PCN High Life: Hangar Flying

Question raised by Capt. Skjerven

I have a question: What kind of deicing fluid does Delta now use?

I just got back from North Dakota the other day due to a family funeral. For the trip back to ORD via MSP I nonreved on Delta's early morning flight out of Fargo, ND. We boarded and then pushed back to be deiced due to some frost on the wings. We waited a little bit and then the Captain came on and said "that due to the outside air temperature Delta's deicing fluid could not be used." It was 30 below zero and the Captain said that it had to be 28 below zero before the fluid could be applied and work. ??? In my career I don't remember anything about a minimum temperature for deicing fluid. Meanwhile, American pushes back and then United push back and they both deice (at 30 below) and go on their merry way on time.

It took over 3 hours for the OAT to rise to 28 below so that we could be deiced.

So what kind of deicing fluid is Delta using? David W. Skjerven

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David L. Roberts robertsDL@mindspring.com

A friend forwarded this to me and it's an interesting, though unofficial, point by point explanation of that flight and the conversations between the helicopter and the FAA Air Traffic Controllers. It's an 8 and a half minute video.
Dave

Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2020 04:57:04 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Fwd: Kobe Bryant Accident Part 4

The last 1/4 of video is possible birds eye view.

Excellent overview of possible flight path and weather problems associated with the crash.

See:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSHpbGhy3Ko&feature=share

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From: jjfitz167@gmail.com
Sent: 2/14/2020 4:01:11 PM Central Standard Time
Subject: Fwd: A Piece of History

All across the USA, 70-foot concrete arrows can be found in remote locations

They come courtesy of the US Postal Service’s Air Force and will point you all the way across the continental United States.

They were constructed in 1924 to guide postal planes in the right direction as they carried mail from coast to coast.

These old planes couldn’t rely on radio much of the time, so they used

these arrows, along with beacon towers, to navigate.

The arrows and beacons bisect the United States from San Francisco to New York City.

The towers were 50 feet tall and fixed with gas lights that could be seen from 10 miles away in order to help lost pilots find their way. This is a model of the arrows and towers in their heyday.

World War II brought new advances in radio technology that effectively made the towers and arrows system obsolete. The towers were mostly dismantled.

There has been an effort to restore and preserve some of them, like this one in New Mexico complete with its generator shac k

This is a pretty cool piece of history, even if it was short lived. To think of those early postal pilots navigating like this from coast to coast is mind boggling.

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Tony P apapandrea@cfl.rr.com

That is one big hunk of composite! (I was going to say iron, but thought better of it)

Tony P

Life is Good

In God We Trust

Boeing's huge 777-9X airplane takes its first flight

26 January 2020

Aerial emotions: "It was so much fun," said Chaney, the pilot-in-command and 777/777X chief test pilot. "The moment we rotated and saw the chase plane go by, it was very emotional."

Everett, Washington (CNN) — The world's longest and largest twin-engine airliner, the Boeing 777-9X, has finally taken to the skies for its maiden flight, offering a ray of hope for the troubled US aviation company following months of grim headlines. After days of abysmal weather, airplane WH-001 took from Paine Field, home of Boeing's wide-body factory, north of Seattle, on Saturday morning.

The flight had been postponed twice earlier in the week because of poor conditions, but as the aircraft taxied past the press viewing area, a rainbow appeared. When the moment did finally arrive, WH-001 was greeted by a light 8 knot tailwind, 6 miles visibility, and broken clouds at 3,000 feet as it rocketed down runway 34Left at 9:08 a.m. local time. After a takeoff roll of just 30 seconds, the behemoth rotated gracefully into the skies. The relieved and excited crowd erupted into thunderous applause.

Long road to certification

Designed to carry up to 425 passengers on routes of 7,600 nautical miles -- a distance that would cover most long-haul routes -- the 777-9X is expected to become one of Boeing's key aircraft in the years ahead.

Once airborne on Saturday, the first 777X was swallowed into the clouds as it headed north out of unpopulated areas and the Washington Coast on a flight path chosen for safety reasons. It climbed to an altitude of 14,000 feet and turned back east where it entered patterns over central Washington State, beginning the first of many test flights on the road to certification and eventually passenger service over the next 18 months.

The day before, with cloud ceilings down to 2,000 feet, pelting rain, and winds gusting up to 29 knots, over 10,000 disappointed employees, journalists, and VIPs shivered for nearly five hours while the enormous 777-9X sat tantalizingly just off the runway, waiting for clearance to takeoff.

Appalling conditions

It wasn't meant to be. At 1:30 p.m. Friday with conditions not improving and the flight window closing, her first sortie was scrubbed. It's almost tradition that Boeing first flights occur in abysmal conditions, but this is the first time in memory that a flight had to be canceled due to elements.

Yesterday: It’s back to the barn. The #777XFF officially scrubbed for 2nd day in a row due to poor weather. Tail winds for takeoff can’t exceed 10mph for 1st flight of a new aircraft type. Flight has to be routed over unpopulated areas on departure. Try again tomorrow.

In normal times, a first flight of a new airliner is a cause for celebration. Events like these happen maybe twice a decade.

But for Boeing, these are anything but normal times. Following two fatal crashes of the 737MAX, the continued grounding of Boeing's most important aircraft -- which is reportedly responsible for 40% of the company's profit -- has prompted one of the 104-year-old airframer's biggest ever crises.

Though there is continued speculation of a new Boeing airplane to replace the 757/767 as a middle of the market airliner or the 737MAX with the future small airliner, Boeing has no entirely new models announced beyond the 777X. Bringing an entirely new aircraft to market takes at least 5 to 7 years.

