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Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Boeing Builds Sales After Farborough

The Boeing company with its customers have announced significant sales post Farnborough event. On July 27, 2016 it was announced that Malaysia Airlines have ordered twenty-five/25 with options 737 Max 8's (total 50) for about $2.75 billion and another six 787-9's to Xiamem  for about 1.4 billion at list prices. The total order book helps the Boeing 787 2016 order outlook, as the 787 has garnered a solid number during 2016 with a net thirty-five Dreamliners booked year to date.

Winging It chart:






This puts Boeing ahead of Airbus for the year after garnering a net 425 single aisle during this year to date even though Airbus had an extremely strong Farnborough sales tally coming from its single aisle reports. Boeing, none the less, maintains a single aisle sales lead for 2016 year to date bookings. It is also noted Malaysia Airlines ordered an additional 25 on option making a total of fifty 737 Max in play even though only twenty-five 737's will be booked at this time.

The 787 orders received a shot in the arm as both Ruili and Xiamen have both ordered six each 787-9's during Farnborough, and then since Farnborough respectively. A total of a net thirty-five 787's have been ordered this year even though Boeing has not updated its order book on its website to date. By month's end Boeing should reflect all changes on its website from post Farnborough sales activities.


Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Boeing Orders Grow Continually In 2016

In spite of the Airbus' big Farnborough airshow order count Boeing is keeping pace with its rival in a workman like manner. Netting 2016 Orders to date with MOU's (likely finalized in 2016), Boeing has about 460 net Orders when comparing with Airbus numbers of 475 net orders according to each other’s own web site counting YTD data and using reported Farnborough totals not yet entered on as firm orders.

Boeing Sales Chart


Airbus Sales Chart







Monday, July 18, 2016

Boeing 101: Axial Loading On The KC-46 Passes Milesstone C Test

Recently as in this month the KC-46 needed to pass a significant test point before the military can accept and announce the first Lots of KC-46 production for about 19 KC-46's. Boeing hit an Axial Load wall with its C-17 and F-16 tests Earlier this year. The military issued a no-go memorandum before accepting any KC-46 from Boeing. The term bantered about was Axial Loading as a big problem. Going to the internet was the first step in solving a blogging problem about Axial Loading.

As all studious patrons of knowledge, must have a quick course established on the internet for such a problem. Boeing engineers go to school for years studying Axial Loads and have come up with a mechanical solution to alleviate Axial Loading with its KC-46 Boom and fuel delivery system.

Axial Loading 101 Class summary:


"An Axial load is a force administered along the lines of an axis. Axial loading occurs when an object is loaded so that the force is normal to the axis that is fixed, as seen in the figure. Taking statics into consideration the force at the wall should be equal to the force that is applied to the part."

Image result for KC-46 and A-10 refueling

Word Problem: A boy who weighs 60 lbs is pulling a toy wagon having about 200 lbs of bricks stacked in the wagon. The boy comes to a crack in the sidewalk and the wagon stops. The boy must hang onto the wagon handle and pull the wagon through the sidewalk's cracked ridge. A garden hose is also strung through the handle under home water pressure coming from the house. Jerking the wagon over the crack could disconnect the garden hose that is running down inside the wagon's handle, and then cause a blow-out and a big mess for the load of bricks stopped at the sidewalk crack. The boy could not compensate for the change in his Axial Load grip on the wagon handle and the hose stretched and came disconnected. What was the change in force between the Boy, hose, and handle to the wagon causing the blow-out?

The question is run through the boy's tablet and an answer came back instructing him to adjust his grip and lever the wagon over the side-walk crack exerting enough force keeping the the boy to wagon connection stable and the hose connected.

Image result for KC-46 and A-10 refueling
 The A-10 Wart Hog has just successfully completed the Boom full load transfer validating The KC-46 for production.

