One giant leap.

The story of aviation is certainly all about balance. How can you go further but still carry a profitable amount of payload? It is all about trade-offs. You can certainly fill an aircraft to the brim with payload, but you will have to leave fuel behind in order to be light enough to get off the ground. You can alternatively load up with fuel to go a long way, but you will then have to leave passengers and cargo behind, so once again you can become airborne.

Even with the newest technology those simple laws of physics still apply.

The Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 will be the tool of choice when Air New Zealand opens its new long-range route, from Auckland to New York in 2020. The 787 is one of the new breeds of giant twin jets using composite materials in their construction which offers greater strength at lower weights. This is the great enabler for ultra-long-range routes.

It seems, however, that every few decades improvements in technology allow us to take that next step. Whether it be the materials used in aircraft manufacture, the power, and reliability of engines, or the corrections to design theory. All evolved through lessons, often learned at a high cost. For instance, the move from canvas and wood to aluminium, the lessons learned about metal fatigue. The advent of the Jumbo jet brought travel to the common man.

All, like our foray into supersonic travel, have been game-changers. Some of these technologies have stayed and grown, others proved to be less popular. Not necessarily because they were bad in any way, but because they weren’t economical in most cases.

When all is said and done, airlines and airliner manufacturers are businesses with shareholders who expect to make a profit on their investments. Airlines find routes on which they can make a profit carrying passengers and/or cargo in a profitable way. Attracting customers depends on offering the service at a cost that is competitive and palatable to the market.

The airline industry carries horrendously high operating costs. High fuel costs, aircraft that cost millions each as well as maintenance and other costs. So minimising cost, without impacting the level of service or safety is paramount.

The QANTAS Boeing 787-9 is currently being used on the ultra-long-range Perth to London route. QANTAS is embarking on what they call Project Sunrise which will see new non-stop routes opening from Australian cities to points all over the globe. On the 19th of October 2019, a proving flight left New York to fly non-stop to Sydney, an exhausting 19 hours and 16 minutes.

Like any industry, it is important to use the right tools for the job. Airliners are those tools, and each of those models and variants has a very specific purpose and niche in the market. For example, smaller twin jets can fly short to medium ranges to carry a small number of passengers more frequently. Larger transcontinental jets carry many more passengers over greater distances.

So back to balance. The travelling public is becoming ever more mobile. Holidaymakers travel all over the globe to find those, as yet, unspoiled destinations. Business travellers, similarly, need to get to all sorts of far-flung destinations to close that deal. To the business traveller, time is money, so get me there quickly. To the leisure traveller, too many hours in that economy class seat are soul-destroying, among other things.

This is where technology is currently being focused. Being able to fly further from more origins to more destinations. What does that mean?

Let's look at the iconic Boeing 747. It was designed to operate out of big city airports. It is big and needs a big runway to take off and land on. So, the system, known as hub and spoke was used. For example, you take the Boeing 747 from London Heathrow to New York JFK, then change to a smaller commuter airliner to go on to a secondary city. That makes for a long journey, not very convenient. There were several factors that led to things being done this way. One is engine reliability. Aircraft and their engines need to be certified (ETOPS) to fly long over-water routes. This is particularly true of twin jets.

For many years, aircraft like the 4-engine Boeing 747, Boeing 707, Douglas DC8, Airbus A340, as well as the 3-engine Douglas DC10 and Lockheed L1011 were the mainstays of trans-oceanic travel. Airbus perhaps came a little late to this game with the Airbus A380. Certainly, a marvel of aviation technology, the A380 has not met its sales potential for Airbus. Existing customer airlines have shortened their orders as they have seen that the game has changed.

The age of the giant twin jet is upon us.

Engine technology has enabled the production of engines with a far lower failure rate than in the past. Through testing and the resultant certification, large twin-engine jets like the Boeing 787, Boeing 777, and Airbus A350 are able to fly further from the nearest available airfield than past twins. This is what makes trans-oceanic travel possible.

