Category Archives: Aircraft Production

Peeling away ten Thousand dots, for British Airways’ first A380!

08 Monday Apr 2013

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a380_tailThe Airbus A380’s tail is finished separately, and then attached to the unpainted fuselage of the beast. Airbus released photos showing the painted first Airbus A380 for British Airways, and stated that the tail is made of approximately 10,000 individual dots on the tailfin to produce the effect of the Union Flag.

A close observation of the photo to the left (click to enlarge) will reveal that the fuselage is painted (flat finish), but the tail is made from a stencil (dotted finish), with the near-ten thousand dots that had to be peeled off. Unlike other liveries, the British Airways’ Union Flag isn’t made of a flat colour, requiring the stencil, as opposed to a simple paint job.

A330 Production Ramps up, but Patrick Piedrafita isn’t quite right.

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Aircraft Production, General Aviation Interest, Technical

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A330_FALAirbus has announced that its Airbus A330 production rate has touched 10 aircraft a month, which is significant for a wide body airliner, and the highest production rate of any Airbus widebody aircraft.

Airbus claims that the Airbus A330 is “the most popular in its category”. A330 Programme head Patrick Piedrafita said more than 800 sales have been logged since Airbus’ competitor launched its 787, validating the A330’s sustained competitiveness. That statement is vague.

The 767-300ER, and the 767-400ER, together have 621 orders, of which only 9 are unfulfilled. These two models compete with the A330-200 in capacity, but fall short in range by more than 1,500NM. There are totally 575 orders for the Airbus A330-200. Yes, the Airbus wins considering it is a younger airplane and offers more range and capacity. Then, the 787 was introduced to replace the 767 and compete against the popular A330-200.

But the Boeing 787-8 has orders for 535 airplanes, of which 50 have been delivered. If the 787’s issues are resolved, and it re-enters service and production, it quickly eclipses the popularity of the Airbus A330-200: It offers a lot more, for the same price as the shorter Airbus A330, while offering the same range and passenger capacity. Which explains the orders for the 787-8. The 787, was introduced in service in 2011, while the A330 entered service in 1992. Considering this gap, the 787’s sales performance is way better, underlining its competitiveness. If A330 Programme head Patrick Piedrafita says the A330 is still competitive, he must realize that if the 787 program ran smooth, the A330-200 line would have closed. It isn’t the 787, but the 787 program that still makes the A330-200 a safe bet.

And yes, he must be reminded that the A330-300 is a different aircraft.

A333_A332The Airbus A330-300 competes against the Boeing 777-200 and 777-200ER aircraft. It has the same passenger capacity (440 max pax), but has a range that falls in between the -200 and the -200ER variant. The 777-200 and the -200ER together have orders for 510 airplanes, while the A330-300 has a order book total of 622 airplanes. The A330 family does not compete with the other 777 models (-200LR, -300, -300ER). The Boeing 777-200LR, 777-300 and 777-300ER compete with the Airbus A340-500 and -600, which are now out of production.

Although the A330-300 boasts a range similar to the 777-300, it falls short in maximum passenger capacity by 110 passengers. The A330-300 costs lesser than the 777-200 and 200ER aircraft, and is cheaper to operate. Yes, the Airbus 330 is a lot more competitive than competing 777 models, and stands as the best aircraft in its category, but that doesn’t mean it is more competitive than the 787.

Infact, the A330-300 is a lot more popular than the A330-200. But Airbus can’t compare the A330-300 with the 787. Apples and Oranges don’t look, smell, and taste alike, even if they have 2 wings and two engines.

A330_Orders_Operation

Boeing 727: The “Original” Airbus

09 Tuesday Oct 2012

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The Boeing Advertisement, taken from a 1973 issue of Flight Global. Click to Enlarge.

Two online definitions of an “airbus” are:

  1. AIR-BUS: A short-range or medium-range commercial passenger airplane, especially one that is part of a frequent shuttle like service between two popular destinations. [Dictionary.com]
  2. An aircraft designed to carry a large number of passengers economically, esp. over relatively short routes. [Google]

Boeing 727 in a freighter configuration. Creative Commons.

Interestingly, that name is what we today associate with the European aerospace company. In the pre-Airbus era, “airbus” was a term used to describe airplanes, as above. When the Airbus Industrie was founded in 1970, they adopted the popular description. The Boeing 727 was one such very well known, and immensely successful “airbus” airplane back in its time, when it entered service in 1964.

