Tag Archives: 787-800

ANA to start flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner overseas in March

ANA (All Nippon Airways) Boeing 787-881 N787EX (msn 34488) PAE, originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

ANA (All Nippon Airways) (Tokyo) expects to take delivery of the first Boeing 787-881 Dreamliner in November. The new type will first enter revenue service on domestic routes in Japan followed by the first international service in March 2011.

Read the full report in Bloomberg/Businessweek:

CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean. The first Dreamliner to receive an airline livery is this 787-881 registered N787EX (msn 34488) in ANA’ colors at Everett (Paine Field).

Continental to fly the 787 nonstop Houston-Auckland

Image: PRNewsFoto/Continental Airlines.

Continental Airlines (Houston) announced another major step in development of its Houston hub with plans to begin nonstop Boeing 787 flights to Auckland, New Zealand on November 16, 2011 (subject to government approval).

Auckland will be added to the 63 international destinations that Continental currently serves nonstop from Houston, and will become the 26th destination in Continental’s Pacific network. Continental serves more destinations in the Pacific region than any other U.S. carrier.

Continental will be one of three airlines flying nonstop between North America and New Zealand. At approximately 7,400 miles, the new route will be the longest from Continental’s Houston hub. Continental plans to operate the route on a daily basis, with five-times-weekly service during certain periods in the first year of operation.

Qatar Airways expects to receive its first 787 Dreamliner in September 2011, negotiating for up to 30 C-Series aircraft

Qatar Airways 787, originally uploaded by Nek777.

Qatar Airways (Doha) will receive its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft in September 2011 as planned. Boeing has also offered to deliver more of the aircraft next year than planned. Qatar has 30 firm Dreamliners on order. The fast-growing company is in talks with Bombardier (Toronto) for up to 30 C-Series aircraft for its Qatar Executive jet unit and hopes to conclude a deal by the end of July.

Image: Nek777.

Read the full report in the Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100504-706193.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLEHeadlinesAsia

787 Dreamliner Undergoing Extreme-Weather Testing in Florida

The Boeing Company (Chicago, Seattle, Wichita and Charleston) 787 Dreamliner has begun a series of extreme-weather tests at Valparaiso, FL. A special hangar at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Elgin Air Force Base allows the airplane to experience heat as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 Celsius) and as low as minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 43 Celsius).

After the airplane is stabilized at either the hot or cold temperatures, flight test technicians will follow the Airplane Maintenance Manual to perform the steps required to prepare the airplane for flight release and operate under these conditions. Sensors and monitors will allow the test team to determine if all systems hardware and software operate as expected.

Cold-weather testing is being conducted first, with preliminary hot-weather testing to follow. Additional extreme-weather testing will be conducted later in the flight test program.

A crew of approximately 100 people traveled from Seattle to support the test operations on ZA003, the third 787 airplane to be built.

The McKinley Climatic Laboratory is the second remote testing location for the 787 Dreamliner. The second airplane in the fleet, ZA002, performed a variety of tests in Victorville, Calif., last month. The testing in Floridais expected to last nearly two weeks.

Boeing sends 787 ZA002 (N787EX) to Victorville for testing

Dreamliner N7874, originally uploaded by Rick Schlamp.

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle, Wichita and Charleston) has sent the second Boeing 787-881 Dreamliner, ZA002 (N787EX, msn 34488 in ANA’s colors), to Victorville, CA for testing. The new airliner landed at 10:53 a.m. local time yesterday (March 9) at VCV. VCV is the former George Air Force Base. This marks the beginning of the first flight-test operations outside of Washington state for the program.

The airplane will be stationed at Victorville for approximately three weeks. The crew will conduct ground effects testing among other activities.

A crew of more than 150 employees will be stationed at Victorville while the airplane is there. These include the flight test engineers and support personnel required to prepare the airplane for each day’s flights and to monitor performance and test equipment.

During ground effects testing, the pilots fly the airplane very close to the runway to gather data regarding the aerodynamic effects and performance of the airplane during the takeoff and landing phases of flight. Quantifying this performance is part of the certification requirements for all new airplanes.