Delta flies one of the world's longest non-stop routes from Johannesburg to Atlanta which takes around 16 and a half hours using the trusty Boeing 777-200LR. Shortly we should be seeing the newer Boeing 777X, which will come out in a 777-8 and 777-9 variant.

The economics are obvious. Twin jets require fewer spares to be kept in store and less maintenance. Not being as big as their Jumbo and Super Jumbo predecessors, they can fly into smaller airfields, doing away with the need to transfer through busy main hubs.

So, what about the further part?

The new twins, particularly the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, use a high percentage of composite materials in their construction. Carbon fibre and plastics provide strength but at a lower weight than aluminium. This delivers benefits in having a lighter aircraft with the same if not higher strength. Keeping the base weight down enables a higher payload which is great news for the airlines operating them.

Back to the balance. Being able to carry a higher payload means we can carry more fuel without leaving as many passengers behind for those long-haul routes. This is important for more remote parts of the world, like Australia and New Zealand.

QANTAS the Australian national carrier, for its part, is focused on Project Sunrise. The aim is to fly non-stop from Australian capital cities to major destinations around the world, like London and New York. They have already been operating from Perth to London non-stop for a few months now, with a flying time of 17 hours 45 minutes. On 19 October 2019, QANTAS took delivery of a Boeing 787-9 with which they performed a publicity flight under the number QF7879 from New York to Sydney, non-stop. The flight took 19 hours and 16 minutes and carried 50-odd passengers and crew.

Data was taken on how each passenger dealt with the nearly 20-hour flight. It will be interesting to see their findings when they are publicised as this may help us to understand and mitigate the effects of super long-haul flights.

Air New Zealand announced that they would commence flying non-stop from Auckland to New York, a flying time of between 17 and 18 hours. The options for travellers in a hurry to get to their destinations are certainly about to explode. Whilst these services will no doubt be aimed at the upper end of the market for now, I'm sure they are looking at ways to make sitting in economy for those extended flying times possible.

Airline	Origin	Destination	Miles	Duration	Aircraft Type
Singapore Airlines	Newark	Singapore	9,534	18h 45m	A350-900 ULR
Qatar Airways	Auckland	Doha	9,032	17h 50m	Boeing 777-200LR
QANTAS	Perth	London	9,009	17h 20m	Boeing 787-9
Emirates	Auckland	Dubai	8,823	17h 5m	Airbus A380
Singapore Airlines	Los Angeles	Singapore	8,769	17h	A350-900ULR
United Airlines	Houston	Sydney	8,596	17h 15m	Boeing 787-9
QANTAS	Dallas Fort Worth	Sydney	8,557	17h	Airbus A380
Philippine Airlines	New York	Manila	8,520	16h 45m	A350-900ULR
Singapore Airlines and United Airlines	San Francisco	Singapore	8,446	16h 35m	SQ A350-900ULR UA Boeing 787-9
Delta Air Lines	Johannesburg	Atlanta	8,439	16h 25m	777-200LR

How do you feel about super long-haul flights? Would you be keen to take a nearly 20-hour flight, and what class of travel would you travel in? We would love to hear how you travellers feel about that.

Boeing 787 vs Airbus A350

Boeing 787 vs Airbus A350, Boeing 777 vs Airbus A330, I hear a lot of questions in this vein.  Which is better?  Which flies further, higher, carries more passengers, and which is the more advanced?

Airliners are like tools in a toolbox that an airline can choose to use on routes appropriate to the traffic demand. Some routes are relatively short and don't require airliners that have a long-range, or the ability to fly a long distance.  If the pair of cities being linked are large cities then there might be a demand for more frequent flights by smaller airliners rather than fewer flights by larger airliners.  This allows the airline to offer business travellers a wider choice of departure times which reduces time wastage waiting for inconvenient less frequent departure times.  At peak times a much larger airliner might be used to ensure maximum uplift of passengers at those times.

It is critical to an airline that they have the right tools for the tasks that they intend to undertake.  Like any business, airlines have to control expenses, so once again the right tool is essential.  This is why many airlines have a mixture of airliner types. These different airliners are used on routes that they are specifically designed for and can perform the task with the minimum overhead expense.

