Boeing commences wind tunnel testing of 777X

Boeing has commenced low-speed wind tunnel tests for its 777X aircraft. Testing is being performed on a 5% scale model of the baseline 777X, measuring about 4.22 meters (166 inches) long with a wing span of 3.92 meters (154 inches). Hundreds of sensors are embedded in the model to measure pressure to determine the in-flight loads as well as provide valuable diagnostics of the aerodynamic performance of a given design.

These tests will measure airplane performance with a variety of settings to simulate take-off and landing conditions.

This is the first major milestone in airplane development, which validates performance models and generates a vast amount of data that Boeing's engineering teams will use to design the airplane as development progresses.

Testing started on December 5th at QinetiQ's test facility in Farnborough, United Kingdom, and is expected to last approximately five months. Testing also will be conducted next year at the Boeing Transonic Wind Tunnel in Seattle to further validate 777X high-speed performance projections.

Boeing indicates its on track to complete the top-level design in 2014 and reach firm configuration in 2015.

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Photo: US Navy Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet NJ135 of VFA-122 turning, burning, condensing at Farnborough

Shot at the limit of 400mm, Boeing Super Hornet NJ135 belonging to the US Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 122 (VFA-122), The Flying Eagles, pulls high G's away from the admiring crowd, including me. Condensation, afterburners burning bright orange, and their massive heat obscuring part of the aircraft, this photo has it all. Incidentally, NJ135 also performed at Aero India last year.

Click on the image to see a high resolution view.

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Farnborough air show 2012 images: Eurofighter Typhoon condensates and Qatar Airways Boeing 787 glows

Couple of more interesting images from the 2012 edition of the Farnborough International air show.

The Eurofighter Typhoon makes a full afterburner turn pulling extreme G's and causing condensation around the aircraft.

The second last fighter of Block 10 production and a tail number EH, BS094 is build no.1355 serial no. ZK333 of the 6th squadron. First flight on 12/Jan/2012, and delivered to the RAF for stationing at Coningsby 28/Mar/2012.

You can see the fighter at the start of its program in another extreme right turn manoeuvre here.

Boeing showcased Qatar Airways' first 787-8 Dreamliner in an air show flight demonstration, the first by the airframer in many years. The sun causing star-burst reflections on test registration N10187, while the extreme climb brings out wisps of condensation.

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Picture: Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 Royal Air Force at Farnborough air show

It has been a grey, cloudy, rainy start to the Farnborough air show 2012.

In the midst of the gloomy weather are these twin bright orange discs of flame. A picture of a Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 with its afterburners burning a bright orange for your enjoyment.

Soon after lift off, even before the wheel covers fold back in to position, the Typhoon performs a tight right turn climb manoeuvre away from the runway and spectators, the hot jet wash from the afterburners obscures part of the aircraft.

Tail number EH is a very new aircraft. It was the second last fighter of the Block 10 production. BS094 is build no. 1355, serial no. ZK333. It had its first flight on 12/Jan/2012, and was delivered to the RAF on 28/Mar/2012. It is now part of the 6th squadron RAF, stationed at Coningsby.

Special thanks to Bangalore Aviation photographer Vedant for his quick processing of this photo.

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Farnborough Orders on Day 2

Once again, this is courtesy of Aspire Aviation.

Airbus

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	Arkia Israel Airlines	4	A321neo	Agreement
10th July	Cathay Pacific	10	A350-1000	Agreement; convert 16 existing -900 into -1000
10th July	Drukair	1	A319	Firm

Boeing

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	Air Lease Corp (ALC)	60	737 MAX 8	Firm; Reconfirmation rights for 25 more
9th July	Air Lease Corp (ALC)	15	737 MAX 9
10th July	GECAS	75	737 MAX 8	Agreement
10th July	GECAS	25	737-800	Agreement
10th July	ALAFCO	20	737 MAX 8	Agreement

Bombardier

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
10th July	Air Baltic	10	CS300	LOI; purchase rights for 10 more

Pratt & Whitney

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	IndiGo	300	PW1100G-JM	Firm
9th July	CIT	60	PW1100G-JM	Firm
9th July	Cebu Pacific	60	PW1100G-JM	Firm
9th July	Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS)	100	PW1100G-JM	MoU

CFM

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	Air Lease Corp (ALC)	150	CFM Leap-1B
10th July	GECAS	150	CFM Leap-1B	Agreement
10th July	GECAS	50	CFM56-7BE	Agreement
10th July	ALAFCO	40	CFM Leap-1B	Agreement

Embraer

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	Hebei Airlines	5	E-190s	Booked in Q2 backlog

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Farnborough Orders on Day One

Courtesy of Aspire Aviation, the following table provides a breakdown of announced orders on Day 1 of the Farnborough Air Show.

