Airline News February 2005

As a result Airbus enjoyed a joyride since there was too much gap for a new product from Boeing. Today Airbus is gaining market share like anything.To satisfy the demanding airline requirements for the 777, a lot of technology new to Boeing had to be employed, although much of this technology was already in service on Airbus aircraft. These new features included: * Honeywell LCD glass cockpit flight displays* Fully digital fly-by-wire flight controls* Fully software configurable avionics* Large scale use of composites (10% by weight)* Fiberoptic avionics network* Very large turbofan engines, with the highest thrust rating by far Fortunately for Boeing, work done on the previously cancelled Boeing 7J7 validated the chosen technologies. The 777 first flew on June 14, 1994 and underwent a flight test programme more extensive than any other Boeing models. Boeing pioneered the Early ETOPS process giving the 777 180 min ETOPS rating entry into service. The FAA awarded full 180 minutes ETOPS clearance for PW4074 777-200s on May 30, 1995.The new technologies in flight control avionics systems selected for the Boeing 777 airplane program consist of the following: Fly-By- Wire (FBW), ARINC 629 Data Bus, and Deferred Maintenance.The FBW must meet extremely high levels of functional integrity and availability. The heart of the FBW concept is the use of triple redundancy for all hardware resources: computing system, airplane electrical power, hydraulic power and communication paths.The multiple redundant hardware are required to meet the numerical safety requirements. Hardware redundancy can be relied upon only if hardware faults can be contained; fail-passive electronics are necessary building blocks for the FBW systems. In addition, FBW computer architecture must consider other fault tolerance issues: generic errors, common mode faults, near- coincidence faults and dissimilarity.

Feb 17, 2005

Boeing

Boeing 747 Advanced: Too little, too late. A common, yet not convincing argument frequently to be heard is that airport congestions necessarily imply larger airplanes, like the A380. To avoid congested airports carriers could also look into flying to smaller, usually less congested airports. Not everybody needs to fly into Seattle, WA; Portland, OR to the south could be an option too, particularly for those whose final destination of travel is closer to there anyways. And this is where the 787 fits in.

Feb 15, 2005

Boeing

The Problem At Boeing is McDonnell Douglas. Boeing needs to return to the core that once made Boeing the leader in Commercial Aviation. Boeing trouble started when, in 1997, McDonnell Douglas used Boeing's money to take over Boeing. The old Boeing just faded away.Now we have a diversified aerospace company, headquartered in the midwest, playing second fiddle in the commercial market (and looking at freighters as the next big market), trying ever so hard to compete in the military market, and riddled with scandal for doing improper things. Pretty much the company McDonnell Douglas once was. Not surprising when you look at Boeing's current management team.The problem for Boeing to overcome is first and foremost, regaining the prestige they once had in the commercial market. Boeings were once synonymous with Airliner - now Airbus has that role. Airlines tend to follow one another in a pack - and they are all headed to all Airbus fleets. To arrest this alarming trend, Boeing needs to develop a clean consistent lineup of modern commercial airliners. The 7E7 alone is not enough. The 737 has to be replaced - the basic design is too old. The 747 (like the MD-11) seems to have become a freighter which pretty much dooms it from a prestige standpoint - its now a truck, when before it was a chariot. The 717 and 757 are history. The only remaining modern airliner is the 777. What a mess of a lineup.