Part 2 of two parts.
With multiples and multiples of billions of dollars at stake to develop new airplanes, and the billions of dollars of cost overruns at risk, it’s understandable the Airbus and Boeing are shifting to looking at derivatives and incremental improvements now for the lower-risk and ability to “harvest” technology across family lines.
This is hardly new. Airframers have been doing this since the Douglas DC-1 prototype begot the DC-2, which led to the DC-3. The Douglas DC-4 was the basis for the DC-6 and DC-7, for which there were A, B and C versions. Lockheed revamped the L-049 Constellation through several major upgrades (the -649, 749, 1049 and 1649, with several sub-sub-types in between). Convair created the CV-240 and revised it twice with the CV-340 and 440. The Martin 202 became the 303 (dumped after design issues with the 202) and the 404.
The trend continued into the jet age. Douglas created the DC-8-10/20/30/40/50 on the same basic airframe and really went to town with the DC-8 Super 60 Series. The DC-9-10 became the -20/30/40/50, the Super 80 (in four variants) and the basis for the MD-90 and MD-95. Boeing’s ground-breaking 707-120 became the 138/227/320B/C, the 707-020 (more commonly known as the 720), the C-135/KC-135 and a number of other military variants. The fuselage was the basis of the 727, 737 and 757. And so on. (Text continues below the photo.)
Later this month, we will unveil a new, updated Leeham News and Comment with a combination of paid and free content. Watch this space for more information.
European manufacturers of the early jet age followed the same pattern. There were four commercial versions intended for the deHavilland Comet. The Hawker Siddeley came in multiple versions, as did the British Aircraft Corp. BAC-111.
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Odds and Ends: 787 donation; Alenia sues Bombardier over CSeries; 2016 777 delivery slots opening up
787 donation: The Boeing Co. handed over 787 test airplane #3 (ZA003) to the Museum of Flight Saturday in an elaborate ceremony marking an unprecedented donation of a modern airliner to an aviation museum.
Boeing 787 ZA003, which went on a world sales tour, was donated to Seattle’s Museum of Flight Nov. 8, 2014. The logos of customers bracket the #2 door. Photo by Leeham News and Comment. click to enlage.
To be sure, the donation was made possible by the fact that ZA003 (and 002 and 001) can’t be sold due to the massive rework necessary, and these three airplanes have been written off for more than $2bn. But this doesn’t make the event any less significant.
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12 Comments
Posted on November 9, 2014 by Scott Hamilton
Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Boeing, Bombardier, CSeries, Douglas Aircraft Co, GE Aviation, Leeham News and Comment, Rolls-Royce
707, 727, 737, 747, 787, Air Force One, Air India. 777, Alenia, Boeing, Boeing 40A, Bombardier, Concorde, CSeries, DC-3, Douglas, GE Aviation, GEnx, Lockheed Constellation, Museum of Flight, Rolls-Royce, Shen, Trent 1000, ZA001, ZA002, ZA003
New and Derivative Airplanes: Some good, some not: Part 2
Part 2 of two parts.
With multiples and multiples of billions of dollars at stake to develop new airplanes, and the billions of dollars of cost overruns at risk, it’s understandable the Airbus and Boeing are shifting to looking at derivatives and incremental improvements now for the lower-risk and ability to “harvest” technology across family lines.
This is hardly new. Airframers have been doing this since the Douglas DC-1 prototype begot the DC-2, which led to the DC-3. The Douglas DC-4 was the basis for the DC-6 and DC-7, for which there were A, B and C versions. Lockheed revamped the L-049 Constellation through several major upgrades (the -649, 749, 1049 and 1649, with several sub-sub-types in between). Convair created the CV-240 and revised it twice with the CV-340 and 440. The Martin 202 became the 303 (dumped after design issues with the 202) and the 404.
The trend continued into the jet age. Douglas created the DC-8-10/20/30/40/50 on the same basic airframe and really went to town with the DC-8 Super 60 Series. The DC-9-10 became the -20/30/40/50, the Super 80 (in four variants) and the basis for the MD-90 and MD-95. Boeing’s ground-breaking 707-120 became the 138/227/320B/C, the 707-020 (more commonly known as the 720), the C-135/KC-135 and a number of other military variants. The fuselage was the basis of the 727, 737 and 757. And so on. (Text continues below the photo.)
Later this month, we will unveil a new, updated Leeham News and Comment with a combination of paid and free content. Watch this space for more information.
European manufacturers of the early jet age followed the same pattern. There were four commercial versions intended for the deHavilland Comet. The Hawker Siddeley came in multiple versions, as did the British Aircraft Corp. BAC-111.
