Broken Dreams: The Boeing 787 | Page 6 | FerrariChat

Broken Dreams: The Boeing 787

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by Jet-X, Sep 8, 2014.

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  1. NürScud

    NürScud F1 Veteran

    Nov 3, 2012
    7,275
  2. thibaut

    thibaut Formula Junior

    Feb 28, 2004
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    Thibaut A.
    Airbus 320neo made its maiden flight today. no problemo.
    Fyi Airbus is as German as it is French.
    i guess ferrari-tech will now tell us he doesn't like German engineering too.
    Everbody entitled to their opinion but pls spare us lousy justifications.
     
  3. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Lots of things we do not like about the basic architecture of Airbus airliners, regardless of who did the engineering. Like the one that went into the drink off the coast of Brazil. Would not have happened with a Boeing airliner where everyone could have seen what was happening and shot the pilot in the right seat. Or Silly's landing in the Hudson where the system shut down both engines so they could not hurt themselves. As if an intake full of dirt or water would not have hurt the engines. Or the flyby that ended up in the dirt, or....
     
  4. tritone

    tritone F1 Veteran
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    ….or the A320 cockpit that went completely black, as in completely!, when a Captain friend was about 15 minutes out of Singapore after a 12:00 am departure. He hand-flew and navigated around other aircraft back to the airport with his Saudi co-pilot chanting prayers to Allah. After they finally landed, in between other flights, surrounded by tanks guns helos etc., the AB maintenance manager told him "it must be your fault, this cannot happen to an AB".

    Maintenance later unable to revive the airplane. They finally flew an entire replacement electronics package from Toulouse.

    Charleys' parting comment to the maintenance mgr. was "this never happens on a Boeing".
     
  5. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    Multiple back ups and manual reversion in some cases.
     
  6. PSk

    PSk F1 World Champ

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    Pete
    Agree, but lets remember that with this plane, the 787, Boeing has made a mistake with the battery and not resolved the issue yet.

    Until that is 100% properly resolved, Boeing are not perfect either.
    Pete
     
  7. Spasso

    Spasso F1 World Champ

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    Han Solo
    ..and the culture Boeing is following is going down a bad path.
    It used to be best design, best performance, best quality.(no matter what!)
    Those were the three premiere mantras. Not any more.
     
  8. FERRARI-TECH

    FERRARI-TECH Formula 3

    Nov 9, 2006
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    Probably some of the best in the world, so don't get all butt hurt....



    What he said........
     
  9. WilyB

    WilyB F1 Rookie
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    #134 WilyB, Sep 30, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Is not correct: each engine core ingested at least one Canada goose:
    - High-pressure compressor variable guide vanes critically damaged
    - Engine airflow disrupted
    - Not capable of continued operation
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  10. absent

    absent F1 Veteran
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    Flew on 787 a couple times already, jet lag almost non existent, did not feel bloated and fatigued like on 747 or 777 or any Airbus.
    Flying again this Sunday to Warsaw for a few days again and looking forward to it.
    LOT is using them exclusively for all their long distance flights and they are saving a ton of $$ vs their previous fleet of 767s.
     
  11. jcurry

    jcurry Two Time F1 World Champ
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    What he said. NTSB report makes it pretty clear that if the computers did not shut the engines down Sully would have to very soon or the engines would have shut themselves down without any interference.
     
  12. Tcar

    Tcar F1 Rookie

    Well, AirBus is now going to use Lithium-Ion batteries on the A350-900. Changing from NiCad.
     
  13. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Jim- I like my version better. Any thrust is better than no thrust and it would have been nice if the pilot had the choice and not a computer.
     
  14. PSk

    PSk F1 World Champ

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    Now that is an interesting bit of information. Will be interesting to hear/read if they have any mishaps during testing like Boeing has ... ? Has the industry now started to accept risks that it would previously not have?

    Hmmm ... I guess I soon will have no choice but to accept the risk or stay at home.
    Pete
     
  15. WilyB

    WilyB F1 Rookie
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    I know it's off topic, but I wonder why you wrote that a computer decided to shut the engines off?

    The report never mention such a thing. It says that after having ingested up to two 8lbs birds each, the engines were incapable of producing thrust.

    http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2010/aar1003.pdf
     
  16. jcurry

    jcurry Two Time F1 World Champ
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    I don't know the how, why, who of the engines being shut down, but in general don't disagree with your statement. However, in Sully's case everything worked out well in the end, and it is only conjecture what would have happened if he had some residual thrust (for how long) and tried to turn back.
     
  17. PSk

    PSk F1 World Champ

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  18. onocoffee

    onocoffee Karting

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    I thought airlines would power down their aircraft completely when the plane is not being used?
     
  19. norcal2

    norcal2 F1 Veteran

    Interesting..some of what was identified earlier might actually be true...

