Boeing 747-8F et I

At the time Boeing claimed the 747-8 would burn 13% less fuel per seat than a 416-seat 747-400 and 12% less than a 542-seat A380, the latter figure later raised to 13% less than the A380. Based mainly on the heavier weight of the A380 (about 40kg per seat in terms of operating empty weight), Boeing also said cost per seat would be -6%, and cost per trip -22% less than the A380.

Boeing will stop moving planes forward on its 747-8 jet production line in Everett for a month so mechanics can catch up on a backlog of thousands of unfinished jobs that are choking the line.

Boeing said the temporary halt won't affect the first delivery of a freighter model of the jumbo jet to Cargolux, scheduled for summer.

Spokesman Jim Proulx said the company is "evaluating the effect on the delivery schedule" for subsequent airplanes and keeping customers informed.

Elizabeth Lund, 747-8 vice president and program manager, sent a note to employees Thursday afternoon, telling them the production line will freeze in place from May 6 through June 7. The planes won't move from their positions so they can be worked on.

"Work will continue on all our airplanes in all stages of production," Lund told employees. "I'm counting on your continued dedication as we work through this challenge."

The 747-8 is the latest and largest version of Boeing's venerable jumbo jet, 250 feet long with a 224-foot wingspan and a takeoff weight just shy of 500 tons.

With a new wing, new engines and updated flight-deck avionics, the list price is nearly $320 million.

The freighter version flew first in February 2010; the passenger version, the 747-8 Intercontinental, had its first flight in March.

So far, 20 of the jets have rolled out of the factory. Five freighter models and two passenger models are in flight test, while the rest are parked on the Everett flight line.

Lund listed three reasons for the hold on production movement: a buildup of unfinished work; the need to retrofit required design changes to planes already built, because of information learned in the ongoing flight tests; and early preparations for a production-rate increase next year from 1.5 jets per month to two per month.

A production worker said the program is 11,000 jobs behind, meaning that the number of tasks that should be completed have instead traveled forward in the production process still unfinished. Proulx declined to confirm that figure.

The design changes stemming from flight testing include modifications to correct barely perceptible vibrations at the wingtips and in a movable control surface on the wing, detected early on in flight tests during extreme flight conditions.

The passenger model of the airplane is particularly backed up with incomplete work.

"The process of starting up the regular production of the 747-8 Intercontinental has created some challenges," said Lund.

Lund described the next month of catch-up work as a "tough challenge."

"While we have worked hard to create the best plan possible, we know it's not going to be perfect," Lund told employees. "I absolutely depend on you to help us overcome the inevitable challenges we'll face and to do everything you can to ensure that when we resume our normal factory schedule in June, we'll have a production line that's healthy."

One longtime production worker said the hold on the line is something that has happened on new programs and is not necessarily very negative.

"On the 747-400 in 1989, it was used to clean house and get everything in order after the big push to get the first models out and speed up the production rate," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "After that, everything ran fine. You have to stop and do your spring cleaning. It's a proven way to ramp up production."

By holding the line for a month, Boeing will avoid sending more unfinished planes out to the flight line at Everett, which is already full of 787 Dreamliners and previously built 747-8s, many of them still needing extensive work.

It's much easier to catch up on work inside the factory, protected from the weather and with cranes and other equipment readily available.

Last year, when the 787 program struggled with a huge backup of work, Boeing put a hold on that production line on three separate occasions, for weeks at a time.

In the end, that didn't stop unfinished planes from rolling out and piling up on the flight line and around the edges of Paine Field airport.