The KC-46 is the boy and the C-17 is the wagon with a load of bricks. Boeing needed a computer monitoring the ever changing Axial Loads from turbulence and airspeed and then have a mechanical hydraulic input on its boom to stay connected. A drogue and hose line outboard on a wing is a situation normal condition while the A-10, F-16 and C-17 all have been tested on the boom as successful. Thus completing the fueling from the KC-46 and mastering axial loads with its software and hardware fixes. Milestone C is complete awaiting government approval for first production of nineteen KC-46.

Hose refueling without Axial Load Issues
Image result for KC-46 and A-10 refueling

Friday, July 15, 2016

Exit Stage Left Its Not About Boeing But The F-35

Several months is this commentary in the making. The much over-priced F-35 is not Boeing's F/A 18 Super Hornet. The Lockheed martin F-35 came from the same Skunk Works my uncle worked on with the SR-71 "spy plane". I guess you may call me an F-35 neophyte by default, since I've only spent about two years researching and giving developmental commentary on the subject of the F-35.

Here is the very quick and very dirty comments on the F-35. If the US Air Force had any common sensory helmet-head for its decision making or about spending your money from near-do-well to infinity and back. They did it with the Lockheed Martin F-35 extravaganza from 2005 through 2016. A funny thing happened on the way to the Farnborough flight-line. 

Ooh, awe and wow the F-35B showed only its bicep bursting out of its tight paint job during the flying palooka-extravaganza in Britain last week. Denmark proudly smirked we "bought some" then Norway stepped and said, we shot down an F-16 during demo days with our F-35. It was just plain better than the fourth generation fighter aircraft such as the F-16. 

Hill AFB concluded a 88-88 sortie success rate deployed at Mountain Home AFB last month. It bombed its way into the hearts of Generals, Colonels, and flying AF captains when it went 15 for 16 on bombing runs. One bomb was  flawed as its F-35 performed flawlessly on bombing runs at Mountain Home, Id.

Having a new ejector seat design in hand or with Hill AFB maintainers successfully adjusting its Twelve F-35 fighters for IOC simulation standards,  it silences all those complainers, critics and arrogant thinkers who have just left the room since the F-35 program has put together the first usable fighting example maintained by Air Force personnel after installing a block 3i level of sophistication.

Glitches are being secured and retired every day as the LM top 1,100 things to fix list has shrunk as in any progressive developmental flying wonder had from the last century. The Works-in-progress norm for any program continues forward like a countdown just as even if inventing a type of oil for rocket science, as by its fortieth attempt of searching for that special oil, then the F-35 moment has arrived and its not called Water Displacement Formula 40 after a number of 39 attempts glitched. WD-40 is in my tool box today. The F-35 is just short of WD-40 status and the haters are going to hate about the F-35, since it cost this nation its national treasury and it sells copy to say so.

The F-35 has become so advanced at this stage it can't be replicated even by chance will lessor technology employed by Russia or China. They, can't even hack successfully all its secrets if they wanted to do so. There are 100's of businesses in dozens of country's working on this project in secret. Yes, we've been hacked and will continue to be hacked for the next forty years. Even if Russia or China owned the F-35 blue prints at this moment, it would be another twenty years before they could replicate today's working example. In twenty years the F-35 will have evolved beyond the current technological horizon that others are concurrently chasing as LM spins the word concurrency. 

Complexity to do the fantastic is a bridge too far for any consideration. Look at what the US has just gone through making a helmet fit right with its systems. The secret F-35 doesn't just hover, and go Mach 1.6, it is invisible to most radar. There are many more secrets that are undisclosed and will remain undisclosed going forward into the future. Pilots are just beginning to learn how to fight using the F-35. Visionaries did not yet foresee how all the "works" would work under real combat condition, but they did provide a cornucopia of items allowing the pilot's artistry to emerge. The planners had hoped enough tools were provided within the F-35 frame allowing a pilot to write his own combat opus against future combatants. That is the miracle of the F-35, the planners do not even know how good the F-35 will become until after its faced with every conceivable combat scenario.

