Boeing Unveils Its Jumbo Killer

[scoreboardII]

I've never heard of a case of a wingfold hinge failure on a modern fighter. We have literally thousands of F-18's that have upwards of 7.5 G's cycled over and over again for over 8000 hours with no problems. It's not really that cosmic.

Do these F18's fly 18 hrs a day for four weeks before maintenance?

 

[SIG600]

Do these F18's fly 18 hrs a day for four weeks before maintenance?

Try 7 hours per flight 2 flights a day, hauling bombs/tanks/etc on and off a carrier (cat shot, trap per flight) for months on end, for the last 15+ years for some. Never mind the abuse we inflict while at home. Once a certain G load has been attained over a certain number of hours and flights, it's limited to 4 G's until inspection, then cleared back up to 7.5. A wing fold hinge is surprisingly simple. For a 2.5g airplane that does 18 hours of 1g flight is not hard to engineer, we've been folding wings on airplanes for 60+ years.

Here's an even better example.

http://jaxairnews.jacksonville.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/26jan12E2D-12.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/TrackerWingFolding01.JPG

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

Try 7 hours per flight 2 flights a day, hauling bombs/tanks/etc on and off a carrier (cat shot, trap per flight) for months on end, for the last 15+ years for some. Never mind the abuse we inflict while at home. Once a certain G load has been attained over a certain number of hours and flights, it's limited to 4 G's until inspection, then cleared back up to 7.5. A wing fold hinge is surprisingly simple. For a 2.5g airplane that does 18 hours of 1g flight is not hard to engineer, we've been folding wings on airplanes for 60+ years.

Here's an even better example.

http://jaxairnews.jacksonville.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/26jan12E2D-12.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/TrackerWingFolding01.JPG

Take it easy on scoreboard. He just flew a heavy jet...the -800 and knows everything about that kind of op.

 

[Crash Pad]

Cleared for takeoff... Standby we got a light... Is it the unfold your wing light?

I have been at two airlines that attempted single engine T/Os and one that forgot T/O flaps.

I have forgotten flap retraction coming into the gate and have seen it done a number of times.

I think that is the "what could go wrong?"

 

[jonjuan]

Do these F18's fly 18 hrs a day for four weeks before maintenance?

They're not going to SWA. MX will be done more often so no worries.

 

[PBRstreetgang]

ETOPS change?

 

[Microclimates]

on the plus side it should be fairly obvious when a wing-folding mechanism needs mx!

 

[zawillif]

I'm pretty sure the engineering team at Boeing Commercial Airplanes knows a good deal more about the pros and cons of folding wings than the likes of us.

Also, the engine will have a higher bypass ratio due to a much smaller core. I believe the outer dimensions will be close to the GE90. Although I don't have the figures in front of me.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

I'm pretty sure the engineering team at Boeing Commercial Airplanes knows a good deal more about the pros and cons of folding wings than the likes of us.

I would have thought the same about lithium-ion batteries.

 

[DUBLINFLYER]

GE 90 engine Info

The following is mindless information for those who have nothing to do today. (I'm having a slow day too)
The first General Electric-powered Boeing 777 was delivered to British Airways on November 12, 1995;[11] the aircraft, with two GE90-77Bs, entered service five days later.[12] Initial service was affected by gearbox bearing wear issues, which caused the airline to temporarily withdraw its 777 fleet from transatlantic service in 1997.[12] British Airways' aircraft returned to full service later that year,[13] and General Electric subsequently announced engine upgrades.
Records[edit]

According to the Guinness Book of Records, at 127,900 pounds-force (569 kN)f, the engine holds the record for the highest thrust (although rated at 115,300 pounds-force (513 kN)f). This thrust record was accomplished inadvertently as part of a one-hour, triple-red-line engine stress test. In order to accommodate the increase in torsional stresses an entirely new steel alloy (GE1014) had to be created and then machined to extreme tolerances.[14] The new record was set during testing of a GE90-115B development engine at GE Aviations' Peebles Test Operation, which is an outdoor test complex outside Peebles, Ohio. It eclipsed the engine's previous Guinness world record of 122,965 pounds-force (546.98 kN).[15]
On November 10, 2005, the GE90 entered the Guinness World Records for a second time. The GE90-110B1 powered a 777-200LR during the world's longest flight by a commercial airliner, though there were no fare-paying passengers on the flight, only journalists and invited guests. The 777-200LR flew 13,422 miles (21,601 km) in 22 hours, 42 minutes, flying from Hong Kong to London "the long way": over the Pacific, over the continental U.S., then over the Atlantic to London.[16] (The longest flight by a commercial airliner with passengers is 18.5 hours, flown by an Airbus A340-500 aircraft on a daily non-stop flight from New York to Singapore on Singapore Airlines. See Singapore Airlines Flight 21)
Variants
GE90-76B rated at 76,000 lbf (338.1 kN)
GE90-77B rated at 77,000 lbf (342.5 kN)
GE90-85B rated at 85,000 lbf (378.1 kN)
GE90-90B rated at 90,000 lbf (400.3 kN)GE90-92B rated at 92,000 lbf (409.2 kN)
GE90-94B rated at 93,700 lbf (417 kN)
GE90-110B1 rated at 110,100 lbf (489.3 kN)
GE90-115B rated at 115,300 lbf (514 kN)Specifications (GE90-115B)[edit]


General characteristics

• Type: axial flow, twin-shaft, bypass turbofan engine
• Length: 287 in (7,290 mm)[19]
• Diameter: overall: 135 in (3.429 m);[19] fan: 128 in (3.251 m)
• Dry weight: 18,260 lb (8,283 kg)[19]

Components

• Compressor: axial: 1 wide chord swept fan, 4 low pressure stages, 9 high pressure stages
• Turbine: axial: 6 low pressure stages, 2 high pressure stages

Performance

• Maximum thrust: max at sea level: 115,300 lbf (514 kN) ; world record set at 127,900 lbf (568,9 kN) 827 feet above sea level
• Overall pressure ratio: 42:1
• Thrust-to-weight ratio: approx. 6.3:1