Etihad Orders Aircraft at Farnborough
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, today, ordered 45 Boeing Jets worth 9 billion, and 55 Airbus Jets. Etihad ordered 35 Boeing 787-9s and 10 Boeing 777-300ERs. They also ordered 25 Airbus A350-900s, 10 Airbus A380-800s, and 20 Airbus A320s. Wow!, that is a lot of aircraft. My question is, how are they going to use all those aircrafts? I still think the growth in the Middle East is unsustainable and they probably will not take delivery of all these aircrafts. But, as a Boeing and Bombardier Supporter, I am happy for Boeing for this large order.
Source: Boeing
The 787 Finally Moves!
On Friday, Boeing announced it has moved the static test 787 to the test rig. This is a great milestone for the Boeing Company, but I hope that they can stay on schedule with the new 787. Anyways, the first power on is scheduled for June. Good Luck to Boeing. Here is an excerpt from the press release:
Some assembly remains to be completed on the static airframe. That work will be completed concurrently with test set-up. Test set up is expected to begin immediately, with tests commencing this summer.
“During static tests we apply loads to the airplane structure that simulate both normal operation as well as extreme flight conditions,” said Randy Harley, vice president of Engineering & Technology for the 787 program. “We monitor the airplane to confirm analytical predictions and make sure the structure holds up to these conditions.”
Movement of the static airframe clears the way to begin assembly of the third 787 to enter the flight test program. Most pieces of the third airplane arrived in Everett earlier this month. All assemblies for Airplane #3 are now in Everett, and the airplane will be loaded into the first position of Final Assembly early next week.
