Russian investigators have disclosed that an Azimuth Sukhoi Superjet captain inadvertently deployed the landing-gear in cruise, prompting a climb response which placed the twinjet in conflict with another aircraft. In a 9 November bulletin the federal air transport regulator Rosaviatsia has detailed the 21 October incident, involving a flight GE Aviation has completed dust-ingestion testing on its new GE9X engine for the Boeing X, as the propulsion specialist eyes a potential third application for the widebody turbofan.
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Boeing Aircraft Profile. Boeing Aircraft History - Launched in October with a United Airlines order for 34 aircraft, the Boeing made its maiden flight in June Boeing videos -. Related articles. In November , the LR Worldliner set a world distance record for a commercial aircraft non-stop flight — 21,km 11,nm from Hong Kong to London Heathrow.
The airline received its fifth LR aircraft in September The Boeing is a stretched version of the , seating to passengers in a typical three class seating arrangement or passengers in a single economy class arrangement. The is the latest derivative of the family and the first aircraft was delivered to Cathay Pacific in May The ER extended range was launched in February and first flight took place in February The higher fuel capacity, compared to the , provided a range of 13,km with passengers.
Subsequent improvements to engine efficiency and design changes to reduce drag and weight have increased the range to 14,km 7,nm. The aircraft is powered by a new, more powerful GEB engine rated at kN ,lb. New highly tapered raked wingtip extensions have been fitted to reduce take-off field length, climb performance and fuel efficiency.
By March , aircraft had been delivered. In May , Boeing launched the F freighter with an order for five aircraft plus three options from Air France. The freighter can carry a revenue payload of t ,lb up to 9,km 4,nm. Boeing rolled out the first F in May and the first flight was in July The first freighter was delivered to Air France in February TAAG placed an order for two aircraft in October Cathay Pacific placed an order for eight freighters and four ER aircraft in August Thai Airways International confirmed the order for six ER aircraft the same month.
Singapore Airlines announced its plan to purchase the ER aircraft in August Hong Kong Airlines announced its plan in March to procure six Fs, 30 s and two aircraft. Lufthansa selected the Boeing F in March for its air freight operations.
Boeing also received an order for six ER aircraft from the Qatar airways in June The two-pilot flight deck is fitted with a five-screen electronic flight information system with five, 8in mm colour liquid crystal displays, including two primary flight displays, two navigation displays and an engine indication and crew alerting system EICAS display. The central control panel between the two pilots holds three multipurpose control and display units for the aircraft information management system, systems information, flight management functions, thrust control and communications.
A two-bunk flight crew rest area is installed on the port side of the flight deck. Optional installation is a crew rest module in the underfloor section. The crew rest module houses six bunks and occupies the same floor area as a standard 96in cargo pallet.
The aircraft has a triple-redundant digital autopilot and flight director designed by Rockwell Collins. The BAE Systems formerly Marconi Avionics triple digital primary flight computers provide the control limits and flight envelope protection commands. Each of the three primary flight computers contains three different and separately programmed bit microprocessors, a Motorola, Intel and AMD, to manage the fly-by-wire functions.
The aircraft is equipped with a Honeywell all colour weather radar. Boeing manufactures the flight deck and forward section of the cabin, the wing, tail and the engine nacelles. Boeing subcontracts the manufacture of components and systems, which are transported to Boeing for final assembly and tests.
The aircraft has two pod-mounted turbofan engines below the leading edges of the wings. The main fuel tanks are installed in the wing torsion box with the reserve and surge tanks on the inboard side of the wing. The first delivery to Air France took place on April 29, The ER, which combined the 's added capacity with the ER's range, became the top-selling variant in the late s, benefiting as airlines replaced comparable four-engine models with twinjets for their lower operating costs. The second long-range model, the LR, rolled out on February 15, , and completed its first flight on March 8, On November 10, , the first LR set a record for the longest non-stop flight of a passenger airliner by flying 11, nautical miles 21, km eastward from Hong Kong to London.
Lasting 22 hours and 42 minutes, the flight surpassed the LR's standard design range and was logged in the Guinness World Records. The production freighter model, the F, rolled out on May 23, The maiden flight of the F, which used the structural design and engine specifications of the LR along with fuel tanks derived from the ER, occurred on July 14, Initially second to the as Boeing's most profitable jetliner, the became the company's most lucrative model in the s.
By , the airliner comprised the bulk of wide-body revenues for the Boeing Commercial Airplanes division. In , orders for second-generation models approached aircraft, and in November of that year, Boeing announced that all production slots were sold out to In , Boeing announced plans to increase production from 5 aircraft per month to 7 aircraft per month by mid, and 8.
Complete assembly of each ER requires 49 days. In November , assembly began on the 1,th , a ER model for Emirates; which was rolled out in March In late , the FAA assigned a common type rating to the and , allowing pilots qualified on either aircraft to operate both models, due to related design features. The smaller was the first stage of a replacement aircraft initiative called the Boeing Yellowstone Project. Reportedly, the could eventually be replaced by a new aircraft family, Yellowstone 3, which would draw upon technologies from the By the late s, the was facing increased potential competition from Airbus' planned A XWB and internally from proposed variants, both airliners that promise fuel efficiency improvements.
As a consequence, the ER received an engine and aerodynamics improvement package for reduced drag and weight. In , the variant further received a 5, lb 2, kg maximum zero-fuel weight increase, equivalent to a higher payload of passengers; its GEB1 engines received a More changes were targeted for late , including possible extension of the wingspan, along with other major changes, including a composite wing, new powerplant, and different fuselage lengths.
