General Aviation Thread

[John Fedup]

Yet another bad news report about the MAX, stuff found in the fuel tanks. Apparently leaving stuff behind isn’t limited to KC46 production jets. Maybe it is time for a comprehensive inspection of Dreamliners.
Boeing 737 Max Setback as Debris Found in Fuel Tanks

 

[swerve]

Boeing has some serious issues with production control & QA nowadays, & not just on the 737 & 767.
'I've begged my family not to fly Dreamliners': Former Boeing quality manager blows the whistle

Damaged 787 parts which should have been scrapped not accounted for according to the FAA, & a now former manager saying he'd seen parts taken out of scrap bins & put on aircraft, metal shavings left in aircraft, including around wiring - not good.

 

[John Fedup]

@swerve ... a sad situation for a premier aerospace corporation. Unfortunately they are not the only important company that is willing to sacrifice QA for enhanced share value and quarterly returns.

 

[KiwiRob]

Boeing has some serious issues with production control & QA nowadays, & not just on the 737 & 767.
'I've begged my family not to fly Dreamliners': Former Boeing quality manager blows the whistle

Damaged 787 parts which should have been scrapped not accounted for according to the FAA, & a now former manager saying he'd seen parts taken out of scrap bins & put on aircraft, metal shavings left in aircraft, including around wiring - not good.

Until a Dreamliner crashes I doubt the FAA will do much if plaything.

 

[John Fedup]

Until a Dreamliner crashes I doubt the FAA will do much if plaything.

I think the FAA is well aware how of how much of a beating their reputation took over the MAX. I believe they want to get back on track.

 

[hauritz]

Boeing has some serious issues with production control & QA nowadays, & not just on the 737 & 767.
'I've begged my family not to fly Dreamliners': Former Boeing quality manager blows the whistle

Damaged 787 parts which should have been scrapped not accounted for according to the FAA, & a now former manager saying he'd seen parts taken out of scrap bins & put on aircraft, metal shavings left in aircraft, including around wiring - not good.

This, of course, brings into the question of quality control across their entire range of aircraft. While I realise that all modern aircraft are pretty safe I have become aware of a public perception that Boeing aircraft are not as safe as Airbus. I travel a lot these days and I noticed that even my wife breaths a sigh of relief when she sees that the aircraft we are about to embark on isn't a Boeing.

Boeing, as a brand, has taken quite a hit over the last few years.

Personally it isn't just safety issues I am concerned about. I also think about the cabin environment and I have noticed that Airbus's aircraft generally seem to be a lot quieter than your typical Boeing. It seems to me that Boeing does need to lift its game across the board.

 

[oldsig127]

This, of course, brings into the question of quality control across their entire range of aircraft. While I realise that all modern aircraft are pretty safe I have become aware of a public perception that Boeing aircraft are not as safe as Airbus. I travel a lot these days and I noticed that even my wife breaths a sigh of relief when she sees that the aircraft we are about to embark on isn't a Boeing.

Boeing, as a brand, has taken quite a hit over the last few years.

What goes around, comes around. Twenty years ago Boeing fanboys were chanting "If it's not Boeing, I'm not going!"

Karma is a bitch. "If it's a Boeing, I'm not going!"

oldsig

 

[Ananda]

TUI Becomes Latest Airline To Drop Boeing 737 MAX Branding - Simple Flying

Semantics ? Anyway some Airlines like TUI already plan to take MAX name out. Thus MAX 8 will be put as 737-8. Interesting to see if Boeing it self will rename MAX.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

This, of course, brings into the question of quality control across their entire range of aircraft. While I realise that all modern aircraft are pretty safe I have become aware of a public perception that Boeing aircraft are not as safe as Airbus. I travel a lot these days and I noticed that even my wife breaths a sigh of relief when she sees that the aircraft we are about to embark on isn't a Boeing.

Boeing, as a brand, has taken quite a hit over the last few years.

Personally it isn't just safety issues I am concerned about. I also think about the cabin environment and I have noticed that Airbus's aircraft generally seem to be a lot quieter than your typical Boeing. It seems to me that Boeing does need to lift its game across the board.

Well, its a fact, compared to the cabin of a 737NG/MAX, the one from an A320 is much quiter and spacier, a 3,70 m wide cabin is just spacier than a 3,54 m one.

