Boeing 737 Max Recertification Testing - Finally.
Not quite the same comparison though. The window issue - and RF aerial cutout - was an issue with the Comet 1 and was corrected in the later larger Comet 4. That aircraft was by no means doomed following those changes, simply no longer in prime position and eventually lost out accordingly numbers wise. It remained capable and used by a number of operators.
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Comet 4s carried on for a couple of decades, and some operators (like BEA Airtours) set up operations from scratch with a significant fleet.
What was surprising is how De Havilland kept the same name after it became so tainted, instead of choosing a different model name.
What was surprising is how De Havilland kept the same name after it became so tainted, instead of choosing a different model name.
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Black Swans, pulling the rabbit out of the hat
Boeing: “We won’t contemplate a new airplane”
https://airinsight.com/boeing-we-won...-new-airplane/
… until we know we’re capable of doing that.
https://airinsight.com/boeing-we-won...-new-airplane/
… until we know we’re capable of doing that.
Thread Starter
Boeing: “We won’t contemplate a new airplane”
https://airinsight.com/boeing-we-won...-new-airplane/
… until we know we’re capable of doing that.
https://airinsight.com/boeing-we-won...-new-airplane/
… until we know we’re capable of doing that.
After the financial bath we've taken over the last four years (due to the MAX and COVID), we can't afford to launch a new airplane program for the next five or ten years.
So we're desperately hoping that the technological progress over the next decade makes that a financially wise move...
Boeing is this Twenty First century GE. A once great industry leader brought down by CEO hubris. Boeing Commercial has no future, it will just bump along becoming more and more irrelevant until it exist solely as a support provider for in service Boeing aircraft
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It breaks my heart. I was a local lad when the first 707s were rolled over a crowd at the hydroplane races. We were so proud of this great company.
By the time Boeing starts the next clean sheet there will be nobody with the old experience left and nobody who already developed, designed and certified a new aircraft. It's derivatives, damage control and repaying their loans how they spend their money. If they get the 787 line up and running again with no more hickups that's at least one good program. The MAX might carry on, however I am not sure about 7 and 10. Will EASA agree to another grandfathering? And the 777X will take years to be through certification.
They should invest in some midsized model above the A321neo and prepare to launch the 737 follow on family. They must do it right the first time.
They should invest in some midsized model above the A321neo and prepare to launch the 737 follow on family. They must do it right the first time.
When business schools teach case studies showing how massive corporations can be ruined by bad management I expect that many MBA students wonder how much money the CEOs got away with. With envy.
And of course this becomes self-fulfilling. Airbus don't do a clean sheet A320 replacement. Why should they, it would cost a packet, and they would just be competing with their own current product. Boeing will bounce along as a No 2 competitor, Russian and Chinese attempts are amateurish. I suspect the next advances will come not from the airframers, but from the engine manufacturers.
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TD, so 'until we know we’re capable of doing that' is much more influenced by the financial situation, opposed to existing or new engineering capability which can develop alongside the new technologies.
But then money = people (engineers); a delicate balance of investing for the future in people, technology, or something else.
What will commercial aviation look like over those time scales.
Public statements to the investors; stay with us for the long term … … hmm.
How big is the credibility gap; not that large when viewed together with the military perspective.
But then money = people (engineers); a delicate balance of investing for the future in people, technology, or something else.
What will commercial aviation look like over those time scales.
Public statements to the investors; stay with us for the long term … … hmm.
How big is the credibility gap; not that large when viewed together with the military perspective.
A more factual interpretation would be:
After the financial bath we've taken over the last four years (due to the MAX and COVID), we can't afford to launch a new airplane program for the next five or ten years.
So we're desperately hoping that the technological progress over the next decade makes that a financially wise move..
.
After the financial bath we've taken over the last four years (due to the MAX and COVID), we can't afford to launch a new airplane program for the next five or ten years.
So we're desperately hoping that the technological progress over the next decade makes that a financially wise move..
And of course this becomes self-fulfilling. Airbus don't do a clean sheet A320 replacement. Why should they, it would cost a packet, and they would just be competing with their own current product. Boeing will bounce along as a No 2 competitor, Russian and Chinese attempts are amateurish. I suspect the next advances will come not from the airframers, but from the engine manufacturers.
This could lead to:
- the A220-500;
- an A325 - an A320 with a small stretch;
- an A326 & A327 - a re-winged A321 & A321XLR; and
- an A350neo, including a -1200/-2000 model if the 777-9 looks like it might make any market impact
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Having put only half of this amount in R&D/Engineering would mean that a new aircraft is there now!
.
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The next clean sheet design from either AB or BA will need to make a big step forward regards efficiency/carbon emissions. From an airframe manufacturers point of view they only place they can really go is a blended-wing design and making that work regards customer experience, emergency escape, cargo and a whole host of other design challenges.. I don't see either company eager to push the go button on that work from a commercial standpoint, but if we start getting any emissions targets for airlines coming from governments (eg COP27) then their hands may be forced.
I'd expect another "boring" tube and wing design, but with even higher bypass geared engines, made from CFRP in more advanced shapes on robot lines. The factories will change the most, enabling much higher precision assembly, with everything being more lightweight and cloud connected.
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The next clean sheet design from either AB or BA will need to make a big step forward regards efficiency/carbon emissions. From an airframe manufacturers point of view they only place they can really go is a blended-wing design and making that work regards customer experience, emergency escape, cargo and a whole host of other design challenges.. I don't see either company eager to push the go button on that work from a commercial standpoint, but if we start getting any emissions targets for airlines coming from governments (eg COP27) then their hands may be forced.
So, I think, there are still realistic evolutionary developments possible for the BA line of airplanes.
The fact, BA doesn't have money, OK, that's a serious item and the longer they delay biting the sour apple, the less competent knowledge they will have in-house available. So, yeah, it doesn't look good and recovery can easily take 20-30 years, IF BA wants this at all.
Maybe split-off the airline airplanes from BA and sell this to China ???????? I think, China would be eager to obtain that BA part (the other parts too, though that's not going to happen).
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(or maybe Putin did trade secrets with Xi around this subject, to get Ukraine support ....).
The Max is still grounded in China and :
China formally announced longstanding deals for Airbus jets worth $17 billion during a visit last week by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Thread Starter
It took a while (far too long IMHO), but the powers that be have finally figured out that China isn't our friend.