Copyright Photo: Rick Schlamp. The latest 787-881 test aircraft is N7874 (msn 40693) pictured at Seattle (King County-Boeing Field) on February 24, 2010.

Continental, United and ANA apply for antitrust immunity for trans-Pacific flights

Copyright Photo: Joe G. Walker. ANA's future Boeing 787-881 N787EX (msn 34488) arrives back at a wet Boeing Field (King County) during the first flight.

Continental Airlines, United Airlines and ANA (All Nippon Airways) yesterday (December 23) filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for antitrust immunity to enable the three carriers to create a more efficient and comprehensive trans-Pacific network.

The trans-Pacific joint venture – the first of its kind between the U.S. and Asia – also would enable United, ANA and Continental to compete more effectively with other global alliances, each of which has a significant presence in Tokyo.

Upon DOT approval of the companies’ immunity application, United, ANA and Continental will be able to jointly manage trans-Pacific activities including scheduling, pricing and sales, offering customers a greater selection of routings and a wider range of fare and service options.

Here is the full press release:

finance.yahoo.com/news/United-All-Nippon-Airways-and-prnews-1325552356.html?x=0&.v=1

Related to this, ANA’s future Boeing 787-881 N787EX (msn 34488) developed some landing gear and brake problems on its previously-reported first flight according to this Seattle Times article:

seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/boeingaerospace/

2010568452_secondflight23.html

Boeing completes the first flight of the second Dreamliner, ANA’s 787-881 N787BA

ANA (All Nippon Airways) Boeing 787-881 N787EX (msn 34488) PAE

Originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle, Wichita and Charleston) yesterday (December 22) completed the first flight of the second 787 Dreamliner, designated ZA002 (but actually the pictured 787-881 N787EX, msn 34488). The all-new airplane, which features the 1983 livery of the Dreamliner’s launch customer, ANA (All Nippon Airways) of Japan, took off from Paine Field in Everett, completed a two-hour flight and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle.

Boeing stated “We are delighted that the second Dreamliner is in the livery of our launch customer, ANA,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “We are honored by the airline’s support and look forward to delivering ANA the first production airplane next year.”

Captain Randy Neville was at the controls for the flight, with Chief Pilot Mike Carriker operating as co-pilot. Neville and Carriker took the airplane to an altitude of 13,000 feet (3,962 m) and an airspeed of 200 knots, or about 230 miles (370 km) per hour. The airplane took off at 9:09 a.m. PST and landed at 11:10 a.m. PST.

This is the second of six 787s being used in the airplane’s flight-test program. Each of the airplanes will be used for a specific set of tests, with this airplane focusing on systems performance. Like its predecessor, ZA001, the airplane is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

In other news, Boeing announced yesterday (December 22) it is taking full control of Global Aeronautica, the midfuselage plant in North Charleston, SC, by buying out its Italian supplier Alenia. In July, Boeing took over the Vought facility at North Charleston (CHS). CHS will be location of the second Dreamliner assembly plant.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is ready to fly!

Boeing 787-881 N787BA (msn 40690) PAE (final taxi test), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle, Wichita and Charleston) yesterday (December 12) completed high-speed taxi tests on the first 787 Dreamliner (787-881 N787BA, msn 40690). This is the last in a series of functional tests planned in preparation for first flight. According to the Boeing press release, ”Our pilots told me the airplane performed beautifully,” said Mike Delaney, vice president and chief project engineer for the 787. “We’re going through and analyzing the data to ensure we’re ready for first flight. From evaluations we’ve done so far, everything looks good.”

During the testing, the airplane reached a top speed of approximately 130 knots (150 mph, 240 kph), and the pilots lifted the nose gear from the pavement. Video highlights of the taxi testing will be available by the end of the day Monday at http://www.boeing.com and http://www.newairplane.com.

Taxi test is the last testing planned before first flight which could come on Tuesday, December 15, if the Seattle area weather permits.