Here is the more interesting part: American Airlines began flying the Boeing 727 in 1964, making it one of the first operators, and at one point of time, the airline operated as many as 182 Boeing 727s, making it the largest operator of the type.

This same operator, in as early as 1966, laid out the requirements for a Boeing 727 “replacement” on short to medium range routes. The requirements were: a passenger capacity of 250 – 300, twin aisle, twin engine, and good hot and high airfield performance.

The very next year, the British, French and German governments signed an MoU to develop the Airbus A300: a 300 seat, twin aisle, twin engine aircraft. With twice the maximum capacity (375 seats) of a Boeing 727 airliner (189 seats), it almost seemed like the A300 was “tailormade” for American Airlines. Intended for short and medium haul routes, the A300 was another “airbus”.

Airbus A300, flying for American Airlines. Creative Commons

American Airlines was the largest passenger operator of the type, with 35 Airbus A300s. The A300, very obviously, was deployed on routes with sufficient capacity, replacing two 727s with one A300, which in effect, was replacing 6 engines with 2, Two sets of Crew with one, and Two fuel guzzling 727s with an operationally more economical airplane that cost just twice as much as a single Boeing 727.

Possibly sensing trouble, Boeing came out with an advertisement in 1973 (beginning of article), a copy of which was published in one of that year’s print issue of Flightglobal. The advertisement was a direct hit at Airbus, in which it makes a very unfair comparison between the 727 and the alluded-to A300. At the time of the advertisement, Airbus was only 3 years old, and the A300 hadn’t yet entered service. The 727 was, at the time of the advertisement, flying for almost 10 years, and evidently, without a successful competitor, the “best selling” at that time, with orders crossing the 1000th mark in the September of 1972.

The introduction of the A300, amongst other newer airplanes, had its effect on the 727. It took 9 years to sell 1000 Boeing 727s, but 18years thereafter to sell 832 airplanes. The last Boeing 727 was built in 1984, and the 727 was retired from American Airlines’ fleet in 2002. The Airbus A300 was produced for 33 years: 12 years more than the 727, producing 561 airplanes. The A300 fleet was retired from American Airlines in 2009.

In short, the Airbus Industry was effectively formed to cater to an American Airlines requirement, and the American Airlines requirement stemmed from the Boeing 727. Which, if seen in another light, will appear as if the Boeing 727 gave birth to the Airbus Industrie.

The advertisement, very aptly, reads, “Because the Boeing 727 is the original airbus”.

Jet Airways: ATR 72-500s, 600s, and Training Flights

19 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Aircraft Production, Airport Operations, General Aviation Interest, Manufacturer, Operations

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A 15″ shutter lets VT-JCM streak through the sky, with its all white anti-collision light system.

Turboprop, again. Flying over the geographical south Bangalore, with multiple flight crew on a FAM (Familiarization) course, VT-JCM, an ATR-72-500, has been flying from the last few hours, performing around 15 touch-and-goes, and atleast one ILS approach for runway 27, VOBG.

JCM, the 4 year 3 month old leased airplane flying for Jet Airways, India, is part of a dwindling fleet of ATR 72-500s at Jet Airways. The once 20 strong fleet is now down to 18, with VT-JCF and VT-JCH having been sent back to the lessors.

Another 4 ATR 72-500s are on their way out, and this will bring the fleet down to 14 ATR 72-500. Why then would you have a FAM flight for first officers when the fleet is being downsized?

Because the 6 ATR-72-500s are being replaced by 6 ATR 72-600s from GECAS, possibly in November 2012.

The sad part is, that although ATR took great pains to ensure near identical cockpits for absolutely identical airplanes (the only significant difference is the cockpit, operationally speaking), the DGCA does not allow the cross-utilization of crew flying the two variants of the ATR 72. This will drive the turboprop crew to be further broken up into two sets.

Cockpits of the ATR 72-500 (left) and ATR 72-600 (right). While the -600 is a full glass cockpit, essentially they’re the same cockpits of the same airplane.

As of today, only two examiners in the company have been trained (rated) on the ATR 72-600, one of whom is the Chief Pilot of the turboprop fleet.

