My Oh My, The 9 Is Fine! Boeing 787-9 Videos At Farnborough (Before & During)

 You've probably already seen the Boeing video of the practice flight for the Farnborough aerial display of the new -9 version of the 787 (20' stretch, 40 more pax plus 350 mile range increase) - it's been a very popular video around the internets the last few days with already over 1 million views. Since it was so readily available by the time I had a chance to do anything with it, I never got around to posting it. I have however added it at the bottom of the page tho in case you are one of the 12 avgeeks who hasn't seen it.

 The video above is from PlanesTV Live and shows the actual Farnborough -9 display flight. It's all the same maneuvers as the practice flight but from a ground-based perspective. Great video. Great flight. Great airplane. (I'm prepared to declare the 787 the most beautiful and the most graceful jet airliner ever!)

 The video above is from TopFelya and shows the same flight from a different perspective. There's always something new to observe from a different point of view.

 This video is another from Boeing of the actual demonstration flight... it's not the full demo but still has some views of the -9 that are simply amazing to see.

 And here's that 'practice' flight video released by Boeing several days ago. The airborne views are simply stunning, which is no surprise since they were done by Wolfe Air (check this out). It's also interesting that lots of people thought this whole video was CGI instead of real. I admit that at times it has that look, but c'mon, this is the real deal. And wow, so is the 787-9... this is gonna be one popular airliner - Bravo Boeing!

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Videos: Boeing Goes Public With 7 Pax 'Space Station Taxi'... The CST-100

 I admit that I don't follow modern manned-spacecraft development very closely, and you can tell because I didn't even realize Boeing was developing a 7 seat spacecraft to serve as a low Earth orbit taxi!

 This video released yesterday gives a nice overview of the CST-100 project... and the one I found below shows a capsule drop-test from an Air-Crane where systems like the very critical parachute system and the air bag cushioning system used for terra firma landings were put to the test.

Video screenshot: Boeing CST-100 manned spacecraft capsule recovery drop test

 If I understand the information correctly, these drop tests actually took place in 2012, and they appear to have been very successful. The CST-100 is part of the NASA Commercial Crew Development program which is investing money in various projects from several manufacturers, and it shows that at the very least America is headed the right direction in having some form of successor to the Space Shuttle for getting our people up into space and back. Looks like I need to be paying more attention to what's going on!

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CoolPix: What A View Looking Up At The 434th ARW KC-135 From The 445th AW C-17!

(click pic for hi-res) My view from the cockpit of the C-17 as we took on 20,000 pounds

 I had a perfect day riding along in a C-17 Globemaster III from the 445th AW out of Wright-Patterson AFB as it was refueled by my Indiana friends in a KC-135 from the 434th ARW based at Grissom ARB. Both aircraft departed WPAFB before noon today and then we met up over Kentucky to pump some petrol. YeeHaw! It was aswesome!

 The KC-135 would normally have been operating out of Grissom in north central Indiana but runway work there has the 434th temporarily flying out of Wright-Patterson in Dayton Ohio. This presented the unique opportunity to have both aircraft carrying about 8 media representatives each. Typically only aircraft at a time would have guests like this onboard. It was an incredible opportunity to see Air Force reserve personnel at work... and just like back in 2010 when I rode in a 434th KC-135, everyone today represented the United States and the Air Force at the highest level of professionalism and performance. I am very impressed! 

 I captured lots of images and quite a bit of video on the 3-hour flight but I only have the energy tonight to share this one great CoolPix image. Each of us on the flight had several opportunities to view the refueling action from inside the C-17 cockpit, which is quite roomy actually, and this pic is from the eyebrow window above the left seat. The boom extends back over the cockpit to the refueling receptacle which puts us very close to the KC-135! That sight looking up is, as you should imagine, totally stunning.

 I hope you enjoy this pic (remember to click it to open it up, and then click the image again to make it even bigger) and then watch in a week or so as I put together a lengthy and detailed post about being right there for the inflight refueling exercise.

 A huge Thank You to everyone involved for allowing us to come along and see such excellent work in progress!

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Can The C-17 Get A Boost From The Goose? (Boeing SAVE Video)

 Ok, trying to tap into the energy from the wake created by a lead airplane to reduce overall fuel burn (like geese do in the 'V' formation) isn't just for the C-17... but apparently Boeing has been doing some research and software development using the C-17 as a testbed for the idea of reducing fuel burn when you have multiple aircraft headed the same direction. Boeing calls the program SAVE: Surfing Aircraft Vortices for Energy.