Both airplanes represent a new benchmark in fuel efficiency and noise reduction, allowing airlines to lower fuel costs and fly into more airports at more times of the day. The 747-8 Intercontinental is 16 percent more fuel efficient than the 747-400, 11 percent more fuel efficient than the A380 and offers QC2 departures

The 747-8 Intercontinental is the only jetliner in the 400- to 500-seat market, stretched 5.6 m (18.3 ft) from the 747-400 to provide 467 seats in a three-class configuration and a 14,815-km (8,000-nmi) range. Using 787-technology engines, the airplane will be quieter, produce lower emissions, and achieve better fuel economy than any competing jetliner. The 747 Intercontinental will provide nearly equivalent trip costs and 13 percent lower seat-mile costs than the 747-400, plus 26 percent greater cargo volume. Operating economics will offer a significant improvement over the A380. The 747-8 is more than 10 percent lighter per seat than the A380 and will consume 11 percent less fuel per passenger than the 555-seat airplane. That translates into a trip-cost reduction of 21 percent and a seat-mile cost reduction of more than 6 percent, compared to the A380. Both the 747-8 Intercontinental and 747-8 Freighter can use the existing infrastructure and ground equipment at most airports worldwide.

Boeing’s latest iteration of the 747, the “Dash 8” Intercontinental, recently completed its first series of flight-testing at Moses Lake, Wash., according to company sources.
While at Moses Lake, the first of two 747-8I test aircraft–dubbed RC001–performed a variety of tests, including flutter and modal suppression. The testing conducted at Moses Lake constituted part of the normal flight-test plan, according to Boeing.
“RC001 performed a variety of tests as part of its normal flight-test program at Moses Lake; testing included flutter and a number of modal suppression tests for ride quality. All conditions were successfully completed,” a Boeing spokeswoman told AIN. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred during testing, she added.
RC001’s flight-test plan addresses handling characteristics that differ from those of the 747-8 Freighter because of the extended upper deck.
“We are on plan with our flight-testing, and future tests include crew-rest-area smoke detection, extended operations and function and reliability testing,” said the Boeing official.
The second 747-8I flight-test airplane, RC021, flew for the first time on April 26.
Drawing on lessons learned from the 787 Dreamliner program, Boeing expects to cut the Intercontinental’s operating costs by 12 percent compared with its predecessor, the 747-400. The reductions in operating cost come primarily from the airplane’s new GEnx-2B engines and improved fuel efficiency from a new wing design. Boeing launched the Intercontinental as the passenger version of the 747-8 program in 2005. The airframer has since signed agreements with three airlines for the Intercontinental, and sold 79 of its freighter counterpart.

Sixteen months after its first February 2010 first flight, the first 747-8F, RC501, has completed its Boeing testing responsibilities and ferried from San Bernardino, California to the company's Global Service & Support facility at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas earlier today. RC501 will enter refurbishment along side RC503 and 787 ZA177 for Japan Airlines. Both RC501 and RC503 will be delivered to launch customer Cargolux "later this summer".

The lead test flight 747-8F flew for more than 1,000h during its time with Boeing Test & Evaluation, including initial airworthiness and stability and control trials, flutter, velocity minimum unstick and max brake energy tests. RC501 was also the guinea pig for the rest of the fleet, first discovering and troubleshooting issues that have challenged the type's development program such as the landing gear door/flaps 30 buffet, inboard aileron power control unit issue and wingtip flutter oscillation.

In other 747-8 news, RC522, the third test aircraft, will make its first air show visit later this month to Paris along side 787 ZA001 and 747-8I RC001, and will continue on to Luxembourg to visit Cargolux on June 23.

RC523, the fifth -8F aircraft, remains an active asset continuing 747-8 systems functionality and reliability (F&R) testing on 8-12 hour missions around the United States since June 1.

The third Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (RC003) conducted a standard B1 test flight yesterday, after taking to the air for first time at 3:06 p.m. local time from Paine Field Airport in Everett, Wash.
A Boeing spokesman told AIN that RC003 will not serve as a regular flight-test article, however. Rather, plans call for it to fly to Marana, Ariz., where it will conduct high-intensity, radio frequency (HIRF) testing on the ground.
At the Paris Air Show last week, Elizabeth Lund, Boeing 747-8 program manager, said the two primary Intercontinental flight-test aircraft had flown some 300 hours, roughly a third of the expected total needed for certification. The company hopes to gain certification for the passenger version of the 747-8 by the end of this year.