So maybe, to cater to this new spilt of DGCA recognized “incompatible” crew, training flights are underway on the ATR 72-500 to make up for first officers who will be moved to the -600 fleet.

The Training Flight

Training flights are interesting. Today’s training flight was being conducted by a “very, very senior” Bangalore based examiner.

Typically, the airplane is topped up to 4 tonnes of fuel, and the duration of a FAM flight for each crew member is typically around 45 minutes, with about 10 minutes per visual circuit. Each circuit burns around 200 kgs of fuel.

Conditions (18th-Sept-2012, 2300 local): Winds 290/06kts, Runway 27, Visibility 8km, Clouds 1500ft Scattered 8000ft, Temperature 22°, Dew point 19°, Qnh 1014.

So how do you go about flying the airplane on a circuit?

The visual pattern is performed at 1500ft AGL, which is 4500ft in the case of Bangalore. After takeoff and cleaning up the aircraft (gear up, flaps retract from 15°), the aircraft power is reduced to maintain 170kts on the downwind. Abeam the threshold (touchdown threshold), extend flaps to 15°, take the gear down, and start the timer. When 45 seconds elapses on the timer (+/- 1 second for every kt of headwind), the aircraft is turned to base, descending at about 500ft/min. The Autopilot, if ON, is disconnected for the turn, and the crew checks the vertical situation of the airplane in relation to the airfield, and adjusts the descent rate based on either the glide slope indication or the PAPI. When turning for finals, flaps are extended to 30°, and the approach speed maintained at around 100kts for a light aircraft in nil winds. With the main landing gear touching down, the nose is gently lowered while the flaps are retracted to 15° by the pilot not flying (captain in the case of FAM flights), and the take off config button pressed. Due to the immense aerodynamic braking of the ATR 72’s 12 propeller blades even at flight-idle-blade-pitch, the drag causes the speed to descend to around or below 70 kts. If below 70 kts, the captain takes over via the nose wheel steering, applies take off power, and the first officer has controls at 70kts and above. Rotate, and repeat.

Visual Pattern for the ATR 72, taken from a public site publishing a section of the FCOM.

 

 

 

Air India’s controversial Dream-liner: Made, and Delivered.

07 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Aerodynamics, Aircraft Production, General Aviation Interest, Manufacturer, Operations

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[787 production video at the end of article]

The 21st 787 to be delivered, and the first of 27 Dreamliners destined for Air India, VT-ANH was delivered yesterday to the ailing national flag carrier in a low key ceremony at Boeing’s South Carolina delivery centre. Scheduled to be ferried to Delhi today (Friday, 07 September 2012), the dreamliner is expected to touch down at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IATA: DEL, ICAO: VIDP) on the morning of Saturday, 08 September 2012.

The Dream-liner has actually been quite a nightmare for Air India. A four year production delay, and the antics of the Indian Government, and “pure-blood” Air India pilots, have made things quite distasteful. Air India pilots not wanting pre-merger Indian Airlines’ pilots to get rated on the 787, The Indian government (through Air India) demanding greater compensation from Boeing, and the 28th July un-contained GEnX-1B engine failure during high speed taxi trials on a 787 destined for Air India have  culminated in making the 787 appear (literally) like an blood smeared dagger responsible for an aviation bloodbath.

VT-ANH is Line number 35, and the manufacturer’s serial number 36276; its first flight having been conducted on the 25th of January, 2012. Of the other 787s produced / in production, VT-AND (Line 29) and VT-ANI (Line 46) are ready for delivery, while VT-ANA/B/C/E/G are in storage and undergoing rework. VT-ANJ (line 54) and VT-ANK (Line 60) are undergoing pre-flight preparations, while line numbers 65 and 72 (unregistered) are undergoing final assembly. Line Number 90, to be assembled in Everett, is also destined for Air India.

Rework is underway on the earlier line numbers (25, 26, 28,30, 32), possibly to fix the 10 – 15% reduced range (6900NM as against the promised 7700 – 8200NM) due to the 8% overweight airplane.

How does this airplane compare to the existing twin engine widebodies flying for Air India? 

Performance Comparisons between the four twin engine widebodies flying for AI. Note that performance figures for the 777 200LR and 300ER are based on FL350, LGD Wt: 200T, 7200NM. Data derived from graphs may have unspecified tolerances.