The Airbus A350 XWB takes off on its maiden flight on 14 June 2013 from Aéroport de Toulouse-Blagnac.

Let's look at the two newest offerings from the top two airplane makers, Boeing and Airbus.  Both aircraft manufacturers have come out in the last few years with new models that are technological leaps forward.  The Airbus A350 XWB (eXtra Wide Body) and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  These two airliners represent the competition between Airbus and Boeing to have the best offering in the market.  But mostly they represent the demands of their airliner customers for a more advanced and economical tool for their airliner toolbox. Economy is the driving factor.

Particularly since the 2008 doubling of the oil price, airlines have been looking for ways to reduce their fuel bill and therefore protect their margins.  On the other side of the equation, the proliferation of Low-Cost Carriers has put downward pressure on airfares and airlines are having to ensure their aircraft are full in order to make sure they show a profit.

Jet Airways Airbus A330-200 registration VT-JWF.

These two newest airliners employ new techniques such as the use of composite materials to reduce weight, and single-piece fuselage sections to reduce the number of fasteners which once again reduces weight.  Weight reduction of course reduces the amount of fuel burn required to carry a payload from A to B.  Coupled with enhanced passenger comforts to make them more attractive to the travelling public, these airliners are setting the bar for the future of air travel.

Both the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350 come in 3 variants.  This ensures that the models are a very versatile offering to the market and the same design can be used for many different scenarios.  This also highlights the fact that giant twin-engined jets are now the mainstay of passenger aviation.  We have seen the demise of the Airbus A340 which was a 4-engined version of the Airbus A330.  This was produced at a time when twin jets were still getting approvals for long over-water flights, but with the present level of engine technology, this is no longer an issue.  We may even see the end of the 747 and A380 if a recession hits as some would suggest.

So, when we talk about Boeing 787 vs Airbus A350 or Boeing 777 vs Airbus A330, we have to remember that there are different variants of each of those models.  Let's look at range to start with.  Obviously, if an airline has long overwater routes, then they will need airliners with long-range ability.  The economics have to add up as you may end up with a flying tanker with a few passengers on board.

In ascending order the maximum ranges of the largest of today's twin jet airliners.

Although we can see that Boeings' 777 offers the shortest and the longest range, the airliner models are fairly evenly spread through the various niche markets as relates to range.  The Boeing 777X, which I have not yet included here, as design specs are only now just being finalised, will have a range of 17,220Km which is up there with the Boeing 777 200LR.

United Airlines Boeing 777-200 registration N778UA.

So we know how far these airliners can fly relative to each other, but unless we know what they can carry over that distance, the information is a little pointless.  So below we have a table to show the relative passenger numbers as well as the Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) for each.

A list of the large twin jet airliners with their maximum take-off weights (MTOW) expressed in kilograms and their maximum passenger numbers when configured in a typical 3-class configuration.

We can see here also that there are niches for each of the airliner models,  for each Boeing offering there is an Airbus offering that does relatively the same job and vice versa.  If you look at an aircraft that carries a heavier load you can go to the range chart above and it will probably have a lesser range unless, of course, it is a specially built extended range variant.  You can also notice that for example the Boeing 777 200 and Boeing 777 200ER (Extended Range) carry the same amount of passengers, however, the 777 200ER has a higher maximum takeoff weight.  This of course is to lift the additional amount of fuel that gives it the extended range ability.

This mix of attributes ensures that all niches in the Very Large Airliner (VLA) market are addressed.  Large capacity - short distance, large capacity - long distance, small capacity - long distance, small capacity - short distance.

