... another Dreamliner burned today, Heathrow closed for 90 minutes. The airplane was operated by Ethiopian Airlines.
Did it have the modified batteries? Was the fire caused by the batteries? If so, it is really bad. Not just for Boeing but for aviation in general because once again innovation gets punished.
once again innovation gets punished.
Well, evolution always ramificates in all possible directions. All new branches can be considered innovations, but not every one is able to survive. Innovation alone is obviously not enough. Only innovation that brings along an improvement over the previous state will persist. Making (transport category) aeroplanes from inflammable materials can certainly be considered an innovation, but maybe one that better gets punished sooner than later... (It somehow reminds me of the 1930ies airships that were considered the gretest innovation of all times until they found out that they only take 40 seconds to completely incinerate.)
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your disposition) this may allow Airbus to leap-frog Boeing on composite aircraft....I believe they are developing their own...while watching and learning....in the same way that the DeHavilland Comet led the way in jet transport...but we're then leap-frogged by Boeing following problems with structural fatigue due to pressurization cycles
Agree with the sentiment that innovation that doesn't work doesn't deserve to survive.
I believe they are developing their own.
Unfortunately yes, the new 350 that first flew in June is also an all-composite construction. Maybe not too late yet to redesign some minor parts (like wings and fuselage) as aluminium structures before the series production starts ;-)
So the problems that Boeing are facing with the Dreamliner are due to composites? I thought it was batteries...
So the problems that Boeing are facing with the Dreamliner are due to composites? I thought it was batteries...
Batteries were yesterday. Today something burnt a hole through the fuselage.
Well, the difference being in this case that Airbus has almost completed the A350 development before Boeing has had time to discover all the faults. If it is anything fundamental then Airbus may not have the time to rectify all the faults without pushing back launch by a long way. If it is a more superficial problem then they may not share it anyway.
I don't see any news on the cause of this one but this press release is out.
On the recent Heathrow 'live' program in the UK there was a quote which suggested something like that by the year 2050, all planes have to be something like 65% quieter. So maybe global governmental organisations are putting too much pressure of the likes of Boeing and Airbus to innovate and meet environmental targets, and this is leading to these issues?