Video screenshot: Boeing C-17's are a perfect fit for the SAVE test program

 
Let's stop for a moment: I like talking about the C-17 here because if all goes well I'll be inside one next week as it drinks some kerosene from a KC-135! I've got another fabulous opportunity to ride along on with the 434th Air Refueling Wing. If you haven't seen the 56 pix and story from my KC-135 ride in 2010 then you should go check it out now, it was an awesome experience and I got some great pix of a B-52 from down in the boom pod. And then there's this amazing B-52 CoolPix that I captured. 

 My opportunity this time will be in the receiving aircraft, a C-17, and I must say that I am really looking forward to it. A big thank you in advance goes out to the 434th ARW for the opportunity. (check out the 434th ARW facebook page)

 So, as the video above says, there are some potentially rather large reductions in fuel burn available if we can position a following aircraft in the right spot to take advantage of the lead aircraft wake. And while it's easy to imagine the military taking advantage of this when more than one aircraft is headed the same direction, I don't see why we couldn't make this work with commercial airliners too.

 I guess we'll know about those possibilities when we see additional details about how far away the aircraft can be and what the realistic reduction in fuel burn is. In the end it might simply be an Air Traffic Control and autopilot software project that could lead to reduced fuel burn for the airlines, which of course would lead the airlines to immediately convert that windfall into extra legroom for coach passengers, right?   

Video screenshot: saving fuel by Surfing Aircraft Vortices for Energy

 Regardless of what the airlines might do with increased profit from saving some fuel, it's cool to see that as technology advances, we continue to figure ways to do what the Creator has been doing all along!

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Video: Paine Field 787 Landings... Lots of Them!

 I've been a big fan of the Boeing 787 since the early days of the 7E7, and while the bug-flushing from the program has been very public and teeming with haters, the fact remains that the 787 is a remarkable success already. With 1,031 orders on the books, 121 Dreamliners delivered, and with the production rate up to 10 aircraft each month now, the 787 is pointed squarely at reducing the cost of production and headed toward the break even point.

 The video above is a nice collection of new 787's in various liveries as they operate out of Paine Field during flight tests. In addition to seeing lots of paint schemes, the video is also interesting in that it captures many landings that include having the RAT (Ram Air Turbine) deployed, which can heard sounding like a turboprop airplane is passing by with the 787. The RAT is designed to deploy if power is lost on both engines and it will supply emergency electrical power. It's routine for the system to be tested/deployed during initial flight testing.

 The video can be watched in 1080p HD, and of course it's a lot more enjoyable fullscreen. Enjoy!

Video screenshot: 787 flight testing, including the deployed Ram Air Turbine

Video: Boeings Over Baghdad... Amazing Perspective!

 I've always been interested in seeing things from a different perspective... it's not just a different point of view but it's often a window into a world most people never see. This video of a 747 overtaking a 737 from directly below (from the cockpit of a 777) is such a great example of this.

 According to the youtube description, this was in 2011 over Baghdad, but of course this could happen anywhere on pretty much any day. Tho it's interesting how well the airplanes all lined up, and really cool that Capt Sreekumar in the 777 cockpit had a video camera and the awareness to catch it as it happened. And there's something extra cool about it being three different Boeing aircraft all flying the same line in the sky : )

Video screenshot of the 747 passing the 737 (recorded from the cockpit of a 777)

Hyper Scale PAPER Boeing 777 (The Fine Line Between Genius And Insanity) - MUST SEE!

(click pic to enlarge)  Luca Laconi-Stewart's UNBELIEVABLE paper 777!  (photo: flickr)

 If my research on this fresh and incredible internet phenomena is correct, Luca Laconi-Stewart lives in America and started this hyper-detailed 1:60 scale PAPER (manila folders to be more precise) Boeing 777 model five years ago! He took a couple years off the project while in college, but then dropped out to focus on the paper 777. The detail, especially in the moving parts is simply unimaginable.

 Watch the videos below and then go check out the extensive gallery of photos on the Luca Laconi-Stewart flickr page. 'Mind blown' is not hyperbole when you try to wrap your head around the reality of this effort.

 My understanding is that the project is not quite finished but it's getting close. And, he seems to be thinking he's gonna try an even better model next... that is if he doesn't have to go find a job to support this sitting-on-the-fence-between-genius-and-insanity obsession. 

 Bravo Mr. Luca Laconi-Stewart, BRAVO!

CoolPix: Boeing 307 Stratoliner At The NASM (Udvar-Hazy)

(click pic for hi-res) The only remaining Boeing 307 Stratoliner, at the NASM Udvar-Hazy

 I'll start by saying that the late January 2014 AirPigz MeetUp is being planned for the National Navy Aviation Museum in Pensacola Florida. More info on that will be up soon.

 The January 2013 AirPigz MeetUp was in the Washington DC area to experience the two amazing National Air & Space Museum facilities, the one on the National Mall and the Udvar-Hazy. This CoolPix image of the Boeing 307 Stratoliner is one I captured on that trip. I posted the full frame CoolPix version of this image back in February as part of a Stratoliner 'awesome or ugly' poll, but today I'm showing off a heavily cropped version of it. I find these wide-format images really look fantastic!

