Oh dear – it looks like they’ve got a few problems. Do you think they rushed it out to keep up with AirBus?

Do you think they rushed it out

No. Far from it.

Considering it was about (and I guess here) 2 or 3 years late and Airbus’s direct competitor the A350XWB has yet to fly, no they didn’t rush.

Is it a big step technically? maybe, so maybe we should expect a lot of teething problems.
Did they have huge problems in design and manufacture? oh yes
Has so many faults in a short period created a huge amount of media attention? Yes.

At least Airbus haven’t been smugly criticising it for having these faults (I am not convinced that fires and fuel leaks are “teething” though!). If I recall, it was, er, Boeing who were quick to publicly revel in the A380s wing fractures a couple of years ago.

Rolls Royce recovered from their engine fires a while back – that was a pretty big scare at the time.

(I am not convinced that fires and fuel leaks are “teething” though!)

this. “battery problem” is a nice understated euphenism for “bursting into flames”. STWers fear exploding batteries on 20 quid lights, but are happy to have their lives depend on them at 30,000 feet?

It’s a new breed of plane, composite and electronics vs alloys and hydraulics, but I’d expect critical components like Li-ion batteries (that are known to suffer overheating) to be tested and specced to the n’th degree.

Just because something is late doesnt mean it wasnt rushed.

I though the Dreamliner was produced to rival the A380. Sorry.

though the Dreamliner was produced to rival the A380. Sorry

Dude have you compared the sizes – its like a seal and a whalrus.

Harder than it looks this plane making malarky – probably best I never get involved.

isnt the latest problem the accelerator pedal sticking

They used the wrong type of conveyor belt.

I though the Dreamliner was produced to rival the A380. Sorry.

They were rivals in that the entry into service / development etc took place at roughly the same time, so there was a bit of hoo-haa over which company made the right choice.
They dont however compete for the same market (350 seater)

XWB is the rival to Dreamliner…and is doing very well (in terms of orders).

As a RR employee I’m watching the dreamliner problems with interest.

As a RR employee I’m watching the dreamliner problems with interest.

Fingers crossed that ‘your’ engines dont catch fire or the GE ones dont drop off? 🙄

I’m hoping the GE engines don’t drop off 😉

…and am watching the A350XWB with interest 😉 😉

My brother is working on them out in Warsaw. Fair to say they’re not having a good time of it, he’s just done a 100 hour week spent entirely on reactive maintenance.

where do you work kingisdead? I’m in moor lane

Rule 1. Never be an early operator for a new type of aircraft!

I believe they’ve used LiPol batteries as they’re mouldable and lightweight. As we all know, this type of battery can get exciting after a thermal runaway.

Sealed Lead Acid, although bulky and heavy are much more stable in aircraft.

I’m sure they’ll get this sorted. In fairness, Airbus are still losing serviceable aircraft years after their launch due to the flight deck philosophy that removes the pilot from the feedback loop….

Pook – Hucknall.
Occaisional attendee at the early learning centre 🙂

Actually, all other modern aircraft use NiMH batteries. Some light aircraft might still use lead-acid.

Are the engines making a sound like a duck quacking?

The normal arrangement with new aircraft is the lead operators help iron out all the teething problems and maintenance programs. I’m not sure how that arrangement has done with all the financial cuts as the large operators who would normally do this try and compete with the budget airlines who just sit back and benefit from years of collaboration by others and then get slated for their high prices…

BA is one example of an operator taking a significant role in this with their maintenance bases such as the ones in South Wales (747 & 777) and North East England (737 I believe if not others).

A few ideas spring to mind:
the strain on this type of operator-manufactuer relationship means we are seeing these failures
the media love to make a big deal out of things
they are rushing too much?
it’s just the adoption of lots of new technology and finer margins as they try and extract every last bit of efficiency?
Contracting parts out to companies who use engineers that might not have spend as long ‘in the trade’ as in the old days so there is not the experience in the actual application that you used to see?

they will get there in the end I’m sure.

Flaperon,

Not exactly the case; the C130J I used to fly had SLAs. It’s a medium-sized aircraft. But that might be due to their durability and requirement for ‘in field’ use. I know NiCads are not in favour but I’m guessing NiMh are more stable?

I can sort of understand the battery issues; new technology etc.

Fuel leaks? Sounds a bit basic to the layman. If you can’t do the pipes up tight what else has been left loose?

Pook, me too!

cool – where?

Lombard building here 😉

D2, you?

c3

Its a RR-STW love in 😉

fleet grounded? oops!

Ex-Hucknall and Ex-Sinfin A (OED Building) here 🙂

I wonder how many RR STWer there are.

Can someone do a Venn diagram? ;o)

I wonder if Sony made those batteries?

It is a plastic plane after all heard it called the “screamliner” this week. I am sure it is just teething issues

I see they are fitting afterburners to civilan planes now.