Aircraft Model and Variant	Range	Passenger Capacity (typical 3 class)	Maximum take off weight (MTOW) (tonnes)	Fuselage Length (metres)	Wing Span (metres)
Airbus A330 200	13,430	293	233.00	58.82	60.30
Airbus A330 300	10,830	335	230.00	63.69	60.30
Airbus A350 800	15,700	270	248.00	60.54	64.75
Airbus A350 900	15,000	314	268.00	66.89	64.75
Airbus A350 1000	15,600	350	308.00	73.88	74.75
Boeing 777 200	9,700	301	247.20	63.70	60.90
Boeing 777 200 ER	14,310	301	297.55	63.70	60.90
Boeing 777 200 LR	17,370	301	347.50	63.70	64.80
Boeing 777 300	11,120	365	299.37	73.90	60.90
Boeing 777 300 ER	14,690	365	351.50	73.90	64.80
Boeing 787 8	15,200	242	228.00	56.70	60.10
Boeing 787 9	15,700	280	251.00	62.80	60.10
Boeing 787 10	13,000	323	251.00	68.30	60.10

The table above shows the different relationships between capacity, length and wing span.  In the case of the Boeing 777, the LR and ER extended range variants use additional wing size to enable higher lift as well as accommodate more fuel storage space.

Thank you for taking the time to read about these airliners.  We would love to hear any comments you might have and any ideas to make this site more useful to you. These can be left below.

How long are airliner types produced?

I'm sure the recent announcement by Airbus to curtail its production of the Airbus A380 Super Jumbo met with disappointment by many. It doesn't seem long ago that we were all excited by this brand-new groundbreaking aircraft. It promised to be the new Boeing 747 to take us into the 21st Century. I remember, only a few short years ago, being able to boast that I had actually flown on one and sharing that experience with those who hadn't.

It seems too soon to be thinking about this aircraft ceasing production in only a couple of years from now.

That got me thinking about how other airliners have fared in the past. Don't they usually get produced for longer periods than that of the A380?

Modern Airliner production number of various airliners animated over sixty years.

Like any marketable product, an airliner has to fit a niche in that market. There has to be a demand for that product. In the case of an airliner, it has to be able to generate an income for its owner so that it can make a profit. Much like a car manufacturer, they have to produce a product that is appealing to the potential customer and operates within parameters that the customer expects. These parameters include environmental concerns, but, more particularly economical concerns.

In these days of higher operating costs, it must be shown that the product has addressed these higher costs with technological solutions.

In the case of the A380, it seems technology was part of its undoing. Don't get me wrong, the A380 used state-of-the-art technology in its design and materials, and is a great example of where aviation technology has evolved to. It is more about other aviation technology that has also evolved into a very high standard of reliability. The jet engine.

There are vast differences between the production numbers of the the airliners we have chosen. It is easy to see that the sweet spot in the market is the small twin-engine jet space occupied by the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. Of course these airliners form the back bone of airline domestic operations as well as short haul international. Whilst many of these airliners are still being produced and will grow in number, others like the A340 or Boeing 717 were superseded.

Jet engine technology is now of such a high standard that restrictions that were previously applied to aircraft with two engines flying long distances over water have been lifted. Each new engine that is brought to market has to go through a certification process along with the aircraft they happen to be attached to. This is a standard called ETOPS which stands for "Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards", or if you prefer, "Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim".

So what has this to do with our poor, not-so-old, A380? It benefits from the same engines, right? Absolutely it does, it can be sure that all four engines will keep spinning happily throughout every flight. However, waiting in the wings(and with wings) are the big twin-engine jets, like the Boeing 777, Boeing 787, Airbus A350, and Airbus A330, to name a few. They can now fly the same routes as the A380, and some of them even further. The larger of these can carry about two-thirds of the capacity of the A380, so they're not that much smaller either.

This Boeing 777 of China Southern Airlines illustrates the power and size of the giant jet engines that power it. These airliners are becoming the long-range flagships of most major airlines today and are certainly the way of the immediate future.

So why do airliners want larger twins instead of the glamourous Super Jumbo? Economics and logistics. The economics part is fairly straight foreward. The A380 is expensive to run. Four hungry engines to feed and of course all the additional spares you have to keep on hand to ensure the aircraft doesn't miss a beat if something needs replacing. If the engines aren't turning you're not earning. To make the aircraft turn a profit, it has to fly almost full all the time, which is a hard thing to achieve with over five hundred seats to fill for every flight.