Seating on the widebodies, with seat pitch and sizes where available. Width and Pitch are in inches.

All technical information have been sourced from Airbus and Boeing published documents

In Photos: The 787: “Lining” the Dream, from back to front: India Aviation 2012

16 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Aircraft Production, Airshow, Exhibitors, General Aviation Interest, India Aviation 2012, Manufacturer

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I thought I’d be this cool dude by writing an extensive article on the 787 right away. Its too big, and too grand for that. In the time I will take to write up on the Dream, enjoy the photos from The Flying Engineer, who got one of the most detailed tours of the new bird from Boeing. And I adopted a reverse airflow direction over 238 economy seats and 18 business to cover this bird. Paid off!

The 787's aft Galley. In this airplane, the feeling of space is overwhelming!

A very kind Boeing employee showing me how much the seat can recline in the economy class. Notice that the bottom cushion for the thigh support slides forward as the seat reclines backward.

Another great feature on board this Boeing is the foot rest. Small additions like these make a long 8000NM flight more comfortable.

The Economy entertainment system. Providers of IFE are Panasonic and Thales. The nice handy remote can allow you to not only play your personal collection of movies through the provided USB socket, but can swipe your card for payments as well!

Another small yet useful feature: the 115V AC sockets for your appliances: available for every passenger under his/her seat!

Cabin clean shot: the economy 9 abreast seating (3-3-3) with a 32" seat pitch. Notice the feeling of space, the elevated ceiling, and the very curved overhead bins. It fools you into believing that there isn't sufficient overhead space. See the next photo to know more!

Mr. good guy from Boeing poses with a huge trolly bag and a charming smile, just to show what can fit in the overhead and how! See the next picture.

A comparison of the overhead bin, when opened, and retracted (closed). notice the space. And notice the illusion of a poor capacity when retracted. Its unbelievable.

All due to the overhead bin innovative design, you no longer have to crouch to reach your window seat. You can stand closer, and longer, for seats close to the window. There is comfort, there is space, and there is well-thought-of engineering.

Business Class: Notice the seats that allow you to lie flat and get a good flight's sleep!

Mr. goodguy from Boeing poses again just to show you how much space there is everywhere. A wide cabin, a tall ceiling, curved and non-intrusive overhead bins: all make for a very good feeling of space.

Another take of the Business class seats! They're wide, and they have a 78" seat pitch. The IFE seems good, but the comfort is unparalleled.

Photo comparison of the most talked about thing in the cabin: the polarised windows. There are no shades. Instead, electrically controlled windows (through polarisation) cut the amount of light that passes through. The left photo and the right are taken with the same camera settings of exposure & ISO. Yet, note that despite it being broad daylight, on selecting a complete cut, its pretty dark inside (look close at the left photo and you will see a faint blue image)

The small round control below each window is responsible for the dimming.

Wilson Chow, who is about 2 meters in height, trying to show me that there is no way you can ever feel claustrophobic on board this beauty!

As soon as you enter the aircraft from the front-left passenger door, you see this. The stairway to heaven: the overhead crew rest area!

A view from the crew rest area, looking down at the cockpit entrance.

Cozy enough, comfortable. Enough for the crew? See the next photo to find out!

Boeing's 787 Captain Pat Bearce, a 6ft 3" tall ex-marines pilot, showing me that he too is comfortable in the crew rest!

The holy deck. The most sought after tourist destination on board the airplane. the Head up Displays, the avionics, and the simple feeling of luxurious space is very luring.

Another view of the deck, from the Captain's seat. The Honeywell FMS running on a Smith's (now GE) Hardware.

The Head Up Display. Notice how the display doesn't need constant refocusing of the eye. Infact, the lady captain said she who needed glasses to see instruments up close now no longer needs any spectacles while flying. HUD's allow you to have lower approach minima in poor weather.

I regret not having caught her name (Edit: Capt. Ross). There she is showing me the 787's "soft" FMS, which is NOT a touch screen, as one would be fooled into believing. A mouse-like cursor is navigated to the desired software buttons and clicked. pretty much like a laptop touch pad.

Up close and even closer. The Capt's hand on the Cursor Control unit., and shes navigating her way through the FMS. Hard to use the cursor and the keypad left of the screen, both of which demand constant shifting of the hand? Not really, says her. Its faster than on the 777's hard-FMS, is what the lady cpatin tells me!