Emirates was reportedly working closely with Boeing on the project, possibly being the launch customer for new versions. Four of the aircraft were already flying as of February Mindful of the long time required to bring the X to the market, Boeing continued to develop improvement packages which improve fuel efficiency, as well as lower prices for the existing product. As of February , the backlog of undelivered s totals aircraft, representing just under three years of current production at 8.
GE will improve the fan module and the high pressure compressor stage-1 disk in the GE turbofan, as well as reduce clearances between the tips of the turbine blades and the shroud during cruise.
These improvements, of which the latter is the most important and was derived from work to develop the , will, GE says, lower fuel burn by 0. Boeing's wing modification will deliver the remainder. The ER will shed 1, lb. Boeing will replace the fuselage crown with tie rods and composite integration panels, similar to those used on the New flight control software will eliminate the need for the tail skid by keeping the tail off the runway surface regardless of the extent to which pilots command the elevators.
Boeing is also redesigning the inboard flap fairings to reduce drag by reducing pressure on the underside of the wing. The outboard raked wingtip will have a divergent trailing edge, a "poor man's airfoil" Boeing's description originally developed for the McDonnell Douglas MD project.
Another change involves elevator trim bias. In September , Boeing released more details on proposed third-generation versions, collectively referred to as X and tentatively designated and The was to feature a fuselage stretch of 7. Wingspan for both models was expected to increase from the current ft 7 in In May , Boeing's board of directors gave formal permission for its Commercial Airplanes division to start offering the X to customers. The X program includes two models: the , which is stretched beyond the length of the ER, and the , which is sized close to the ER but with ultra-long range capability.
On September 19, , Lufthansa's supervisory board gave approval to order 34 Boeing aircraft to replace their s, in advance of the program's official launch. In October , Boeing announced that its U. Louis as well as Russian facilities in Moscow would support the X design effort. These included orders for aircraft from Emirates, 25 aircraft from Etihad Airways, and 50 aircraft from Qatar Airways; the former two orders encompass both and variants and the latter is entirely for the By April , with cumulative sales surpassing those of the , the became the best-selling wide-body airliner; at existing production rates, the aircraft was on track to become the most-delivered wide-body airliner by mid Boeing introduced a number of advanced technologies with the design, including fully digital fly-by-wire controls, fully software-configurable avionics, Honeywell LCD glass cockpit flight displays, and the first use of a fiber optic avionics network on a commercial airliner.
Boeing made use of work done on the canceled Boeing 7J7 regional jet, which utilized similar versions of the chosen technologies. In , Boeing began offering the option of cockpit electronic flight bag computer displays. In , Boeing announced that the upgraded X models would incorporate airframe, systems, and interior technologies from the In designing the as its first fly-by-wire commercial aircraft, Boeing decided to retain conventional control yokes rather than change to sidestick controllers as used in many fly-by-wire fighter aircraft and in many Airbus airliners.
Along with traditional yoke and rudder controls, the cockpit features a simplified layout that retains similarities to previous Boeing models. The fly-by-wire system also incorporates flight envelope protection, a system that guides pilot inputs within a computer-calculated framework of operating parameters, acting to prevent stalls, overspeeds, and excessively stressful maneuvers.
This system can be overridden by the pilot if deemed necessary. The fly-by-wire system is supplemented by mechanical backup. The wings on the feature a supercritical airfoil design that is swept back at The wings are designed with increased thickness and a longer span than previous airliners, resulting in greater payload and range, improved takeoff performance, and a higher cruising altitude. The wings also serve as fuel storage, with longer-range models able to carry up to 47, US gallons , L of fuel.
This capacity allows the LR to operate ultra-long-distance, trans-polar routes such as Toronto to Hong Kong. In , a new wing made of composite materials was introduced for the upgraded X, with a wider span and design features based on the 's wings. Large folding wingtips, 21 feet 6. Folding wingtips reemerged as a design feature at the announcement of the upgraded X in Smaller folding wingtips of 11 feet 3.
These smaller folding wingtips are less complex than those proposed for earlier s, and internally only affect the wiring needed for wingtip lights. The airframe incorporates the use of composite materials, which comprise nine percent of its original structural weight all models outside the and Elements made from composite material include the cabin floor and rudder.
The main fuselage cross-section is circular and tapers rearward into a blade-shaped tail cone with a port-facing auxiliary power unit. The aircraft also features the largest landing gear and the biggest tires ever used in a commercial jetliner.
The six-wheel bogies are designed to spread the load of the aircraft over a wide area without requiring an additional centerline gear. This helps reduce weight and simplifies the aircraft's braking and hydraulic systems. Each tire of a ER six-wheel main landing gear can carry a load of 59, lb 26, kg , which is heavier than other wide-bodies such as the The aircraft has triple redundant hydraulic systems with only one system required for landing. A ram air turbine, a small retractable propeller which can provide emergency power, is also fitted in the wing root fairing.
The original interior, also known as the Boeing Signature Interior, features curved panels, larger overhead bins, and indirect lighting. Seating options range from six abreast in first class up to 10 across in economy.
The 's windows were the largest of any current commercial airliner until the , and measure inch mm by inch mm in size all models outside the and The cabin also features "Flexibility Zones", which entails deliberate placement of water, electrical, pneumatic, and other connection points throughout the interior space, allowing airlines to move seats, galleys, and lavatories quickly and more easily when adjusting cabin arrangements.
Several aircraft have also been fitted with VIP interiors for non-airline use. Boeing designed a hydraulically damped toilet seat cover hinge that closes slowly. In , Boeing introduced overhead crew rests as an option on the Located above the main cabin and connected via staircases, the forward flight crew rest contains two seats and two bunks, while the aft cabin crew rest features multiple bunks.
The Signature Interior has since been adapted for other Boeing wide-body and narrow-body aircraft, including NG, , , and newer models, including all ER models.
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