    "Boeing to Face SEC Probe of Dreamliner and 747 Accounting

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Boeing Co. properly accounted for the costs and expected sales of two of its best known jetliners, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

    The probe, which involves a whistleblower’s complaint, centers on projections Boeing made about the long-term profitability for the 787 Dreamliner and the 747 jumbo aircraft, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the investigation isn’t public. Both planes are among Boeing’s most iconic, renowned for the technological advancements they introduced, as well as the development headaches they brought the company.

    Underlying the SEC review is a financial reporting method known as program accounting that allows Boeing to spread the enormous upfront costs of manufacturing planes over many years. While the SEC has broadly blessed its use in the aerospace industry, critics have said the system can give too much leeway to smooth earnings and obscure potential losses.




    “We typically do not comment on media inquiries of this nature,” Boeing spokesman Chaz Bickers said in an e-mailed statement. SEC spokesman John Nester declined to comment.

    Share Drop

    Boeing fell 11 percent to $103.69 at 11.24 a.m. in New York, the lowest intraday price in more than two years.

    SEC enforcement officials have yet to reach any conclusions and could decide against bringing a case, said the people. The issues involved are complex and there are few black-and-white rules governing how companies apply program accounting, one person said.

    Program accounting has been around for decades. It was first championed by the aerospace industry to address the problem that companies’ biggest expenses are amassed upfront, as they design planes and devise manufacturing processes. Costs typically fall as the assembly becomes more efficient, making it cheaper to build the later jets than the earlier ones.




    The method, which is fully compliant with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, lets companies average out the costs and anticipated profits over the duration of the “program” for a specific jet, a period that can last decades and encompass hundreds or even thousands of aircraft.

    The expected costs and sales are estimates and they must be updated -- and a loss recorded -- when the program is determined to have reached a point where earnings won’t catch up to losses.

    Boeing’s Forecasts

    As part of the investigation, SEC enforcement attorneys are examining whether Boeing’s financial statements relied on sales forecasts that might be too optimistic, one person said. Another avenue of inquiry is whether Boeing’s estimates for declining production costs will come to fruition, the person said.

    A whistleblower has given SEC officials internal documents and data about Boeing’s accounting, according to the people. The tipster first raised concerns with the regulator more than a year ago, one person said. SEC policy is to not reveal the identities of whistleblowers.

    Over the years, a handful of aerospace analysts have questioned whether Boeing will be able to recoup its costs for both the 787 and the latest 747, both of which debuted far behind schedule in 2011. In general, the company has enjoyed a good reputation on Wall Street, earning billions of dollars in annual profits and winning buy recommendations from most researchers who follow the industry.

    Boeing’s accounting projects that the company will eventually make money on the Dreamliner despite already spending $28.5 billion on inventory and manufacturing. The forecast hinges on Boeing selling about 1,300 planes and assumes profits on its later deliveries will offset high costs stemming from early production snarls.
    Plateauing Expenses

    Boeing told investors during a January conference call that its Dreamliner expenses would plateau this year and then begin to decline as it speeds up production.

    “We still have work ahead of us on the 787,” Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg said on the call. He added that the company is “focused on solid day-to-day execution and risk reduction, while improving long-term productivity and cash flow.”

    Some analysts are skeptical that margins will improve enough to offset money that Boeing has already poured into the 787. Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Robert Spingarn estimated the company may face a $7.5 billion shortfall on the jet, according to a December report.

    Boeing’s outlook for the latest and largest version of its jumbo family, known as the 747-8, has also been questioned by some aerospace analysts.

    Accounting Losses

    Over the years, Boeing has recorded several accounting losses, totaling $2.6 billion, for the 747-8 program. The most recent was last month when the company reported an after-tax loss of $569 million and announced it would halve its production to six jumbos a year.

    Boeing’s current accounting estimates for the program’s profitability rely on it selling 35 more 747-8s.

    Meeting those numbers could be a challenge. The company has only had 121 orders for the jet since 2005, and most of those sales came before the 2008 financial crisis. In addition, Boeing only netted two 747-8 sales over the previous two years. It ended up buying both planes itself as part of a lease-back deal with a Russian cargo company.

    Boeing executives have said they are hopeful of a possible resurgence late this decade for the 747 freighter, whose size and cargo-loading capabilities are unmatched. The company’s other sales prospects for the 747 include replacements for the Air Force One aircraft that ferry U.S. presidents.

    Jason Gursky, senior aerospace and defense analyst with Citigroup Inc., isn’t as optimistic.

    “We expect the line to fully close early next decade after the Air Force One replacement,” Gursky wrote in a Jan. 22 report. He said the 747 order book is “very weak.”
     
  20. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    Maybe Boeing should take up Airbus accounting practices, since they say the A380 is now making money :)
     
  21. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

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    Holy-moley! :eek:

    I think it was "The Motley Fool" who once noted of the airplane industry; "They never make a loss, they just make a negative profit."

    ;)
    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  22. Spasso

    Spasso F1 World Champ

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    #147 Spasso, Feb 11, 2016
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2016
    Which to this point has been "deferred"...............(not accounted for in real time, according to the Teal Group).
     
  23. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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