The only touch screens in the cockpit are the Electronic Flight Bags, or the EFB. Comfort. Ease. Style. Technology.

So similair to the 777's cockpit is the 787 that FAA allows crews to undergo only 5 days of transistion training. It hasbn't worked this way across the world, with complaints from ANA, but from a higher level: the controls, the layout, the functions are all very similar to the 777. Says Capt's Pat, "To me, I just forget what a 777 and a 787 are when flying. they're transparent to each other. Almost"

Fixed Wing Aircraft at India Aviation 2012

15 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Aircraft Production, Airport Operations, Airshow, Exhibitors, General Aviation Interest, India Aviation 2012, Manufacturer

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Making your presence felt goes a long way in winning customer confidence in the product. They can see it, feel it, and fly it, and decide on the spot. The pampering really can make a huge difference.

Here is the listing of 18 fixed wing aircraft on static/flying demo at India Aviation 2012, arranged by the manufacturer, in alphabetical order:

Airbus

Airbus ACJ (Regn: A6-AJC)

Boeing

Boeing 787-8 (Regn: N1015B)

Bombardier

Challenger 300 (Regn: N305CL)

Global 5000 (Regn: A7-CEE)

Learjet 60XR (Regn: N383LJ)

Q400 (Regn: VT-SUG) Note: On display for 2 hours only

Dassault 

Falcon 7X (Regn: VT-RGX)

Falcon 2000LX (F-HBIP)

Embraer

Legacy 650 (Regn: PT-TIE)

Phenom 100 (Regn; VT-AJI)

Phenom 300 (Regn: PT-TRT)

Gulfstream

Gulfstream G150 (Regn: N150GV)

Gulfstream G450 (Regn: N450GD)

Hawker-Beechcraft

Beechcraft King Air C90GTX (Regn: N8020J)

Hawker 900XP (Regn: N964XP)

Hawker 4000 (Regn: N860AP)

Piaggio Aero

P-180 AVANTI II (Regn: VT-RNB)

Sukhoi

Sukhoi Superjet 100 (Regn: RA97005)

The Phenomenon: Phenom 100: India Aviation 2012

15 Thursday Mar 2012

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There was a hurry, but then, there was room to fit in more. The Phenom 100 from Embraer is small to look at from the outside, and is a pain to get inside, but once seated, you’re in a nice, cozy business et of your own.

Interiors

I still have more technical details of the aircraft to bring out, but the Phenom 100 is pure bliss, and an aircraft perfect for anyone getting introduced to aviation by way of a private jet. The “Jet” is a phenomenon, and boosts your image in the eyes of an onlooker, simply because having an airplane with propellers outside (read: turboprop) is simply “too old and not good enough“.

SO go in for a jet! With the ability to seat 4 passengers very comfortably in the cabin, and take two extra persons by exercising a very innovative use of space, the Embraer Phenom 100 does an elegant job of accomodaing 8 souls on board, including 2 flight crew.

The 8th seat: the seat is the loo!

The figures are not firm, but to give you an idea: 500kgs of fuel burn in the first 1 hour of the flight, ~350kgs/h fuel burn in cruise, and a range of about 1200NM (NBAA Assumptions): Very neat for anyone wanting to travel medium sectors, like the Phenomm100 operator: Joyalukkas (a renowned jeweller), whose aircraft (VT-AJI) is on display at India Aviation 2012.

The flight deck is very nice, deviating from Embraer’s control column, but retaining the signature “motobike” yoke. The cockpit is very simple, and designed for single pilot operation, making every panel easily accessible. The ergonomics is extremely appealing. (scroll down to read more)

The Garmin Prodigy 100 Flightdeck.

Funny how the seats still have a control column cutout, despite there being no column!

The flightdeck employs the Prodigy Flight Deck 100, which is Garmin tailor made solution for the Embraer 100. The screens are bigger than the G1000, pack moe information without cluttering, and present information that is more on the lines of Embraer’s “format”. The enhanced situation awareness impacts flight safety. Positively, that is.

With a 30kg cargo hold in the nose, and a 160kg hold in the rear, the Phenom 100 is a perfect machine even for the heavy traveller. Its small, its economical, and more importantly, it’s a PHEMONenon to reckon with.