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65 Comments
Posted on October 7, 2014 by Scott Hamilton
Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Douglas Aircraft Co, McDonnell Douglas
737, 737 MAX, 777-8, 777LR, A340, A340-500, A340-600, Airbus, BAC-111, Boeing, Bombardier, British Aircraft Corp., Comet, CRJ, Dash 8, DC-8, DC-8 Super 60, deHavilland, E-Jet, E-Jet E2, Embraer
CNAC reunion features surviving WW II pilot, C-47/DC-3
This past weekend we attended a reunion of two of the living pilots, descendents, friends and interested public of the China National Aviation Corp. at the San Francisco International Airport.
We did a detailed write-up for CNN.com. This story and some photos are here.
There was a lot that didn’t fit into the CNN article, for space and for the thrust of the article. In a departure from our usual aviation coverage, we’re sharing the experience below.
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2 Comments
Posted on September 9, 2014 by Scott Hamilton
Airlines, Douglas Aircraft Co
airlines, China National Aviation Corp, CNAC, Historic Flight Foundation, John Sessions, Moon Chin, Pete Goutiere
Throwback to the 1930s
This weekend we’re heading to San Francisco in style–1930s style. We will be on the Historic Flight Foundation’s Douglas DC-3 from Everett Paine Field to SFO for a reunion of the China National Aviation Corp., CNAC, including a 100-year old veteran of the airline.
We’ll be on HFF’s DC-3, the only surviving CNAC plane, which is today painted in the colors of Pan American World Airways from the era. PAA owned a piece of CNAC before World War II.
This Douglas DC-3, owned by the Historic Flight Foundation, was operated at one time by China’s CNAC and later as an executive aircraft. It still has the executive interior and panoramic windows of the executive configuration. Photo by Gail Twelves.
The plane eventually became an executive transport and the executive interior is still in it.
The flight will be about four hours each way. This will be the third time we’ve taken a ride on the aircraft, and this will be the longest. Previous rides were an hour long.
Look for our report from the trip on CNN.com, International, Travel next week as well as some additional information here.
8 Comments
Posted on September 4, 2014 by Scott Hamilton
Douglas Aircraft Co
CNAC, DC-3, Douglas, Douglas DC-3, Historic Flight Foundation, Pan Am, Pan American World Airways
An alternative air show
The Farnborough Air Show got all the headlines this month, but we went to a small air show in Everett (WA), right at Paine Field, where Boeing dominates.
The Historic Flight Foundation is the brainchild of John Sessions, who has put together a private collection of all-airworthy airplanes. It’s also near by the Paul Allen (yes, the Microsoft Paul Allen) collection of airworthy airplanes at the Flying Heritage Museum and across the field from the restoration center of the Museum of Flight, which is at Boeing Field.
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6 Comments
Posted on July 28, 2014 by Scott Hamilton
Boeing, Douglas Aircraft Co
B-25 "Grumpy", B-29, Beech 18, Beech C-45, Boeing, Commemorative Air Force, DC-3, Douglas DC-3, Fifi, Historic Flight Foundation, North American B-25 Mitchell, Orcas Island
Farborough Air Show, July 16: Snipe hunts in an era of model improvements
It doesn’t matter what the competition does, it’s always inferior–until you do it yourself.
The continued, and tiring, war of words between Airbus and Boeing throughout the decades is monotonous and self-serving. If you step back, it’s also amusing.
Consider:
And so it goes.
The fact of the matter is, however, that minor and major makeovers of existing airplanes have long been a fact of life, maximizing investment and keeping research and development costs under control. The Douglas DC-1 was the prototype for the DC-2, which begot the DC-3. The DC-4 (C-54) begot the DC-6, DC-6B and DC-7 series. The Lockheed Contellation was reworked from the original L-049 through the 647/749/1049 (in various versions) and finally the 1649.
Then came the jet age, with vastly more expense, and model upgrades became the norm. The sniping today between Airbus and Boeing goes unabated in an era of historical model improvements.
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39 Comments
Posted on July 15, 2014 by Scott Hamilton
Airbus, Boeing, Douglas Aircraft Co
707, 727, 727-200 Advanced, 737, 737 MAX, 747, 777, 777X, 787, A300, A330, A330neo, A340, A350-1000, Airbus, Boeing, DC-1, DC-2, DC-3, DC-4, DC-6, DC-7, DC-8, DC-9, Douglas, MD-90
Odds and Ends: Gooney Bird; UAV helicopter
Gooney Bird: Britain’s The Economist has an interesting look back at The Gooney Bird, one of the affectionate names of the Douglas DC-3.
Any aviation enthusiast knows the DC-3 has a unique place in history, a description that is often over-used but which is true in this case. The feats, particularly during World War II, are legendary. The plane has been withdrawn from service in all of Europe (the article explains why) but remains in operation elsewhere in the world, including here in the United States.