The logistics side relates to where it can fly. When the A380 was about to be introduced, main airports around the world had to make major improvements to runway strength and terminal gates so as to be able to accommodate the new aircraft. Whilst this development has been done, it means that there are many airports around the world where the A380 cannot land. Airbus worked on the hub and spoke theory. They envisaged the A380 carrying large volumes of passengers between main centres from where those passengers would then connect to regional centres using local commuter airliners. The reality now, however, is that the aforementioned twin jets are capable of flying the long-haul routes once dominated by the four-engined jets, and are capable of landing at many more airports. The trend, therefore, is to be able to fly non-stop from almost anywhere to almost anywhere else.

It may surprise you learn how long or how short a time some of our iconic airliners were produced for. Those with an end date of 2018 are still in production at time of writing.

The story is similar for the Airbus A340. Its four-engined configuration was designed for those long-haul overwater flights. It enjoyed a measure of success, particularly with Asian airlines, but was also overtaken by the twin-engined jet eventually.

If we go back and look at the early jet airliners like the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC8, we can see they dominated the skies for quite some time. During a time when fuel was cheap and restrictions around noise and pollution hadn't really found their teeth yet, they were the intercontinental airliners of the day. As soon as the oil crisis of the early 1970s happened, they were no longer viable.

The Douglas DC 8 enjoyed 14 years of production, in which time 556 of the type were produced. Before the introduction of the Boeing 747, this and the Boeing 707 were the intercontinental airliners of the day.

Airliner manufacturing companies spend billions on research and development for each airliner type we see. They evaluate the selling ability as they need to know they can recoup the money they have spent, as well as of course make a profit. In the case of the A380, it is obvious that this hasn't happened. Airbus anticipated selling 1,200 of the type and has not even made a quarter of that number. This hurts the bottom line and will ultimately cost jobs.

The life of the airliner type is very dependent on the manufacturing companies keeping up with the latest technology and market trends and to a large extent, predicting the future.

Airbus announces the end of A380 production.

European aviation powerhouse, Airbus, announced, not unexpectedly, that they would cease production of the A380 Super Jumbo.

The huge double-decker A380 was set to revolutionise air travel in the new millennium and give stiff competition to the Boeing 747 Jumbo. Able to carry over 500 passengers across long distances, the A380 looked like a sure bet in that niche market. Launched in 2008 by Singapore Airlines, the future looked hopeful with orders from many of the world's prestigious airlines. Notably, Middle Eastern airline giant, Emirates, ordered a whopping 162 airframes. Airbus expected to sell around 1,200 A380s in order to recoup development costs, and of course, turn a profit. The actuality is that they have not even achieved a quarter of this target. As of the 31st of January 2019, 234 A380s have been delivered with 232 in active service. Of these 106 are with Emirates.

Where did Airbus go wrong? Like anything in the commercial world, the economics no longer stack up. The high price of the aircraft, coupled with the extensive upgrades required at airfields, before they can accommodate the Super Jumbo, led to very high overheads. Aviation, like most industries with an accent on technology, is ever-changing. It can be very difficult to predict future trends, and Airbus is not alone in this. Boeing also got burned by this trend with their 747-8i. Designed as the descendant of the much-loved 747, it met with a very lukewarm reception and has since ceased production. Boeing at least could fall back on the original failsafe of the 747, by creating a freighter version of the 747-8. This has done slightly better. The bubble on the original 747 was to enable a freighter version to be loaded through an opening nose door. They didn't have faith that the passenger version would sell, so took an "each way bet".

The focus seems to be now moving toward the long-range twin jets. Both Boeing and Airbus have a wide range of offerings in this space, which offer airlines a wide choice across their whole network. The economics of filling one very large aircraft to the point of profitability can very challenging. With slightly smaller aircraft, routes can be flown more frequently and economically. Today's giant twins like the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 777-9, are coming online and are enabling airlines to offer non-stop services between cities where it has not been possible in the past. Airlines, like QANTAS, are rethinking their strategy and proposing services that to date have not been possible.