The 777X, a program launched back in November 2013, is the successor to the most successful wide-body airliner ever built: the 777, which first entered service nearly 25 years ago. The 777X is chock full of superlatives.

At 251 feet long, the 777-9 variant is the longest commercial airliner ever built. With a fuselage stretch of 9.4 feet over its predecessor 777-300ER, the 777-9 is able to accommodate up to three additional rows of economy seats 10 abreast, for a total of up to 426 passengers in a typical two class configuration. An increased range of 7,285 nautical miles -- 220 miles more than the airplane it replaces.

Record breaker

With the A380 and 747-8 Intercontinental ending their runs, the 777-9 stands alone as the largest airliner by passenger capacity being built in the world. Its main competition, Airbus' A350-1000, is proportioned more like the smaller 777-300ER.

To lift the maximum takeoff weight of this 775,000 lb. beast into the air, Boeing has built a new carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer wing with a wingspan of just over 233 feet, with raked wingtips. Each wing is the largest single composite structure in the world.

To fit on the same gates, taxiways and runways as the current 777-300ERs, Boeing has designed distinctive 11-foot folding wingtips that deploy just before take-off and retract upon landing. Though this is common on Navy fighter aircraft built for landing on an aircraft carrier, folding wingtips on an airliner are a commercial first.

Under the wings are the largest, most powerful engines ever mounted on a commercial airliner: General Electric GE9X. These develop an incredible 105,000 lb. of thrust apiece while reducing fuel burn by 10% from their predecessor GE90 engine. The engines' diameters are as wide as a 737 fuselage. In spite of or because of their cutting-edge design and immense power demands, design flaws in the compressor of the engines have been a significant contributing factor to delaying the first flight of the 777X from 2018 to early 2019 and then to January 2020.

That said, this isn't an unusually lengthy gestation in the recent history of new airliner programs. In an era of flight shaming and airlines' increased emphasis on eco-friendliness and efficiency, the 777X is claimed by Boeing to deliver a net efficiency gain of 13% on a cost per seat basis compared to the 365-seat 777-300ER with a 29% reduction in emissions. Boeing says its newest flagship is 22% more efficient than the world's largest airliner, the A380.

"The operating economics of previous generation 777s, which could carry nearly as many people as the 777X with just two engines were already considerably better than those of the A380," said airline analyst Seth Kaplan. "Considering the 777X will be even more efficient, there's long-term hope for this airplane program even though the market reception hasn't been great so far."

Economics, engineering, and efficiency aside, the 777X is being designed to improve the passenger flying experience and not just in the premium cabin section of the plane. Borrowing from its pioneering stablemate, the 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's newest 777X has larger windows and a wider cabin for wider seats (especially in economy).

Economic uncertainties

A lower cabin altitude of 5,000 feet versus the typical airliner's 8,000 feet reduces the effects of fatigue and jet lag. The 777X also has higher levels of humidity to abate dehydration, cleaner air, less cabin noise, and smoother ride technology.

How and when can passengers expect to find themselves sitting aboard a new 777-9? Even with the increased scrutiny and testing for certification, Boeing projects a service entry in late 2021 with Lufthansa. Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and ANA round out the customer list.

Boeing has 308 firm orders and 300 options of these $440-million aircraft (at list prices, though discounts can reduce cost by half). But the stability of these orders is uncertain with Gulf carriers and Lufthansa reportedly re-negotiating and lowering order their commitments, partially due to economic weakness.

Though the 777-300ER is immensely successful in the Americas, North American orders are yet to emerge. As the replacement cycle for A380s and 777 Classics accelerates, Boeing expects the 777X order book to bulge by the middle of the decade.

But many industry analysts question whether this jumbo twin is now simply too large for the market as smaller Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s have attracted far more orders partially due to the rise of hub by-passing nonstop point-to-point service. "The 777X is an intelligent derivative of the 777, but I'm not sure if the 777X will be raging success for Boeing as orders remain tepid, in part due to the delay of the GE engines, because the smaller 787 Dreamliner is such a good aircraft," Harteveld says. "The 777X is the younger kid whose older siblings are overachievers. "I think the 777X will have a slow burn as an aircraft where its success may come over time, once the 777X has proven itself as a reliable aircraft that meets or beats Boeing's performance specifications."

Safe landing

In an email to the Boeing worldwide team, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Stan Deal wrote: "I am incredibly proud of all our teammates who meticulously designed, assembled and supported the 777X. This day is ours to celebrate, and proof that if we work together we can achieve big things that make a difference in the world."

The first flight was originally intended to last nearly 4 hours, but for reasons not immediately clear, it was cut short. As the aircraft descended, its landing lights penetrated the 700-foot cloud deck and the crowd gasped with anticipation. At precisely, 2:00 p.m. local time, the 777-9X kissed the rain soaked runway 15Right at Seattle's Boeing Field, after 3 hrs. 51 min. aloft.

The airplane's pilots describe the debut flight as "emotional."

The scale of the airplane was apparent as it rolled out past, with the wingtips automatically retracting to their 90-degree locked state at 60 mph just as intended.

In keeping with the current climate, this first flight event was more low key than previous similar events, but the crowd was no less appreciative. Boeing employees needed a morale boost and they got it. The two pilots Van G. Chaney and Craig Bomben alighted to thunderous applause and embracing hugs from their families and co-workers.

Addressing reporters, they could barely contain their enthusiasm. "It was so much fun," said Chaney, the pilot-in-command and 777/777X chief test pilot. "The moment we rotated and saw the chase plane go by, it was very emotional."