Airbus

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	Arkia Israel Airlines	4	A321neo	Agreement

Boeing

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	Air Lease Corp (ALC)	60	737 MAX 8	Reconfirmation rights for 25 more
9th July	Air Lease Corp (ALC)	15	737 MAX 9

Pratt & Whitney

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	IndiGo	300	PW1100G-JM
9th July	CIT	60	PW1100G-JM
9th July	Cebu Pacific	60	PW1100G-JM	For 30 firm A321neos
9th July	Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS)	100	PW1100G-JM	MoU

CFM

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	Air Lease Corp (ALC)	150	CFM Leap-1B

Embraer

Date	Customer	Quantity	Model	Remarks
9th July	Hebei Airlines	5	E-190s	Booked in Q2 backlog

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IndiGo firms up its contract with Pratt & Whitney to power its Airbus 320neos

The first day of the Farnborough Air Show has been relatively quiet on the orders front. But Pratt & Whitney has announced a slew of engine deals for Airbus' A320neo, and included in the deal was a firming of the contract between P&W and India's largest low cost carrier (LCC) IndiGo Airlines to provide PW1100G-JM (otherwise known as the Geared Turbofan or GTF) engines for IndiGo's A320neos. The selection of Pratt & Whitney engines to power the A320neo was first announced at last year's Paris Air Show, but a fully firm contract was not signed until today at Farnborough.

IndiGo had this to say about the deal.

“With oil prices on the rise, we are more satisfied than ever with our selection of the Pratt & Whitney PurePower engine,” said IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh. “As a result of the lower engine operating cost, we are confident that we can maintain our competitive low fares while simultaneously offering our customers the most environmentally friendly way to fly.”

Meanwhile Pratt & Whitney, which currently trails its rival CFM (a joint venture between GE Aviation of the US and Snecma of France) in market share in the engine battle for both the large narrowbody segment, and specifically on the Airbus A320neo, was happy to sign the deal

“This IndiGo order represents one of the largest engine orders in Pratt & Whitney’s long history," said Todd Kallman, president, Commercial Engines & Global Services for Pratt & Whitney. “We are excited by the opportunity to power IndiGo’s A320neo fleet and fly its customers with the dependable Pratt & Whitney PurePower engines.”

IndiGo has 150 A320neos on order and is one of the earliest customers for the aircraft, which will enter into service (EIS) in 2015 with Virgin America.

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Boeing makes Qatar Airways' first 787 first flight ahead of Farnborough air show

Boeing has achieved some peace of mind, by making the first flight of Qatar Airways' first 787 Dreamliner, just ahead of the upcoming Farnborough air show.

The airline's capricious CEO, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, is known for his non-diplomatic criticism, often seen as tantrums, of airframe manufacturers, especially at air shows. Boeing's competitor Airbus, was at the receiving end of his ire at the recent Dubai air show. Boeing with its delivery delays of the 787 has come in for severe criticism by Al Baker since 2009. 


First flights of early adopters of the 787, Japan Air Lines and Air India, did not merit a mention on the blog of Randy Tinseth, Boeing's Vice President, Marketing, but the first 787 flight of Qatar Airways sure did. A good outflanking move by Boeing to ensure it peace of mind at Farnborough.

Image courtesy Randy Tinseth's blog.

Qatar Airways is expected to take delivery of five 787's this year. The airline has repeated stated its intention on being the first, to offer 787 Dreamliner flights to and from London.

The Qatar 787 will be displayed at Farnborough as part of airline's UK publicity drive since the London route is very important to it. After the show Qatar plans to put the aircraft in to regional service within the Gulf for several weeks to train crews. The airline is expected to launch its 787 London service in late August.