 

[FormerDirtDart]

OK, it was hard to stop laughing
I think they might want to make the fuselage a bit wider, so they can fit a couple feet of sound proofing into the cabin.
Sometimes Twitter delivers gold Tony Osborne on Twitter

Tony Osborne @Rotorfocus
The ultimate VIP machine? @BellFlight is proposing a VIP V-22 #Osprey for the head of state mission with what appears to be a rather plush interior. #imhelicon

There's a brochure, but, I don't think I can upload a PDF.
If you use the link: Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey and scroll down to Specifications you can download their Bell Boeing V-22 VIP Brochure

Edit: Oh, OK, the PDF attached. Couldn't see if it had in the preview.

 

[ngatimozart]

The UK is withdrawing from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and its own Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will take responsibility for UK aircraft certification and safety regulation UK ‘Will Leave’ EASA, Says British Transportation Secretary | Aviation Week Network. This will occur after BREXIT occurs on 31/12/2020. In the meantime the UK will adhere to EASA rules and regulations etc.

 

[Ananda]

Ryanair Still Committed To Chinese Built Aircraft Amid Airbus Boeing Duopoly

simpleflying.com

The Chinese must give a lot of Financial Incentives to Ryan Air to stick with C919. The plane will be inferior to A320 Neo, Max even MC-21 (as even MC-21 will be lighter and have more range). Well it can still be used to operate within Euro Zone, and if Chinese give Ryan Air very attractive packages, the perhaps the margin will still be compensated the Economics of other Airliners.

 

[ngatimozart]

Ryanair Still Committed To Chinese Built Aircraft Amid Airbus Boeing Duopoly

simpleflying.com

The Chinese must give a lot of Financial Incentives to Ryan Air to stick with C919. The plane will be inferior to A320 Neo, Max even MC-21 (as even MC-21 will be lighter and have more range). Well it can still be used to operate within Euro Zone, and if Chinese give Ryan Air very attractive packages, the perhaps the margin will still be compensated the Economics of other Airliners.

Gotta wonder. Will the C919 get EASA approval?

 

[At lakes]

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

Thai airlines aircraft under what appears to be push back from the terminal hit a $60million Gulfstream and there was no other aircraft anywhere near them.

 

[ngatimozart]

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

Thai airlines aircraft under what appears to be push back from the terminal hit a $60million Gulfstream and there was no other aircraft anywhere near them.

Oooh bugger. That please explains will make for interesting reading. It's not as though it's a busy airport either.

 

[ngatimozart]

Very interesting reading: Opinion: Rethinking ‘Shareholders First' | Aviation Week Network. Boy does it shaft blame for the Boeing fiasco at the McDonnell Douglas cabal lead by Harry Stonecipher who were disciples of Milton Friedman who was the architect and leading prophet of the "shareholders first before anything else" religion. Didn't realise that GE and Honeywell were devoted followers as well. Anyway, apparently that religion maybe crashing and burning now. I hope it is.

 

[ngatimozart]

US House of Representatives investigation report into the Boeing 737 MAX will find fault with both the FAA and Boeing, U.S. House panel faults FAA review of Boeing 737 MAX, plane design failures. Federal prosecutors are reviewing the aircraft's certification so some people at the FAA and Boeing will be somewhat unhappy at that thought, and they should be $hi**ing bricks.

 

[swerve]

Boeing's been rather good in the past at capturing procurement departments (e.g. the original Boeing vs Airbus AAR competition, which was Boeing's for the taking if it played it straight, but which it blew by turning the USAF procurement staff into rather too obvious Boeing cheerleaders looking forward to Boeing jobs . . . ), & it looks as if it's also been good at regulatory capture. So the same success - but also the same mistake, not knowing when it's going too far.

 

[At lakes]

The World’s Largest Airplane Flies Again

They finally got this big thing back in the air. The other one is still in bits or not completed most probably never will be. Anyone know if its true that the Russians acquired the technology for the engine for the 225 and the 125 via a reversed engineered DC10 engine, which they borrowed from Afghan Airlines whilst they were there during the 80's war.

 

[Takao]

The World’s Largest Airplane Flies Again

They finally got this big thing back in the air. The other one is still in bits or not completed most probably never will be. Anyone know if its true that the Russians acquired the technology for the engine for the 225 and the 125 via a reversed engineered DC10 engine, which they borrowed from Afghan Airlines whilst they were there during the 80's war.

It may be true - but the dates don't seem to line up. The Progress D-18T stems from the mid-1970s, and while Afghanistan did operate a single DC-10 that was sold in 1985, the invasion wasn't until 1979. Obviously access to the DC-10 may have been possible in the intervening time, but I wouldn't have thought in enough detail to properly re-engineer something major.

That's not to say there might not be some parts that were tweaked / engineered from Western examples. There were certainly enough widebodies around the world that the Soviets could access.