 You might have seen the post from a couple days ago that revealed the Aerospace 9 art studio project I'm trying to pull together. It's tag line is 'bleeding edge art' since it will focus, at least initially, on some of the extreme aircraft designs from the 1950's and 1960's. The plan is for it to eventually move into the wide world of aerospace machinery from the last 60 years, including the Space Shuttle and up to current day. But I also registered the domain aerodrome9.com to offer civilian, transport, and WWI & WWII military aircraft art. An image like this one of the Stratoliner would eventually be found on the Aerodrome 9 website.

 One of my goals is to offer the artwork in unusual sizes and proportions. Since I'll be building all of the custom frames (including some extraordinary ones) it'll be no problem to offer the unusual sizes. It's my opinion that the Stratoliner image here would look fabulous matted and in a frame that was 37" x 18". Big, dramatic, and beautiful.

 Oh, and I'm very pleased that the Stratoliner was voted overwhelmingly as 'awesome' in the awesome or ugly poll!

Video: Boeing 787 Aerobatics At The 2013 Paris Air Show!

 Hang on, don't get too excited here... the FAA defines 'aerobatics' in FAR 91.303 like this: Aerobatic flight is an intentional maneuver involving abrupt change in an aircraft's attitude, an abnormal attitude, or abnormal acceleration, not necessary for normal flight. By that definition, the 787's climb-out on takeoff Wednesday at the Pairs Air Show that reached about 40 degrees nose up would be defined as 'aerobatics' : )

 So, while there wasn't really anything else incredible done during the flight demo, it was another great opportunity to see the Dreamliner show off its graceful wings and overall beautiful design. I put up an airliner beauty poll a couple weeks ago putting the 787 up against the new Airbus A350 (which made its first flight last week) and so far the 787 is still well out in front with over 73% of the vote. They're both good looking airliners tho, and they both seem to be selling like hotcakes!

 Enjoy the video... and imagine the wild ride in the cockpit on that takeoff!

Video screenshot of the 40 degrees nose up 787 climb-out at the 2013 Paris Air Show

Video: Airbus A350 XWB Roll Out (Plus Composite Airliner Beauty Poll)

(vote in the composite airliner beauty poll at the bottom of the post)
 

  About a week ago Airbus rolled out the all new A350 XWB fresh from the paint shop looking like an airplane that's ready to fly before long. It appears that is indeed the case as they have indicated that the first flight will take place this summer, tho most likely not before the 50th anniversary Paris Air Show which runs June 17-23, 2013. Airbus didn't present the A350 with a big bash, instead it was a simple display of the aircraft with employees as seen in the photo below.

(click pic to enlarge) Roll out of the Airbus A350 XWB with employees  (photo: Airbus)

 The A350 looks just like it should given the market it's intended for, but it's interesting to me that so much of the basic design was driven by both the revolutions displayed in Boeing's 787 and by serious push from airlines and airline industry people demanding that Airbus respond directly (meaning an all-new aircraft) to Boeing's quantum leap in airliner design and function. I'd say Airbus was dragged kicking and screaming into the A350 program, but ultimately they have an airplane that will likely compete very well against the 787. I have no doubt that both aircraft will be very successful and that the people involved in designing and building these modern airliners have so very much to proud of.

(click pic to enlarge) A350 on May 13, 2013 - fresh out of the paint shop (photo: Airbus)

 I figured today was a good to share the video and pix of the A350 roll out since today is the day that United will put the 787 back into service after the lithium-ion battery issue. Ethiopian Airlines actually resumed 787 service way back on April 27, 2013 and Japan's ANA is expected to resume 787 service on June 1. The Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350 will be battling it out for fleet dominance in the next 10 years+, and once the A350 flies and its performance figures become known, it'll be interesting to speculate which will ultimately dominate. Of course there's more to airliner success than just performance numbers... overall operating costs, reliability, and even passenger response all factor in.

(click pic to enlarge)  United 787 in Flight: UAL 787 resumes today May 20, 2013

 In the end, overall beauty probably won't have much if any impact on which of these aircraft is the most successful, but it's still something I'm very interested in... so I thought a little composite airliner beauty poll was a good idea. Based only only on the look of the aircraft, which do you think is the prettier airliner?

UPDATE: (5.20.13 1:43pm)  While I think the A350 looks nice, I admit that I find the 787 to be truly beautiful. If you doubt my opinion, watch this video: Mesmerizing HD Video Of The 787 Dreamliner In Flight (N787EX) - I'll do a follow up poll when we get a great video like that of the A350 to compare with : )