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EVERETT — Sometimes running late pays off. 

I was zipping out the door this morning for the last day of the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance conference in Lynnwood and running a few minutes late (as those who know me I am sometimes prone to be) when Lufthansa’s first 747-8 taxied into position on Runway 16R at Paine Field. 

RC022 operating at Boeing 22, registered D-ABYA, did a quick rejected takeoff test turned around at the end of 16R and departed to the north a few minutes before 9 AM PT. 

The aircraft is expected to be handed over to Lufthansa in March. 

The full set of photos of D-ABYA’s first takeoff, which were shot through a barely cracked window of my hotel room, are below the fold.

SEATTLE — Movie Monday comes a day later than usual today and gives a unique look at some of the worlds most interesting approaches.

The first video puts you in the flight deck of an A320 on approach to Paro, Bhutan’s capital city and widely believed to be the most difficult approach in the world. The runway, which sits at 7,300ft, is surrounded by 12,000ft peaks.

The second video, which I shot in November, was filmed on the upper deck of an Air France A380. While it’s not a flight deck point of view, the IFE onboard allows multiple external views. I took advantage of both and tuned one screen to a forward view from the A380’s tail and the other to a straight-down view at the ground below. 

After our turn final it became clear that there was a significant crosswind, and the superjumbo would crab into the wind. On the straight-down camera view, notice the offset angle of the markings on the runway as the A380 compensated for the perpendicular wind component.

The third video, I shot from the jumpseat of an Embraer Lineage 1000 while on approach to Santos Dumont Airport in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The views out the front of the modified Embraer 190 provided a look at the amazing terrain that defines Rio, including the city’s iconic Sugarloaf. 

The Jeppesen charts for the Bhutan and Santos Dumont arrival, which should under no circumstance be used for actual flying, are available after the jump.

All told, these three videos run about 17min. Enjoy!

SEATTLE — There was a collective “why didn’t I think of that?” realization that dawned on the crowd at the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance conference in Lynnwood, Washington this afternoon when Airbus said it was offering a 20in aisle seat to airlines for the A320 family.

The goal is to use the 20in-wide seat as additional ancillary revenue opportunity (aka charge more) for the aisle seat in a six-abreast configuration. Some airlines charge for the aisle seat today, though the difference is that there’s no major product differentiation with the middle and window seats. Airbus said the width of the A320’s cabin allows for the 3in flexibility in the aisle seat in comparison to the other four seats at 17in.

Varying the width of certain seats isn’t new for commercial cabins, Bombardier offers a 1in .5in wider middle seat on the CSeries to make the five-abreast 3-2 configuration more attractive to the 20% of customers who will end up in that seat.

No word yet if any airlines have selected this for its A320 family aircraft.

Jon Ostrower/Washington, D.C.

Submitted without comment. Levity courtesy of reader WingBender:

Meet the Boeing family of wide body jetliners

787: She is drop-dead gorgeous, she has all the “right” friends, and all the boys want to date her. She loves spending time at the spa, and she is addicted to social media. Predictably, she is a drama queen. Every little problem gets blown out of proportion, resulting in tears and tantrums. She has an attitude of entitlement, believing that everyone exists to serve her needs and desires. 

767: He isn’t terribly smart, or good-looking, or popular, or talented. He is a little clumsy and socially awkward. Though he is a diligent and reliable worker, his only real option for the future is to go into the military, because frankly he has little prospect of finding employment in the private sector. But bless his heart, we love and adore him.

777: He’s the family overachiever. Eagle Scout, 4.0 average, captain of the football team, scholarship offers flowing in, a gorgeous and smart girl friend. He wonders to himself how he could possibly be related to this cast of characters, and secretly wishes he weren’t.

747: Quiet and studious, she tends to keep to herself. She’s a bit heavy and has a touch of asthma. She seems wise beyond her years, and is burdened by an unspoken sadness. Yet she is unfailingly loyal and will go to the wall for you. Others would do the same for her in an instant.

ANA’s first 787 flights with JA801A and JA802A on domestic flights within Japan have been nearly flawless, with a 96.3% on time reliability during its first months of service. For JA805A, the first 158-seat 787 in long-haul international configuration, the introduction on the Tokyo-Haneda to Frankfurt route, the first long-haul service, has been anything but smooth.