Glitches are normal for any fantastic idea, but it does not mean the F-35 should be dropped because of its lab testing is coming out from its Initial Trial and Error Mode (ITEM not its IOC) while striving towards a conceptual objective. Let the Skunk Works work, it’s in the American DNA.



The SUM of Boeing's Parts Replayed

Back in 2015 it was written about the gap filler going from the single aisle to duo aisle using the 787-300 concept.  

Winging It references:


Now it is time to revisit the whole topic with a replay of what was said. The Boeing SUM or known as the Super Utility Modality. AKA the 757SUM.

"Boeing couldn't build the 787-300 before it built the 787-800. Its common sense, establishing the benchmark first before defining a cross-over model. A 787-300 had nothing to hold it up like a book-end. No need for a cross-over in 2005. When considering an off-road vehicle or a rugged extra wide cab ranch pickup truck while first building a crossover wouldn't make any sense. How can you make a crossover for suburbia without a trail rated jeep coming first?

Boeing is building a single aisle 737-900 NG-Max for the urban sensibilities, until the ultimate inter urban transporter is made. It must look and act like the 787, while becoming the 757 Super Utility Modality known as SUM, and act like a compliant business tool. It’s the SUM of all its parts from Boeing that is what's missing! The venerable 757 is going to the scrap heap in a workmanlike manner. Boeing accidentally tapped the inter-urban SUM market a long time ago and it mis-identified the big opportunity by cancelling the 757 in 2005. Now it’s faced with a European knock-off jet in the likes of an A321. Boeing, having no articulation on the subject other than "we're good with the 737 and current 787 line-up".

I give Boeing three slaps in the forehead, and three consecutive expletives of "Come On" awarded in a row with its 757 public sentiment. Outstanding, missing how the much loved the 757 is and was! Boeing doesn't need another 757 for its replacement. It needs the abandoned 787-3 remade. A twin aisle replicator for passengers who are dependent on business and pleasure rewards. The airplane crossover concept is a brilliant reminder of soccer moms and grocery getting in the ground world. Big enough to haul the neighbors to school and awesome enough to go on vacation, looking somewhat like the newly Iconic looking 787-9.

Crossing over from single aisle two duo aisle isn't hard to do, "Neil Sedaka". Boeing needs this gap filler taking off from medium sized airports going all the way to San Jose while queuing the music along the way. South West Airlines are you listening? It could take you all the way to South West of Hawaii.

The assigned spot is 220 seats, the assigned range is 6,000 miles. It’s a crossover from single to dual aisle. It has the quaintness of single aisle gawking and the room of seven across for urban sensibilities. It hangs 100 million on the airline customer for each replication it purchases. It crosses-over everything good about Boeing's manufacturing conceptualization even though it is not as wide as the 787-8 or its counterpart. It’s very roomy for the number of seats, and it makes money for everyone even the passengers having sensibly priced tickets for the same commonalities with the 787 family.

Having it bigger than the 737-9, doesn't mean the 737-9 extra-long single aisle is dead. Nor does it threaten the 787-800. The 787-3 has the 787 aggressive design signature for long haul, yet providing the inter-urban frivolity for city hopping, in high density 1-5 thousand mile routes. This crossover is what an airline makes of it, as it defines the low cost of operation.

“It was once stated the 737 single aisle would not benefit from the lighter weight frame of plastics for the offset of development cost compared with the efficiency gained from new technological advances on metal frames. It was also observed at the time, the 787 was still unproven concept, and the risks were too high to go with all plastic airplane models top to bottom. Wise people thought the 787 must matriculate to its completeness and demonstrate performance maximums, before proceeding to the next model. This is witnessed with both metal 737 Max and Partial metal 777X models. Boeing's approach is cautious on technology implementation since its "787 Moon Shot". They have the Golden Fleece in hand with the 787, and will should not go hunting for another overhaul of design and airplane evolution in my own life time.