A Super DC-3 at Opa Locka Airport in Miami in 2011, still in use then. Photo by Scott Hamilton
After WW II, Douglas tried to breath new life into the airplane, creating the Super DC-3, with a square tail, wheel covers, a small fuselage stretch and more powerful engines. Capital Airlines bought a small number (three, if memory serves) but with cheap, surplus DC-3s left over from the War and modern competitors in the form of the Convair 240 and Martin 202, airline sales were a bust. The Navy bought a fair number.
Unmanned Helicopter: Sikorsky has entered the unmanned helicopter business to provide the military with heavy lift capability at no risk to the troops.
4 Comments
Posted on May 14, 2014 by Scott Hamilton
Douglas Aircraft Co
DC-3, Douglas Aircraft Co, Gooney Bird, Sikorsky, Super DC-3
OEMs are ramping up services as profit centers
Original Equipment Manufacturers are ramping up their focus on services to increase these as profit centers for company financial performance.
The news April 10 that Boeing will relocate its Commercial Aviation Services unit from Seattle to its fading facility in Long Beach (CA) is another example. After-market support services for all DC- and MD- models and the out-of-production 7 Series airplanes previously were relocated to Southern California. Now, support for the in-production 7 Series (except the 787), the 737-based P-8A Poseidon and the forthcoming KC-46A will shift to SoCal. The 787, 737 MAX and forthcoming 777X support will be in Seattle.
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Leave a Comment
Posted on April 21, 2014 by Scott Hamilton
Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, CFM, CSeries, Douglas Aircraft Co, GE Aviation, McDonnell Douglas, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce
7-Series, A320NEO, Airbus, Boeing, Boeing CAS, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, CAS, CFM, CSeries, DC-Series, Douglas Aircraft Co, GE Engines, Geared Turbo Fan, International Aero Engines, Jim Albaugh, McDonnell Douglas, MD-Series, Pratt & Whitney, Pure Power, Pure V, Rolls-Royce, V2500
Odds and Ends: Looking ahead in 2014; Boeing letter to Machinists; TWA retro choice; Screw it, let’s do it on Virgin [plane]
Looking ahead in 2014: We wrote this outlook for 2014 for CNN International Travel. More seats, more fees, quieter year.
IAM 751 members vote Friday on the ‘777X contract.‘ Here is a letter dated December 27 from Boeing to the Machinists making the case to vote for the contract.
It is the TWA Twin Globe livery that is the clear choice by our Readers for American Airlines to select for a retro livery.
Source: Photobucket.com. Convair 880
TWA’s last livery was a distant second. (We didn’t particularly like this design.) The design should probably go on an MD-80, the derivative of the DC-9 on which the Twin Globes livery appeared.
Source: Ed Coats Collection. Douglas DC-9-15.
Which TWA livery should join American Airlines’ fleet as the “heritage” airplane?
In other news and irreverence:
8 Comments
Posted on January 1, 2014 by Scott Hamilton
Airlines, Aspire Aviation, Boeing, Douglas Aircraft Co, IAM 751, International Association of Machinists
777X, 777X site selection, Aspire Aviation, Boeing, DC-9, Douglas Aircraft Co., IAM 751, International Association of Machinists, MD-80, Trans World Airlines, TWA, Virgin Airlines
Ultra Long Range Airplane market will limit 777-8 sales
A limited global market for Ultra Long Range Airplanes (ULRA) will limit sales of the Boeing 777-8.
The Boeing Board of Directors is expected to green-light the 777X program this month, with two versions of the airplane: the 350-passenger 777-8 and the 406-passenger 777-9. The 777-8 will have a range of about 9,400nm and the -9 a range about 1,000nm less.
The 777-8, an Ultra-Long Range Aircraft, is known within the industry as “Tim Clark’s airplane.” Clark is the president of Emirates Airlines and for years has been urging Airbus and Boeing to develop a plane with ultra-long range that can fly from Dubai to Los Angeles with a full payload. The absence of this ability is one reason why he has not purchased the 747-8I.
Reaction to the 777-8X in customer meetings sponsored by Boeing has been tepid. The 777-8X has been viewed as a niche airplane that will not compete effectively against the Airbus A350-1000, which nominally carriers 350 passengers but has a range of about 8,400nm.
Customer reaction, we are told by some of those in attendance at these meetings, has been that the 8X is a highly niche aircraft that will be needed on only 5% of the world’s routes. It will be too heavy and too costly for most operations, and uncompetitive with the A350-1000.
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38 Comments
Posted on October 3, 2013 by Scott Hamilton
Airbus, Boeing, Douglas Aircraft Co, McDonnell Douglas
747SP, 777-200LR, 777-8, A340-500, Airbus, Boeing, DC-8-62, Douglas, Douglas Aircraft Co., Emirates Airlines, L-1011-500, Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, Tim Clark
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