Sukhoi Superjet: India Aviation 2012

15 Thursday Mar 2012

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What do you do if you want your aircraft to gain Western Acceptance?

Use their systems. (SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE TEXT)

The symbology is 100% Airbus, thanks to Thales!

The inside of the EASA approved Sukhoi Superjet 100 confuses you at first. It has the size of the A320 cockpit, but the display aspect ratio of the Airbus A380′s. The navigation display eerily has the same symbology as the Airbus aircraft, has the side sticks, the same flap lever, similar cockpit layout, and yet something feels different. The Russian engineer seated beside me.

The all-Thales supplied cockpit of the SSJ100 is simply brilliant, in the least to say, especially considering that the airplane is Russian. There is no cockpit clutter, there are no analog instruments, there is no poorly finished panel: there are simply 2 things: a brilliant airplane, and a Russian Engineer who can’t speak English. Had it not been for him, you would have thought it to be an A360, if there was something like that.

I managed to speak to Panyukov Pavel, who was a very friendly gentleman on board the aircraft. He believes that the SSJ100 makes a difference right from the start, and is all about savings: Acquisition to Maintenance. The figures never came though.

That is probably why the Russian airplanes don’t sell well: the sellers aren’t aggressive enough. No figures, and then when asked for a comparison with the competition, pat comes the reply, “We don’t compare. we have to evaluate on an airline route basis”. Noone was inside the SSJ100, except for me, Pavel, and the Russian engineer.

5 Abreast Seating

The seating on the airplane is old compact school: 5 abreast, with 3 on the right and 2 on the left. Seats were very comfortable. And the feats performed by their stellar air force pilots were equally good. Question is: what does all this mean for an airline, a customer?

Firstly, there exists a market gap today, between the 70 seat ATR72/Q400 aircraft and the 180seat A320. The gap is very huge, a gap that isn’t closed much even by the 156 seat A319. The SSJ100 will do a good job of plugging that gap, in part, but the sales aggressiveness that others show simply lacks in the Sukhoi team. Their attitude is more on the lines of “the aircraft sells for itself”. Not quite; it doesn’t speak well.

An Airbus pilot will be at home with similar colour cockpit, similar sidesticks, similar tiller, similar thrust levers, similar everything. How much the exclusively made SaM146 engines and aerodynamic combination contribute in its fuel burn is for them to reveal tomorrow. Till then, enjoy the pics of the marvellous airliner.

Flying the Dassault Falcon 7X: India Aviation 2012

14 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Aircraft Production, Airshow, Exhibitors, General Aviation Interest, India Aviation 2012, Manufacturer, Uncategorized

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Capt. Rahul and F/O Karan are an excellent crew to fly with. Enjoyed my jump seat experience, all thanks to the jolly good Rahul!

Balancing aesthetics and performance is an art; an art that very few can master. When it comes to airplanes, whom better to turn to, than the only manufacturer of business and fighter jets?

Dassault’s latest offering, the fly-by-wire Falcon 7X trijet, couldn’t have performed any better. The cabin is plush, but the flight deck is a lot more attractive. With the EASy flightdeck, the all-Honeywell cockpit is reduced to four large LCD screens, which integrates many functions, just two of which eliminate the need for a paper checklist and paper charts. The cursor control unit allows for navigation between screens, and extensive drop down menus and check boxes make life simpler: provided you master the use of a cursor in the cockpit, which hardly takes any time.

We were pushed back and allowed to start engines only at taxiway “A”. Engine start is unnoticeable: no callouts, no checks: the FADEC does it all in a seamless manner. The engines cannot even be heard: the cabin and the engines are that quiet, and the flight deck too far in front to be heard. Advancing power for taxi gave the first taste of the airplane’s power: the bump ahead was noticeable. We back-tracked runway 09, lined up runway 09, and that was when the story really began.

My friend Harsha, taxiing his Falcon 2000 (VT-VKR) out!

The light aircraft was heavily accelerated by three Pratt & Whitney PW307A turbofans, each capable of producing 2,846kgs of thrust. We were below the maximum landing weight of 28304kg, and by the 2000ft marker, we had reached V1. Seconds later, Capt. Rahul Singh Rawal rotated VT-RGX smoothly into the air, and the homesick angel came to life.

Check our climb rate!!