All Nippon Airways first long-haul international service with its Boeing 787 has faced a rocky start since 21 January with two of its ten flights operating between Tokyo-Haneda and Frankfurt, Germany cancelled due to technical issues with the new aircraft, the airline confirmed.

ANA cancelled flight NH204 on 26 January and NH203 30 January. Other 787 flights to Germany operated on 21, 23, 26 and 28 January.

The 26 January service was cancelled in Frankfurt when the aircraft’s flap system failed, while the 30 January cancellation in Haneda was due to “a temporary failure of the computer software which monitors and controls the aircraft”, said ANA, adding “the aircraft has been repaired by replacing the computer’s concerned parts and loading software.”

Of the five 787 deliveries to ANA, JA805A, Airplane 31, delivered on December 30, is operating exclusively on the airline’s long-range international flights.

I went digging into the Flight International archive to find the technical evolution of each model and the structural changes that were required from their respective baseline designs. The changes to create the longer range A340s were significantly more extensive with its stretched wingbox, fuselage and revised empennage. 

With its raised main landing gear, raked wingtip extensions and structural strengthening, the 777, by comparison did not need a fuselage stretch as the original 777-200 and -300 established the airframes for the -200LR and -300ER.

Additional details of the 777 and A340’s evolution are below the fold.

To date, Airbus and Boeing have split three of the five announced 737 Max customers: American Airlines, Aviation Capital Group and now Norwegian Air Shuttle.

 

Norwegian’s order for 100 737-8s is a big boost for the re-engined jet as it grows its firm backlog and hardly a surprise as the northern European airline is one of Boeing’s stalwart narrowbody customers. Though accompanying that order were 100 more Airbus A320neos.

Fundamentally the “minimum change” Max is a derivative development from today’s Next Generation 737, just as the Next Generation family was a derivative of the 737 Classic. With 75% non-commonality, the 737-600, -700, -800 and -900 unlocked the Classic’s customers to consider the A320. 

The consequence of Boeing’s changes to the 737; a new tail cone, widespread structural re-gauging, engine development and a raised nose gear make the Max a manageable, yet expensive (which Boeing disputes), undertaking, concluded Bernstein Research in a report earlier this week. But the result, as illustrated by Norwegian’s A320neo order, may also be an unlocked 737 market for Airbus and Boeing to fight over.

With its 1,000th unit coming down the line for Emirates, Boeing’s 777 continues to evolve from its earliest incarnations. The latest interior catalog offerings, now selected by American Airlines, include a 787 and 737-style Sky Interior LED-lit entryway for its 777-300ERs, which enter the fleet in December. Long-time Boeing interior design firm Teague was believed to have been working on this feature for a while now.

The features of its 777 were hinted about last year when, just days after its bankruptcy filing, the carrier announced what would be aboard its new twin. 

Arranged in a three-class cabin configuration, the new 777-300ER will provide the airline with more passenger and cargo capacity than any other aircraft in its fleet today. Customers will be welcomed into the aircraft by unique mood lighting. American will be the first carrier to use a dramatic archway and ceiling treatment on the 777-300 to create a feeling of spaciousness.

At that point, American’s news release did not include any images or additional details about the interior. Whether the Sky Interior-inspired lighting will run the length of the 777 isn’t clear from the photos release by the airline. Further, the carrier appears to be an early customer for the formerly branded Panasonic Fusion in-flight entertainment system, now known as the Integrated Smart Monitor, a photo of which is below the fold.

Additional photos of its business and first class seating are available on American’s Facebook page.

UPDATE 3:46 PM ET: While Boeing and American have focused on upgrades to evolve the 777’s interior, the company has been finding ways to improve the environmental efficiency of building and delivering each aircraft. While environmental efficiency is the banner under which 10 improvements have been made to the manufacturing process, the bottom line is how to reduce the cost to build each 777 through continuously improving and optimizing its processes.

As we approach Wendesday’s Boeing full year 2011 and quarterly earnings report, which is sure to be filled with questions of the pace of 787 and 747-8 deliveries and production ramp up, the burden of travelled work and change incorporation has been the central theme of aircraft development over the past decade.