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Old 20th March 2009 | 14:07
  #2401 (permalink)  
airfoilmod
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Twinops. Global, 12,14 hour sector over saltwater and/or Granite ops.
OEI ? OK, worst case. Hmm...Not after BA038. It is difficult not to oversimplify the problem. The fault? Mostly with Gross Fuel architecture.
Pipe Ice. A look at the difference in systems RR/GE? Not much, and given that both firms have been building powerplants since Frank Whittle invented the format, (Apologies to Messrs. Pratt, Whitney), it is not completely accurate to find fault with the engines. Wings Ice, it is a fact of Life. Fuel has water in it, likewise a fact.

Redundancy in ETOPS. Don't forget, that was what was eliminated. Not added. Safety no longer in numbers of engines, but in engineered dependability. At a certain point, the Fuel path is symmetrical, common, undifferentiated. Isolation of systems isn't the solution; the solution may be additive symmetry. If it turns out that Fuel simply is what it is, wet, then as the Fuel closes in on the nozzles, perhaps adding alt. fuel as an option on the Flight Deck may return some "fails safe" to the flight.

In other words, relying on Two Engines is a proven concept, proven.
A step backward to a bypass, or "branched" system, rather than pinning all reliability on a "single pass" system might be worth looking at.
Weight? Cost? Of course. But as the Fuel necks down to ever more critical pathways, an alternate Path might be attractive when Ice becomes a factor.

Earth, The Water Planet.
 
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