With a crazy climb rate that touched 5000 feet per minute, FL250 came all too early. We were above the clouds, and headed to waypoint HITAS, which was around 140 nautical miles away. We broke the cloud layer on our flight down south-east, and pure bliss ensued. The evening sun, ready to go down, and the game of shadows played by the clouds, and more: all enjoyed in a noiseless cabin that was comfortably pressurized at around 1400ft: Absolute comfort.

I had never flown so fast in my life: Mach 0.88 if I recollect correctly. The increase in the noise of the wind hitting the windshield at this incredible speed, was very noticeable, and yet so soft.

The very experience of the Dassault 7X’s flight performance is indescribable. Adding to that is a brilliant golden orange sun setting at FL250; the combination rendering you absolutely speechless.

Our lateral path, planned till MMV!

At waypoint HITAS, we turned back to Hyderabad-Shamshabad, and gracefully accepted vectors for the VOR approach for runway 09. On approach, Capt. Rahul who knew me very well, made it very clear that he’ll have 4 red on the PAPI as he was targeting the runway numbers to stop by taxiway Alpha (A). His touchdown was firm and nice, and the deceleration very powerful. The bird exited onto “A”, where our engines were shutdown, and we were towed into our parking slot.

My editor was impressed; the publisher awestruck, and I: on cloud 9.

Our 7X, post landing.

Live from the Q400!

14 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Aircraft Production, Airshow, Exhibitors, General Aviation Interest, India Aviation 2012, Manufacturer

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Live from the Q! (More text below)

VT-SUG is on display at India Aviation 2012! This is the very first public display of the Q400 in India, and the aircraft is all prim and proper. It smells good, it feels good, and the flight deck: as good as it ever will be. Very ergonomic, and not too crammed except for the act of making your way to the flying seat. (more text below)

Good overhead cabin bin space!

The Cabin!

ANVS control panel

Capt Surinder Singh (Chief Pilot) and my friend Deepankar Singh

With 78 seats, and loads of interest from curious onlookers, the jet engine core- driver turboprop aircraft is making heads turn. The cabin overhead is spacious, the lavatory is more accessible, but just the seats make you uncomfortable.

Says Eric Sharma of Bombardier, “There are a line of seats available that can be chosen by the operator. This is typically the low recline one for high density seating”.

Enjoy the photos of this prim and proper bird! (And oh, don’t miss the ANVS control panel!)

On ground, 4000.

13 Tuesday Mar 2012

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737NG #4000 waiting to be assembled! Photo by Boeing, of Boeing.

Its really hard to believe that a tube of metal, sitting on a transport dolly, can ever fly. The rivets are clearly seen, the skin in protective paint, and covers for where the windshields should be. This time however, the common sight of a 737 fuelage rolling into Boeing’s Renton plant, is not just another body.

The only thing separating it from the rest is its number. It is 737 NG # 4000, a milestone for the 737NG program. With 2,674 737NG orders still unfulfilled, looks like the #4000 bird is going to eventually lose the limelight to # 5000, #6000, and maybe, #7000.

Four celebrations to look forward to. Well done, Boeing, for a cumulative 6613 civil Boeing 737NG variant orders as of Feb end, 2012, of which 59.5% have been delivered.

With the October 2011 announcement by Boeing of the 737NG production rate having been ramped up to 35 airplanes a month (“Rate 35″), 737NG #4000 should be completely assembled by the 3rd week of April, 2012. #5000 should be ready in the September of 2014; #6000 in the   January of 2017, and #7000 in the June of 2019.

That’s a terrible wait!

Which is why Boeing CA CEO Jim Albaugh, in July 2011, asked his product development team to evaluate the feasibility of further ramping up production to 60 airplanes a month. As of today, the 737NG production will hit “Rate 42″ by mid 2014, witnessing “Rate 38″ from “Rate 35″ somewhere between then and today.

Assuming Rate 38 hits in January 2013, And Rate 42 in mid 2014, #5000 should be out in July 2014; #6000 in July 2016; and #7000 in July 2018, advancing the earlier projected 7000th airframe’s delivery by one solid year.

Boeing badly needs Rate 60, keeping in mind that the Boeing 737 MAX is expected to enter service in 2017.

Disclaimer: Author estimated/assumed production rates. An estimate is an estimate, and an assumption always an assumption. Just for you to get a feel of when you’ll expect the 737NG that you order, today.

Photo from here.