The balance aircraft will be put in to service on other prestigious routes as they are delivered. We are posting one picture from Randy's blog. Please visit his blog and see the rest.

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Farnborough 2010 - bounty of orders for the Boeing-Airbus duopoly

As the world economy slowly rebounds, the 2010 edition of the Farnborough air show is turning out to be an order feast for the duopoly of Boeing and Airbus S.A.S, along with orders for newcomers Sukhoi and regional jet manufacturer Embraer.

The show began with Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh saying

"The market is clearly coming back and I feel very confident about how we are positioned to regain -- and retain -- leadership in this business,"

Aircraft operators and lessors are placing orders keeping in view long delivery times typical of the airframe industry, and expecting a return to the good times.

It appears that many of the orders have been already decided but shown on the respective manufacturers' order lists as "unidentified customer" and have been converted in to announcements in the media spotlight of the show.

Uresh Sheth has an impressive compilation of the orders announced till day 2 of the show.

Airbus:
Aeroflot - 11 x A330-300
Air Lease Corp - 31 x A320, 20 x A321
GECAS - 60 x A320
Hong Kong Airlines - converted 15 XA330 to 15 x A350 (MoU) ordered 10 x A330 (MoU)
LAN - 50 x A320 (MoU)
RBS Aviation - 53 x A320 (previously booked as unidentified customer)
Total - 91 x A320, 20 x A321, 11 x A330

ATR:
Air Lease Corp - 10 x ATR-72-600
Azul - 20 x ATR-72-600
Golden Airlines - 2 x ATR-72-500
Lao Airlines - 2 x ATR-72-500
Total - 30 x ATR-72-600, 4 x ATR-72-500

Boeing:
Air Lease Corp - 54 x 737 + 6 x 737 (options)
Avolon Air Lease - 12 x 737 (ordered in 2009)
Emirates - 12 x 777-300ER (30 total, 18 were previously ordered this year as an unidentified customer)
GECAS - 40 x 737-800
Norwegian Air Shuttle - 15 x 737-800 (exercise of purchase rights)
RBS Aviation - 43 x 737-800 (previously booked as an unidentified customer)
Royal Jordanian Airlines - 3 x 787-8 (previously ordered as an unidentified customer)
Total - 109 x 737, 12 x 777-300ER

Bombardier:
Qatar Airways - 2 x G5000 Business Jets, 1 x Challenger 605
Total - 2 x G5000, 1 x Challenger 605

Embraer
Air Lease Corp - 15 x E190
Azul - 5 x E195
Flybe - 35 x E175
Trip Airlines - 2 x E190
Total - 35 x E175, 17 x E190, 5 x E195

Sukhoi:
Kartika Airlines - 30 x SSJ-100 Super Jets
Orient Thai Airlines - 12 x SSJ-100 Super Jets
Total - 42 x SSJ-100

Day 3 tally


Today's additional tally till the time of this report is:

Airbus:
Thai Airways - 7 x A330-300s (MOU, delivery from end 2011)
Garuda Indonesia - 6 x A330-200s (Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines, 2 class cabin config, delivery from 4th Qtr 2012)
Germania - 5 x A319-100 (MOU converted to order, CFM engines, single class 150 seats, delivery from 2011
Alafco, Kuwait (lessor) - 12 x A350-900s (converted from existing 12 x A350-8 order)

Boeing:
Okay Airways, China - 10 x 737-800s (previously ordered as an unidentified customer)
Qatar Airways - 2 x 777-200LRs (previously booked as an unidentified customer)
Air Austral, Reunion islands, 2 x 777-200LRs (previously booked as an unidentified customer)
Air Austral chairman and CEO gives an interesting reason for choosing the 777LR

"The 777-200LR is the only wide-body airplane that can fly non-stop to Paris with a full payload from our short runway on the island of Mayotte,"

American Airlines, 35 x 737-800s (additional options added to existing 84x737 order)

Sukhoi
Pearl Aircraft Corp., Bermuda (lessor) - 30 x SSJ-100 Super Jets + 15 options (first North American customer for the Sukhoi SuperJet) (Thanks to Flightblogger Jon Ostrower for the info)

For sure more is to come.

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