An Airbus A380 destined for Emirates takes shape in the Toulouse factory. When production ends for the Super Jumbo in 2021, there are an estimated 3,500 jobs that will be at risk.

Only a few days ago QANTAS announced that they would no longer require the remaining 8 A380s in the order book. Virgin Atlantic also withdrew their order of 6, as they no longer wish to take up the A380. The final crunch came when Emirates announced it would reduce its order of 162 by about 20 aircraft. Once the balance of the Emirates and A.N.A. orders are fulfilled, there is no further backlog. Airbus anticipates closing production in 2021, which could impact up to 3,500 jobs. Not only will this affect Airbus, but also the many suppliers who create components for the giant aircraft.

It seems the A380 came along just a little late in the day. The focus of aviation has changed once again and it seems the day of the giant 4 engined Jumbo is over.

QANTAS Airbus A380 Orders Capped at 12.

Back in 2006, QANTAS was one of the first airlines to place an order for the Airbus A380 Super Jumbo. 20 of the type were ordered which certainly lifted the QANTAS image as an industry leader. On 21 September 2008, the first A380, registration VH-OQA named for the much loved and respected aviatrix Nancy-Bird Walton landed in Sydney. Over the next 3 and a half years Airbus delivered 11 more airframes with the last of the 12 arriving in December 2011. VH-OQL, named Phyllis Arnott after the first woman in Australia to take a commercial pilot's licence, is now officially the one that concluded the order.

QANTAS had the third largest order for the Airbus A380

For the last 8 years, QANTAS has had 8 A380s outstanding in their order book with Airbus. Sources at QANTAS indicate that those remaining 8 aircraft have not been featured in its future network plans for some time. This week it was announced that the remaining 8 would no longer be required and in discussions with Airbus formally cancelled that remaining order. This is no doubt bad news for Airbus as this cancellation is a significant contributor to the $US4 billion in lost contracts. Airbus is putting a brave face on it, one source was quoted as saying, "one month does not make a year". Let's hope they're right.

When we look at the order book for the A380 as of the end of January 2019, we see there are 313 orders with 234 airframes delivered of which 232 are currently in active service. The QANTAS order for 20 aircraft was the third largest behind Singapore Airlines and Emirates. The Emirates order itself is what is keeping the A380 factories open. Of the 162 ordered by the giant airline, 109 have been delivered. We also note that Virgin Atlantic who had 6 on order has now dropped off the order list.

The Emirates Airbus A380 was in a class of its own.

Whilst Airbus might see the Emirates order as being a lifeline for the A380. There is talk that Emirates may also be rethinking its strategy and perhaps looking at the A350 as a viable alternative. As we wrote back in 2015 about the 747-8, is the day of the 4 engined Jumbo sized aircraft at an end? We can only speculate, and of course, Airbus is remaining tight-lipped, about whether we will soon see a closure of the Airbus A380 production line.

QANTAS say they are committed to the A380s in their fleet and around mid-year this year, they will embark on a revamping and upgrade of the interiors of their A380 fleet. So there certainly is a commitment to the type in the future.

Project Sunrise

Described as the last frontier of aviation by the CEO of QANTAS, Alan Joyce, is the non-stop flight to anywhere in the world. The advent of the giant twin-engined airliners is bringing this dream into reality. QANTAS recently took delivery of its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners which have been deployed on the Perth to London non-stop flight route. This will become available for East Coast Australian cities soon as well. Mr Joyce indicated that the aircraft are stripped back and are targeted at the higher-end business market. Cargo may even be sacrificed in favour of sleeping berths for extremely long flights.

The QANTAS Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is pivotal in Project Sunrise, bringing more of the world into the non-stop flight umbrella.

Perhaps we are at that tipping point where those longer flights are becoming economically feasible. If we go back a few years, the Airbus A340 was given as a solution to those ultra-long flights that other airliners could not compete with. Singapore Airlines pioneered some of those long routes, but eventually, the economics didn't stack up. The long-range A340 became known as a flying tanker with a few passengers allowed along for the ride.