Boeing Co.’s new 747-8, the biggest plane the company has ever built, may be able to land at fewer airports when it enters service if a deadlock persists in the U.S. Congress over funding the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA doesn’t have the money to pay workers who were inspecting airports that planned to handle the jumbo jet after a funding bill expired July 22, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said on a conference call today. That means five U.S. airports may not receive certification to handle Boeing’s new jet by the Sept. 1 deadline, he said.
Boeing has promised Cargolux Airlines International SA that the first 747-8, a freighter, would be certified and delivered by the end of September, more than a year later than planned. The plane-certification work isn’t in jeopardy, said Laura Brown, an FAA spokeswoman. Those workers are paid from different funds than the airport inspectors.
“The airplane itself could still be used, but the customer would be limited in which airports it could use for some period of time depending on when this gets resolved,” said Tim Neale, a spokesman for Chicago-based Boeing. The airports are New Jersey’s Newark, Chicago’s O’Hare, San Francisco, Houston, and Huntsville, Alabama.
Cargolux hasn’t yet decided on route schedules for the 747- 8, said Martine Scheuren, a spokeswoman for the Luxembourg-based freight carrier. Any U.S. airport certification delay can be accommodated with the company’s existing fleet, she said.
The freight carrier will take delivery in September of the first of three new 747-8s it expects to receive this year, as part of an overall 13-plane order mostly meant to replace older aircraft as they are withdrawn from service, Scheuren said.
The 747-8, the fifth variant of the 41-year-old jumbo jet, stretches the iconic hump on top and sports new engines and a longer wing. Deutsche Lufthansa AG expects to receive the first passenger version at the beginning of next year. The 747-8’s setback was caused in part when engineers were diverted to the 787 Dreamliner, which is more than three years behind schedule.
That plane, the world’s first composite-plastic airliner, is still set to be delivered by September as well and won’t be further set back by the FAA’s furloughs, Neale said July 22. It’s smaller than the 747-8, so its wingspan doesn’t present any potential problems for airports.

The US Federal Aviation Administration will hold its type certification review board meeting for the Boeing 747-8 freighter this week, said Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh.
The meeting will set the jumbo freighter on a path to official type certification in "a couple weeks" with first delivery to launch customer Cargolux expected in September.

15AugLufthansa reaffirms service entry date as 747-8 makes progress




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As the Boeing 747-8F freighter wraps up its flight testing programme for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification in preparation for a September entry into service (EIS) with Luxembourg-based Cargolux Airlines, launch customer for the passenger 747-8I Intercontinental variant, Lufthansa, has reaffirmed an early 2012 entry into service (EIS) target for the biggest iconic jumbo jet the Chicago-based airframer has ever built.

“We plan to receive our first B747-8I on time in early 2012,” Lufthansa spokesman Frank Puettmann said.

However, Lufthansa has not planned the variant’s first destination yet.

“We have no decision yet about the first destination. The B747-8 can fly anywhere where the current 747-400 also flies to,” Puettmann explained.

The 747-8I Intercontinental flight test fleet, comprising of the first, second and third flight test examples dubbed RC001, RC021 and RC003, respectively, has logged around 450 hours of flight hours so far and the first test example earmarked for a Kuwaiti private customer has begun the outboard aileron modal suppression system (OAMS) tests on 7th August. The outboard aileron modal suppression (OAMS) system, which utilises the roll-axis fly-by-wire system, is designed to automatically dampen out the slight 2.3 Hz plus or minus 2.5 cm (1 inch) flutter issue discovered during early 747-8F flight tests, flightglobal reported.

