Aircraft News Weblog

Category: B787

  • Dreamliner Nightmare.

    Dreamliner fire at Heathrow.

    How much bad luck can an aircraft type have before the orders dry up and the the public wont fly on it? The one thing which can kill an aircraft is the tendency to have fires. The public will not want to be on an airliner which is periodically filling with smoke.

    When this aircraft concept was announced many years ago I knew that this would be a unique design and be, to use the over worked cliche, cutting edge.There would be huge challenges with the extensive use of composites, the reduction of traditional, proven hydraulic systems and the complete exclusion of the use of bleed air from the engines. All of these were completely different from the traditional method of constructing and operating an airliner.

    There were numerous set backs in the development which raised costs into billions of dollars. Then after the aircraft went into service the aircraft lithium ion batteries failed to operate correctly resulting in a worldwide grounding of the Dreamliner. With this problem resolved, but not solved, we now find ourselves with a fire in an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft at Heathrow which is being attributed to the ELT, the device which transmits an emergency location signal when triggered by a high G situation. This problem, if proven, is as unique as the aircraft due to the scarcity of any other incidents related to this component. The most common failure is an unintentional transmission due to a faulty ELT, but a fire is not something that anyone can recall being reported before.

    I hesitate to mention it but the ELT is powered by lithium ion batteries and that could really be the only source of power to start a fire. The British investigators have now called for all B787 ELT’s to be removed or set inert during the investigation.

    The technology in the Dreamliner is unique and Boeing are taking the lead, and the hits, for this innovation. Maybe, like Concorde before it, the Dreamliner will be a fantastic one off airliner when all the problems are resolved. There is no doubt that composite will be used in other aircraft, but the extensive use of new electrical systems will need more development before other manufactures jump on that band wagon.

    I can only imagine the stress being felt in the boardroom of Boeing in Seattle but I think there is nothing left to do but work with the regulators and get this Boeing going.

  • Boeing and Airbus on track?

    The Boeing Dreamliner is back in the air and the Airbus A350 is completing the first elements of the flight test program required for certification. So all is well in the Big Two manufacturers world. Or is it, such is the nature of the business that this assumption will never be accurate. There will always be setbacks and problems when each airframe, engine combination is pushing back the boundaries of fuel economy and efficiency.

    There is a huge requirement to reduce all the negatives like fuel burn and aircraft weight while increasing the load and range of the aircraft. The development of the airliner design from the first jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet, to the latest Boeing or Airbus aircraft has been amazing in the last 60 years. Every time I think they have reached the ultimate in design they exceed it with the next aircraft.

    The Boeing 737 was, and still is the work horse of the Seattle based manufacturer. It was challenged by the A320 family and now the Big Two are competing for another prize with the 787 and A350 by flying non stop from London England to Sydney Australia as a regular commercial route.

    Quite amazing that Louis Bleriot managed the first powered flight across the English Channel in 1909 and now in 2013 we are vying for non stop scheduled flights from London to Sydney.

    I can’t wait to see what they will come up with next.

  • B787 Dreamliner battery fix?

    There is some progress in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery problems. Boeing have given the FAA full details of a fix for the Lithium Ion battery overheating problem. Although the details are being kept under wraps, the fix has to include a new container for the battery which will prevent damage to the aircraft in case of fire and a method of venting fumes outside. There also has to be a redesign of the wiring or monitoring system to prevent the battery overheating in the first place.

    Further investigation in Japan, where both All Nippon Airways and JAL have had battery incidents on their Dreamliner’s, has resulted in wiring problems being discovered connecting the APU and the Aircraft main battery. The details of these problems are still being investigated and reported to Boeing.

    The original problem with the battery has not been discovered so all possible causes have been identified and fixes proposed to address them. The real test will be when the aircraft starts operating again as there is only so much that can be simulated on the ground or by controlled test flights.

    A long term fix may be the change of the battery type but nobody is talking about that.

    The update from the NTSB that was published in December 2014 blamed the battery problem on the design and possible manufacturing issues with the batteries. The blame was spread between the FAA and Boeing for not considering the consequences or even possibility of a battery cell overheating and affecting other cells. The manufacturing process was also targeted with foreign material found to be introduced into the batteries.

  • Airbus A350-900

    A350-900

    Airbus are reporting there will be no delay to the production and testing schedule of the A350 due to the problems with Lithium-Ion (Li-on) batteries.

    While Boeing are searching for a solution with the B787 Dreamliner battery problems Airbus are pressing ahead with then A350 and have replaced the planned Li-on batteries in favour of the more common Ni-Cad type.There are a number of problems with being the ‘first’ to use new technology and Boeing have taken on the brunt of the problems with the Dreamliner.

    Airbus have been developing their own twin engined wide bodied challenger to the B777 and B787 in the A350. This is the first step into the new technology of extensive carbon fibre for Airbus who are using it as the main component in the fuselage and the wings. This will allow a fuel saving to compete with Boeing on the non stop long distance routes from Europe to Australia and New Zealand.

    Although I would need a good vacation after a London to Sydney 19 hour non stop flight. It is amazing that Bleriot only managed the first crossing of the English Channel in an aircraft from England to France in 1909, around 25 miles, and in 1989 a Qantas B747 completed a non stop flight from London to Sydney 10,500 miles as a publicity stunt.

    Something that would not have helped Bleriot is the engine developed for the A350, which weighing in at just over 6 tonnes would have been bit much for his aircraft!

    The Trent XWB-84 has completed all certification and is being shipped to Toulouse from Rolls Royce for installation. This engine will produce up to 84,000 lbs of thrust required for the first A350-900 which will be completing the flight testing of the aircraft design. Changes to the thrust of the engine will power the other two variants of the aircraft. The increased thrust for the A350-1000 will be achieved by increasing the core engine power, temperature and fan speed rather than the diameter of the engine. Due to this approach nearly 80% of the line replacement units will be common to the engine variants.

    The A350 is scheduled to start flight testing this summer and for those who would like to keep informed of developments here is a link http://www.a350xwb.com/#

  • Dreamliner

    The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has had a most unfortunate couple of weeks. There has been the worst publicity that any aircraft could have. An inflight fire or smoke in the cabin are the worst case scenario for aircrew and the public when it comes to air travel.

    I have avoided the temptation to jump on the band wagon as I have had the experience of working on an newly introduced aircraft type. There is no test like the daily operation of an aircraft, or any vehicle, to bring out a number of problems that the designer and regulatory authorities have not thought of. The Dreamliner has taken this to a whole new level with the type of problem and the world wide grounding of the fleet. If that wasn’t bad enough then the timeline of not only the fix but understanding the cause is seeing the confidence of the carriers fade away.

    There is only so much that the airlines can put up with before the shareholders make the decision to abandon the aircraft and look elsewhere in the competitive world of aircraft supply. Not only that but all the time the airlines are not flying the Dreamliner’s they already operate, the bills are piling up and the lawyers are lining up.

    The battery on the aircraft is touted as the source of the problem,which is ironic as it is there to solve problems when the normal power generation is not operating. This is not the first time this type of battery has given trouble. Cessna had them removed from the new Citation. In that case there was an off the shelf replacement which they could switch to. But it is my understanding that the Dreamliner batteries are so specific to the aircraft that a replacement is not possible in the short term. The whole aircraft is such a new concept that they are breaking ground in many aspects of the systems on board.

    I love the innovation and cutting edge development. But I think they had too much faith put into the battery type without a ‘plan B’. Lets hope the investigation comes to a successful conclusion soon for the sake of the company and the travelling public.