Aircraft

The one very confidential piece of information in the world of aviation is the price paid by an airline to an airframer for an aircraft. Along with announcments of orders, at best, the value of the order at list prices is revealed. A few days back, thanks to a minor mistake, this veil of secrecy has been penetrated. We now …

She was many years in the making, she is badly delayed, but December 15, 2009 the Boeing 787 Dreamliner finally took to the skies and made her first flight. Lifting off from runway 34L at 10:27PST (18:27Z). It is a time to forget all the negatives and just enjoy the birth of a beautiful new aircraft, and to congratulate all …

I have always loved the General Electric GE90-115B engines which exclusively power all Boeing 777-200LRs and 777-300ERs. The super large size and low throated moan when operating just tickles me. The GE90 series are physically the largest engines in aviation today, the GE90-115B, has a fan diameter of 3.25 meter (10ft 8 in). The engine has a larger diameter than …

In the recent issue of Boeing’s AERO magazine there is an article titled Exceeding tire speed during takeoff in which there is this nice graphic that demonstrates the recommended take-off rotation and climb angles for all Boeing aircraft. I was surprised that despite it’s length, the Boeing 747-400 Jumbo Jet has a rotation angle of 10 degrees. Compare that to …