A 787-3 “new version” for medium body design will have added manufacturing tooling cost for both the supplier and Boeing. But it's not groundbreaking, thus less expensive than doing a 787-3 in 2005. It has all the carry forwards from both the MAX, 787, and 777X programs. It has all the designs lessons learned from the last 10 years. They have the opportunity of repaying already sunk cost on advance technology needing repayment. Boeing could use a crossover program development accessing paid for technology, which it installed in the 787. Engine technology keeps getting better every day. A down sized 787-8 and up sized Max-9 has a 1,000 airplane sales target which would turn a profit for Boeing and compliment both models. All Boeing has to do is find charter customers from China to San Jose within in the Pacific Rim to make it so.

It becomes a financial shim wedged in, securing both new models from the Airbus nit picking on the edges. It's why they call it, the 757 the Gap filler for so long. Now that the 767 has stopped commercial passenger production and the 787 replaces it. The Gap must be addressed before further market erosion occurs. Go ahead, call it a "Gap Filler", cannon fodder, or a lost production leader. The gap must be filled! It’s just as important as the front line players when churning out numbers. My own opinion within is just an "I told you so" effort for Boeing, and having said so, I can sleep better tonight. A 787-3 is an investment for selling all models of aircraft at a higher rate, rather than compartmentalizing a 787-3 as a no go because it doesn't stand on its own. This is a false assumption because Boeing is a SUM of all its parts! A 787-3 revised model then becomes the SUM of all Boeing's parts making the corporation more successful. But make it a mid-body, two aisle inter- urban, and hub busting mover. Ryan Air’s expansion is a plan solved with the 787-3.”



Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Farnborough Air Show Through Day Three Orders (Updated)

July 13th from England's show, Boeing has steady order climb even though Airbus stole the show with a mega order for its A-321 type from a Malaysia carrier. The Boeing group is still in it to win it for 2016. They have added a broad sampling of aircraft from the announcement category.

The numbers are incomplete as they come from different sources, and Winging It does not have all the facts up-to-date. However, WI relied on Randy's Journal for ciphering out a meaningful tally after completing day three at Farnborough Air Show. The estimated dollar amount has been assign on the tally sheet using list prices with US billions based on list prices. I am on vacation in Montana and spent a marvelous week bonding with the mountains once more and then checked a few items off my bucket list even at that. Thanks to "All Things 787" Blog numbers have been updated.

Boeing Tally:



Okay I'll do Airbus if I have to, I guess. :(


Airbus: Wins!!! The Sand Bagged Order Count and Value



Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Boeing's 777X Production Philosophy, Build It Here Then There

By the year 2020 Boeing will build the 777X there after it builds in 40-24. The production bay 40-24 was Boeing's surge line for the 787 while it brought the 787 up to production speed while Charleston found its own 787 production chops. Boeing is thinking way ahead of the curve when sinking billions into a project. Boeing's smart people work everyday while overcoming seemly insurmountable obstacles.


One such obstacle is building the 777X with a non-traditional aviation production mode, because they are making it better for everyone concerned. The workers will have a reduction in force on the production floor while carpel tunnel surgeries will drop in numbers from the same group of people as its robotics insert its 60,000 fasteners with a stitching pattern, and while automatically providing precision for every single one of those 60,000 fasteners.

This requires a different production scheme from the traditional construction schemes from the 777-300 ER production era. The former era closely followed the Jig method of assembly, mating the production air-frame through fitting it to a Jig assembly with hundreds of worker drilling and filling in fasteners. Now the assembly process must accommodate a level of automation absorbing supplier inventory capable of assimilating a new automated process. This takes enormous time and a lot of trial and error learning within the production environment.

Remember those smart people mentioned earlier, well they need a place in which to overcome something new and something not tried before concerning the 777 family of aircraft. The 777X is immense and can't be flipped around like a garment on a sewing machine nor can robots keep changing an anchored position while using robotic automation within a continuos production flow. Robotics should follow the car manufacturer model. The work piece flows to the robotic application. How do you build the 777-300ER and the 777X in the same building space?

