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Ethiopean 787 fire at Heathrow

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Ethiopean 787 fire at Heathrow

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Old 18th Oct 2013, 13:59
  #961 (permalink)  
 
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it wouldn't be the first time that they'd split a hull at a seam, done work, and put it all back together somewhere other than at the factory
Assuming that's what they are going to do this time ...
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 14:18
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Reading the tea leaves

I interpret the Flickr picture as follows:
The VS is off the aircraft because it was in the way for some of the structural repair that will occur. The aft scaffolding defines the area that will be receiving significant structural repair along the crown of the fuselage.

Next, They will build a tent over the scaffolding that spans the aft fuselage.

Watch the forward scaffolding and the lower deck of the aft scaffolding for action. That will be the outflow of internal components as the strip out commences. Start your repair stop watch then. What you see now is facilitation.

The total operation is likely phased so that the expensive repair crew spends minimum time on site.

All you sidewalk superintendents pull up a seat.
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 14:26
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I expect them to erect a tent over the whole thing so all the sidewalk superintendents will have to guess what's happening inside
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 14:49
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Originally Posted by superq7
Am not Boeing bashing but the A350 is manufactured using composite panels I would think a lot easier to repair than Boeings barrel construction.
Assuming of course the fire did not melt/burn the aluminium composite frame the panels attach to. How easy is that to replace?

In actual fact, the fire may have been propagated on the A350, as aluminium is a very good heat conductor. Who is to say the fire would not have taken out the whole crown and thus write the thing off?

But, like your suggestion the A350 would be easier to repair, that's idle speculation

Last edited by LiveryMan; 18th Oct 2013 at 14:52.
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 16:43
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Originally Posted by Ian W
It would be correct to call this a "demonstration of a major structural repair of composites."
Agreed.

An effective repair and back to flight will quieten the noise from the peanut gallery about composites.
Most of the grousing comes from those who are thinking of older types of composite, or those who are basing their reasoning on flawed, outdated or simply incorrect information. Admittedly when the concept was first floated I was thinking of the Comet days and that it would be a leap into the lesser-known material properties of a similar magnitude - but later reading somewhat calmed this opinion when it became clear that the level of modelling and physical testing as well as materials knowledge was much more thorough.
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 18:26
  #966 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by superq7
Ian

Am not Boeing bashing but the A350 is manufactured using composite panels I would think a lot easier to repair than Boeings barrel construction.
Biggest Airbus A350 XWB carbon fuselage panel manufactured | AVIATIONNEWS.EU





Very interesting indeed!

Last edited by glad rag; 18th Oct 2013 at 18:27.
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 19:09
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some more info: Sources: Damaged Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 to Undergo Major Repair in London » Airchive
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 19:33
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"once the damaged areas are sanded away" - love it !!
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Old 18th Oct 2013, 21:22
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Even better "The incident was sparked on July 12th......"
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Old 19th Oct 2013, 21:23
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Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
"once the damaged areas are sanded away" - love it !!
The workers are probably union and paid by the hour.
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Old 19th Oct 2013, 22:06
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Unions

Ozlander:-

"The workers are probably union and paid by the hour"

If that was the case I would say good for them. Why would anyone do otherwise?

The tragedy is that in Britain today (and for the last 30 years) workers are getting poorer year by year and bosses (to make it simple) are getting commensurately richer.

The whole British economy is now run on a Pay To Fly basis.

If you do not think that you can get yourself into the top 10% (today about £160k) then I recommend that you leave Britain. The top 10% are presently in the process of rendering the rest of the population destitute.

Because they can.

Last edited by jimjim1; 19th Oct 2013 at 22:07.
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Old 20th Oct 2013, 06:54
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£160k puts you well into the top 1% of UK tax payers, and this 1% contribute some 30% of tax revenue.

so yes, they are really ripping off the system
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Old 21st Oct 2013, 11:35
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An effective repair and back to flight will quieten the noise from the peanut gallery about composites.
That will be highly depending on the price tag that is attached to the repair.
Nobody said it would not be possible to repair composites. The remaining question is whether it is economic to do so.
And this event, linked to an incident and an investigation, is probably not representative for the time it requires to do such a repair.
So there will be more noise in the future
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Old 21st Oct 2013, 18:28
  #974 (permalink)  
 
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The remaining question is whether it is economic to do so
This has been settled long time ago.
Every repair is different but airlines are interested in repairs that happen most often - bends and nicks caused by service vehicles at airports. This is where they loose a lot of $$ every year. The repair techniques developed for such repairs in the composite world are multiple time faster than with the aluminium body and some small damages that require repairs on aluminium aircraft will require no repair at all on a 787.
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Old 21st Oct 2013, 18:46
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olasek

As I'm sure your aware this "incident " hardly comes into said " bends and nicks" category.
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Old 21st Oct 2013, 18:54
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So. Does anyone have some fresh pictures of what is going on?

Have they started stripping out the interior?

You don't have to see into the tent to make an educated guess as to what is going on inside. Just observe the flow of material in and out.
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Old 21st Oct 2013, 18:56
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As I'm sure your aware this "incident " hardly comes into said " bends and nicks" category.
No, it doesn't but you clearly missed the thrust of my argument. I was talking about aircraft skin repair in general, those that produce largest losses for airlines. Also, there are many aluminium repairs that are no longer economical.

Last edited by olasek; 21st Oct 2013 at 18:57.
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Old 22nd Oct 2013, 07:12
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olasek

some small damages that require repairs on aluminium aircraft will require no repair at all on a 787.
Care to elaborate, and by the way, how do you know this is correct?
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Old 22nd Oct 2013, 07:53
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Regardless of construction materials I see little similarity between a minor ding caused by a service vehicle and the damage caused by this fire. This has taken 3 months of planning and a fair build up of tents, equipment and materials.

The cost of all this, plus the cost of all the airport space, the repair team and the loss of revenue put this event into an entirely different category, one which will hurt the Insurers, Boeing, Honeywell and Ethiopean.

Last edited by joy ride; 22nd Oct 2013 at 07:54.
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Old 22nd Oct 2013, 12:20
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DavereidUK

Your surprise at the comments about " sanding the damaged part away" show your lack of understanding of composite repair techniques, to my surprise and delight it would seem that the composite engineers have won the day and we are not going to see a metalcentric repair if this report is true.

Full marks to Boeing for keeping faith in the composite technology.
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