersonic concepts before, as well as an unfortunate failure from DARPA, but with NASA money behind the research, extraterrestrial hypersonic flight could really get somewhere.
Allocating $5 million a year for the next three years, the Hypersonics Project is mainly interested in “airbreathing access to space” and “entry, descent and landing of high-mass vehicles entering into planetary atmospheres.” Crafts of this nature would be able to fly through the atmosphere the way conventional aircrafts do--imagine a turbo-charged Concorde jet--and descend and land safely on Mars’ surface. NASA is also pushing for these crafts to be reusable. Of course, this poses some difficulties, as outlined in the call for proposals:
“The hypersonic heating environment, coupled with the emphasis on reusability, creates additional severe technology challenges for materials, material coatings, and structures that not only carry the aerodynamic loads of the air but also repeatedly sustain high thermal loads requiring long-life and durability while minimizing weight.”
That’s a lot of obstacles to overcome, but as NASA puts it, “space access launch vehicles must be lightweight, fully reusable and easily maintained if low-cost access to space is to be achieved.” If the technology is successfully developed, it will be a huge leap forward for the transport of larger payloads, especially useful as we move ever closer to that eventual human exploration of Mars.
[NASA via Fast Company]
Monday, November 01, 2010
Semper Fly: Marines in Space
A proposed suborbital space transport will put boots on the ground anywhere in the world in two hours or less. But can it overcome huge technological-and political-hurdles?
Posted 12.18.2006 at 3:00 am 1 Comment
For a look at a prototypical Space Marine mission, launch the photo gallery.
As any battlefield commander will tell you, getting troops to the fight can be as difficult as winning it. And for modern-day soldiers, the sites of conflict are so far-flung, and the political considerations of even flying over another country so complicated, that rapid entry has become nearly impossible. If a group of Marine Corps visionaries have their way, however, 30 years from now, Marines could touch down anywhere on the globe in less than two hours, without needing to negotiate passage through foreign airspace. The breathtaking efficiency of such a delivery system could change forever the way the U.S. does battle.
The proposal, part of the Corps's push toward greater speed and flexibility, is called Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion, or Sustain. Using a suborbital transport-that is, a vehicle that flies into space to achieve high travel speeds but doesn't actually enter orbit-the Corps will be able, in effect, to instantaneously deliver Marine squads anywhere on Earth. The effort is led by Roosevelt Lafontant, a former Marine lieutenant colonel now employed by the Schafer Corporation, a military-technology consulting firm working with the Marines. Insertion from space, Lafontant explains, makes it possible for the Marines-typically the first military branch called on for emergency missions-to avoid all the usual complications that can delay or end key missions. No waiting for permission from an allied nation, no dangerous rendezvous in the desert, no slow helicopter flights over mountainous terrain. Instead, Marines could someday have an unmatched element of surprise, allowing them to do everything from reinforce Special Forces to rescue hostages thousands of miles away.
"Sustain is simply an ability to move Marines very rapidly from one place to another," says Marine colonel Jack Wassink, director of the Corps's Space Integration Branch in Arlington, Virginia, where the program is based. "Space lends itself to that role."
The program is quickly gaining traction. Congress has expressed interest, because of the obvious usefulness of the capability it promises. And the technologies necessary to make it happen, from hypersonic propulsion systems to new composite materials needed to make the vehicle lightweight yet strong, are in advanced development in military labs across the country. The Marines expect to fly a prototype in 15 years, most likely a two-stage system using a carrier aircraft that will launch a lander into orbit from high altitude. Production models could show up around 2030, a date that isn't quite as far away as it seems. Consider that the F-22 Raptor fighter is now entering service after 22 years of development.
But the whole idea still rings of science fiction, and the question is whether its proponents can corral the various technologies together to make the project possible. "Sustain is not a pipe dream," Lafontant says. "It just needs to gel."
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