The 40-24 surge line will be open for 777X production at a pace where the smart people can perfect the assembly of the 777X in a workman like manner without interruption coming from the next 777-300ER pushing through and displacing the smart peoples work station. They will have space and time while installing not just equipment but evolving techniques matching the equipment, computers, and robots in a surge effort for making ready a production flow and skill set for the big floor.

Everett, WA bay 40-24, Boeing 787-9 in process.
Boeing Building 40-24 with one more 787-9 chambered in the barrel. Photo featured on All Things 787

The first 24 or so 777X will be built "on schedule" before 2020. The "schedule" is when the smart people gets it perfect before 2020. A drop the wrench moment is arriving in building 40-24 soon. The problem confronting the production team is meshing a new method into a working process using 24 777X's as a works in progress assault on the 777X before the year 2020 arrives. Bottom line, the Boeing people will have this covered only with another great effort. The reporting going forward will discuss the minutia road blocks along the way. Headlines will cover when a wrench is drop and the building goes silent for a minute. However the 777X is in the forming/storming stage before it moves forward to the full performing stage found in the main 777X production slot while the remaining 777-300's are to be built.

This is how it will be done today. I will be interested to see how they merge two different building styles with robotics and moving assembly lines for the 777X and the 777-300 for the last years of the 777-300-ER's production cycle.

Watch video for the moving assembly  line of a 777-300ER aircraft. 
 

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Boeing Dithers In The Middle

My assertion is not whether Boeing goes forward with 757 replacement? Research and statistics shows Boeing biffed it when it closed off the 757 without having an answer. Hence the long and perilous journey with the 787 program. The 787 is no longer the center for development stage, but has matured forward ushering the production and marketing phase of its future legacy.

The MoM, aka: Middle of the Market for range, size and aisles has arrived. Long ago like last January, Winging It proposed a seven across dual aisle 15 foot wide body for the MoM. Featuring carbon fiber wings and re-engined (up for bid maker) engines for rigorous and efficient duty. A Winging IT diagram was even offered for visual effect. It’s also has been noted the seat range will become a 200-270 seat cab. The single aisle is out, if it goes for 270 capacity. It will not need a cattle shoot down the middle it will need a fork in the path to the Jet way with dual aisle control for all cattle in economy.

Read this then you decide:

The Winging IT case was made at seven across, dual aisle with about 210+ seats going forward. Boeing will cut its seat count down to 250, because it’s a round number and a MoM appropriately configured could do 250 without having passenger contortion confronting its product. Any customer optioning of going gonzo on the seat count should receive a void for any Boeing guarantees for its aircraft where the customer airline must stay within original engineering constraints for space and comfort. If Boeing says it’s guaranteed to travel up to 250 passengers then so be it!

In conclusion, so much time has been dedicated on this Boeing market gap. I assume Boeing has spent more time and money on this concern. The lesson I have taken from the recent news articles is that Boeing's high priority things-to-do list now has a new member and its the 757 replacement. 


Thursday, June 30, 2016

Boeing Once Again Talks about "MOM"

The much discussed 757 replacement and A321 killer is called MOM or Middle Of The Market aircraft. "Bloomberg" has stolen another interview from Boeing reporting MOM is still on the table!



Key Quotes:


·      “Boeing estimates that sales could reach between 4,000 and 5,000 middle-of-market jetliners as airlines find new routes for the planes.”


·      “said Mike Delaney, general manager of airplane development. He used the term “when,” not “if,”


·      "We are not there yet,” Delaney told reporters in a briefing last month ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow. “But in the last six months Mike’s team has closed the gap pretty good.”


·      "The proposed airplane would be built at a tempo that falls somewhere between that of the 737, which roll out of Boeing’s Seattle-area factory at a pace of two a day, and the 787’s monthly output of 12 jets, Tinseth said."


·      "The planemaker is in discussions with the three largest engine-makers for a new turbine to power the aircraft as it seeks performance gains of at least 20 percent compared with the 757 and 767 jetliners."