QANTAS also introduced an extremely long route from Sydney to Dallas, Texas using their Boeing 747 400ER. It was quite a stretch, and on several occasions on the Dallas to Sydney leg, which is against the jet stream, the aircraft had to stop over in Noumea due to low fuel. This route is now operated by the Airbus A380.

Originally Mr Joyce of QANTAS was adamant that the Project Sunrise aircraft would carry in excess of 300 passengers. This has been revised back now, and may well follow the lead of Singapore Airlines on their Singapore to New York route using an Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long Range). This non-stop flight of 18 hours is available to 67 Business Class travellers along with 94 Premium Economy Class travellers. Certainly a high-end portion of the market. For high-flying business travellers, this is the quickest way to get there, so maybe it is money well spent.

Perhaps we're not all as keen as those business travellers to shave a few hours off our trip and pay those premium prices. But there are new aircraft being developed and improved all the time. The likely candidates are the Boeing 777X and the Airbus A350 1000. We mustn't quite forget about supersonic travel either. Concorde may not have flown for a decade and a half, but that doesn't mean the concept is dead.

Is this the return of the Supersonic Jet?

A new Supersonic Jet is just around the corner.

Not since 24 October 2003, when the futuristic Concorde made her last flight, has supersonic air travel been available to the masses. Well, we use the term masses loosely. Concorde was an extremely expensive machine to run and those who flew her paid top dollar for the privilege. In addition to the high running cost, she was also limited to flying over water at supersonic speeds due to the sonic boom created by flying above the speed of sound. For environmental reasons, most countries banned supersonic jets from flying over their territory because of the sonic boom. This naturally limited the appeal of this aircraft due to the limitation of the routes it could be usefully flown over.

It is amazing to think that this technology was available until nearly two decades ago. High-flying businessmen in London, for example, could go to New York, do their business, and be back home for dinner. Surely that demand is still there.

So what are the challenges that a Supersonic plane design has to overcome? The main ones are, cost to operate, sonic boom noise, landing/take-off noise, and emissions.

We can agree that technology has certainly made vast improvements in the time since Concorde flew. Engine technology has enabled more power to be delivered by quieter engines. Composite materials have given higher strength to airframes at lower weights as well as lower manufacturing costs. One thing remains, however, the sonic boom. This limiting factor is still a roadblock.

British Airways Concorde registration G-BOAC.

There has been, over the last couple of years, increasing pressure in the U.S. for environmental standards around supersonic transport aircraft to be relaxed. There are three start-up companies that have already invested considerable money and resources into the development of their own version of a supersonic transport aircraft.

Impression of the Boom Technologies Mach 2.2 capable airliner.

These are Boom Technologies with their Mach 2.2 capable airliner, Spike with their Mach 1.6 capable S-512 Quiet Supersonic Business Jet, and Aerion with their Mach 1.4 capable As2 Business Jet. These are all slated to be ready for service between 2023 and 2025. Even the Russians are dipping their toe back in the supersonic pond, with the United Aviation Corp (UAC) aiming to start on their own offering in 2022. You may recall Russia had a Concorde look alike, the Tupolev TU-144. Dubbed, the Koncordski. This aircraft never met with any success, being used on domestic routes only, until it suffered a final setback, breaking up in flight over the Paris Air Show.

Spike S-512 might just be the world’s very first supersonic business jet.

Meanwhile, the household name manufacturers are still hard on the case. Boeing has had various designs over the years to enable it to enter the Super Sonic Transport (SST) space. None have got much further than the drawing board. They are, however, working on a new concept that they hope will reinvent our expectations of fast flight. The hypersonic airliner will travel at Mach 5, which is about 3800 mph (6110 km/h) or five times the speed of sound. This is still around twenty to thirty years away and no doubt will depend on technology that to date has yet to be made available.

