A Timely Stretch (Boeing 747-8)

Air Transport World, December 2005, p.44 ^ | December 2005 | Geoffrey Thomas

[Paleo Conservative]

The full title wouldn't fit in Free Republic's 100 character limit. Below is the full title.

A Timely Stretch

Boeing believes the 747-8 will challenge the A380 for a piece of the ultra-large market.

Happy New Year!

[Paleo Conservative]

If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.

[al baby]

The 747 Any variant truly the Monarch of the skys

[djwright]

This is the second punch in the one two punch of the 787 and 747-8. The 787 is knocking out the middle of Airbus' line up and the 747-8 should hurt the A380.

A redesigned model aimed at the A320 should be the knock-out punch.

[Paleo Conservative]

Also imagine a model with sizes between the 777-300 and A380-8 with twin engines.

[nightdriver]

"For it is the engines designed for the 787 with significantly higher bypass ratios, 1:8.75 for the newly designated 747-8, that promise to give the 747 a real kick in performance."

I would be a bit sceptical about the engine being a GE. They have never been as reliable as the P&W.

The original 747 was designed to fly with engines that had a 6:1 bypass ratio and a static thrust of 44,000 lbf. The airplane's gross weight was originally 618,000 lbm if my memory serves.

I certainly wish them luck. The 747 was my baby when I worked at the Lazy-B.

[hattend]

BTTT

[Proud_USA_Republican]

While the 747 is the queen of the sky and always will be, the A380 is the hideous girl at the prom nobody wants to dance with.

[theBuckwheat]

>>He claims the 747-8 "will burn 13% less fuel per seat than a 416-seat 747-400 and 12% less than a 542-seat A380."<<

I wonder how many millions of tons of jet fuel this difference would amount to over the life-cycle of the aircraft in service. Where are the enviros on this issue? They should be picketing and boycotting Airbus and all airlines that use more fuel than they have to.

Enviros are all about "conservation" and lecturing us about the need to drive a more efficient car. A single jumbo jet uses a lot of fuel in a month. Yet the enviros are silent on the fuel used by jumbos. Why? Maybe it is because it would mean that a US company (Boeing) would benefit from such agitation. Excuse my cynicism while I watch the enviros agitate instead to block drilling in ANWR.

[RayChuang88]

I think right now these airlines are in line to buy the 747-8: British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways (unless Airbus can demonstrate 8,000 nautical mile still-air range at standard MTOW for the A380-800), Japan Airlines, and a few others.

The reason why British Airways and Japan Airlines favor the 747-8 over the A380-800 is the fact both airlines control a large fraction of the landing slots at their respective home airports (London Heathrow and Tokyo Narita), so there is no pressure to buy as big a plane as possible.

[Paleo Conservative]

I think right now these airlines are in line to buy the 747-8: British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways (unless Airbus can demonstrate 8,000 nautical mile still-air range at standard MTOW for the A380-800), Japan Airlines, and a few others.

Somewhere I read the range will be over 8,200 nautical miles. Considering Boeing's reputation for underestimating the actual performance of its planes before they are tested, I wouldn't be surprised if it were actually a bit more. Even if Airbus comes out with a high gross weight version of the A380-800, I doubt it will match the CASM of the 747-8I.

[Righty_McRight]

Well the year is over.

737 orders = 497
747 orders = 43
767 orders = 15
777 orders = 131
787 orders = 198

Not a bad year.

[Paleo Conservative]

I don't think Airbus got the 200 A350 orders in 2005 Leahy said they'd get.

[Righty_McRight]

The combined firm + commitments is 170. I'm not sure of what the breakdown is. Probably 30% firm? Bangkok Airways ordered 6 on the 30th.

http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/pressreleases_items/12_30_05_Bangkok_Airways.html

[Unrepentant VN Vet]

"............Considering Boeing's reputation for underestimating the actual performance of its planes before they are tested, I wouldn't be surprised if it were actually a bit more. ..........."

---

After reading those subtle little comments about "relofting", let alone that they apparently revisited the entire flap system, I wouldn't be surprised if it were SIGNIFICANTLY more.

[Paleo Conservative]

After reading those subtle little comments about "relofting", let alone that they apparently revisited the entire flap system, I wouldn't be surprised if it were SIGNIFICANTLY more.

I wonder if the reloft will transform the wings into supercritical airfoils?

[SW6906]

Welcome back!

[SW6906]

"A redesigned model aimed at the A320 should be the knock-out punch."

Stay tuned.

[SW6906]

Do you know how many A350s Airbus has said they must sell to "break even" (such as it is with subsidies)?

I know they had said they needed to sell 250+ A380s to "break even" - and that was before the cost overruns and schedule delay penalties..........

[Mr. Jeeves]

A redesigned model aimed at the A320 should be the knock-out punch.

That would be an enhanced 737 with a 787-style wing, which is almost surely already on the drawing board. Looks like Airbus is in for some rough years ahead.