Image Courtesy of Boeing


Meanwhile, since the second flight test example, dubbed RC021, conducted the nautical air mile (NAMS) tests this June, some rumours have suggested that the 747-8I missed its specific fuel consumption (SFC) target of 2.6 litres (L) of fuel per passenger per 100 kilometres in a 467 3-class configuration and that the aircraft is seriously overweight.

On the contrary to these rumours, while the General Electric (GE) GEnx-2B engines powering the 747-8 aircraft family did miss its specific fuel consumption (SFC) target, Aspire Aviation understands that the better-than-anticipated aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft more than offset the GEnx-2B engine’s higher fuel burn which Aspire Aviation‘s source at the world’s second-largest aircraft manufacturer puts the SFC at closer to 2% higher than originally envisaged and the little overweight at or around 1 tonne.

“The actual manufacturer’s empty weight (MEW) or the actual operating empty weight (OEW) of the A/C [airframe] is not yet frozen. We estimate a slight increase in weight compared to the contracted weight. But early predictions show that this insignificant weight increase will be well compensated by better than expected aerodynamic performance of the airframe leading to a better than expected mission efficiency,” Lufthansa spokesman Frank Puettmann revealed.

Boeing has rolled out the first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental sporting the colours of German flag-carrier Lufthansa, the type's airline launch customer.
Lufthansa has 20 of the aircraft on order, the first due for delivery in spring 2012, and options on another 20.
The airline said the aircraft - which will carry the registration D-ABYA - will be subjected to ground testing before starting initial flight tests in November.
Lufthansa is already a 747-400 operator. It said the new aircraft, powered by General Electric GEnx-2B67 engines, will burn 13% less fuel than the older type.

Boeing is evaluating the entry into service timing of its 777-300ER successor and 787-10 variant, as part of its competitive response to the Airbus A350-1000.
Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Aviation Conference in New York, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice-president business development and strategic integration Nicole Piasecki described the 777 as "an incredibly successful airplane family", but added: "However, it will be challenged when the A350-1000 does come to market. It is our belief that the 777 family will be challenged, so we are going through conducting a widebody study to understand what sort of improvements we will need to bring to market."
Airbus added two years to the A350-1000 development programme, sliding its service entry to 2017, driven by a need to offer an updated Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine with higher thrust and airframe modifications for the higher maximum takeoff weights required by customers.
The capabilities of the new 777 "depends on our customers requirements, that depends on what in fact the A350-1000 turns out to be", said Piasecki. "And it also depends on the timing requirements of the marketplace and the dynamics between the [new 777] and the [787-10 variant], what sort of investment profile do we want to have and over what period of time and which airplane comes first."
The study, dubbed the 777-8X/9X, is looking at adding a carbonfibre wing and fuselage changes to the 777 family that updates the 305-seat 777-200LR and 365-seat 777-300ER.

Boeing’s newest, largest 747 can operate as close to other aircraft as current 747s, according to an International Civil Aviation Organization ruling that Boeing announced Tuesday.

Last year, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration imposed a temporary requirement that other airplanes generally stay at least 10 miles behind Boeing’s 747-8, about twice the requirement for the 747-400, because data was still being collected on the aircraft’s wake vortices.

Since then, an International Civil Aviation Organization team of wake vortex experts from the FAA, European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, European Aviation Safety Agency and Boeing looked into the matter and found the 747-8 met the “heavy” designation, and separation criteria, that apply to the 747-400.

“We promised our customers that the 747-8 would be able to operate in the same markets and routes they use for the 747-400,” Todd Zarfos, vice president of engineering on the 747 program, said in a news release.

We did extensive testing to show that even though the 747-8 is longer, heavier and has a bigger wingspan than the 747-400, it does not create greater wake vortex effects. That means that airports will be able to operate more efficiently and not have to slow down operations to accommodate this airplane.

Boeing is scheduled to deliver the first 747-8 Freighter to launch customer Cargolux on Sept. 19.