Lockheed Martin also has an offering in the works. In 2018 Lockheed Martin was selected to design a Low Boom Flight Demonstrator(LBFD). Their X-59 QueSST (Quiet SST) will fly at 55,000 feet at a speed of around 940 mph / 1,513 kph / 817 knots. The aim is to reduce the sonic boom from a boom to a light thump, a bit like a car door closing.

In July 2018, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), under the lead authorship of Dan Rutherford produced a report called, "Environmental performance of emerging supersonic transport aircraft". The report was drawn from studies and simulations carried out at Stanford University and was in response to mounting pressure on the Trump Administration to relax rules governing overland supersonic flight in the U.S.A..

The report looked back at Concorde and compared it with conventional airliners of the day, say the Boeing 747. It was obvious that in every aspect, the Concorde was less environmentally friendly. The supersonic plane was less fuel efficient, noisier at airfields, emitted higher levels of nitric oxide in the take-off and landing phases, and had higher levels of carbon dioxide in cruise, not to mention the sonic boom. They then looked at the situation today. As we've mentioned already, technology has moved forward in many aspects of aircraft manufacturing. Does this work for the supersonic jet manufacturer? Yes, of course, new things are possible now that were not in the 1960s when Concorde was developed. However, the bar has been lifted as far as eco standards around commercial aircraft are concerned.

The report found that the gap between conventional airliners and the new generation of supersonic planes was much the same as those in the time of Concorde. So, let's say the U.S. relaxes its rules around supersonic jet travel. Will this be enough of a market for plane makers to make a profit out of? The U.S. relaxing its rules doesn't mean other countries will follow. In fact, some European countries have made it clear that they will not entertain the idea of supersonic flights over their territories. Even flying to those countries, with the last overland portion done at subsonic speeds may not work, as there are still airport noise and emission standards to overcome. So, needless to say, a complex issue.

For an aircraft manufacturer, the idea is to develop an aircraft for which you have calculated there is a market that will enable you to sell enough to recoup your cost, as well as make a profit. Some of the supersonic jet maker start-ups are estimating that they will be producing up to 2,000 airframes. These aircraft will serve up to 500 cities by 2035. Imagine, around 5,000 supersonic flights a day. Over a 16-hour flying day, there could be a sonic boom every 15 minutes.

Needless to say, there are exciting times ahead. We would love to see the return of supersonic flight, but in a way that is sustainable to the environment. There is no doubt that solutions to the roadblocks will be found.

How can I maximise my carry-on luggage?

I remember when carry on luggage was simply a bag of goodies you took into the aircraft cabin with you to keep yourself amused for a long flight. I used to relish handing over my suitcase(s) to the check-in person and walking away almost empty-handed. For longer trips away I still enjoy that.

There is now, however, a change to the way we think about how we take our stuff with us.

The changes have several contributing factors. Firstly, we seem to spend a lot of time at airports

these days queuing for stuff. Security checks for one thing. So people are focusing more and more on how they can get through the process and be on their way more quickly. Having only a cabin bag is ideal for this as you can bypass the baggage carousels and be on your way very quickly. Secondly, the advent of unbundling airfares has led to the option, on many airlines, of paying for what you want and not what you don't want.

Checked-in luggage is becoming less common as travellers try to make use of the free carry-on option.

One of the things that you often have to pay for is checked-in baggage. Many travellers see this as an opportunity to be able to reduce their airfare costs. We can forego paying for meals and more desirable seats. In the same way, we can reduce the cost by carrying our bag into the cabin, not to mention the previous point of not having to wait for that last bag off the carousel at your destination.

Now, believe it or not, the airlines have also noticed this trend. When the baggage trolleys start going out to the aircraft half empty and everyone is turning up to the boarding gate with wheelie bags, something is changing. Like any business, airlines hate people getting away with something for nothing. Responding to the trend of travellers choosing to take advantage of the free carry-on luggage allowance, they have started to clamp down on this allowance. In times gone by, the boarding gate people would just let you go through with your bags, provided they looked like they might fit in the overhead locker or you didn't look like you were carrying bags of cement.

Not so now. Nowadays you can expect to have your bag scrutinised, weighed and even put into that funny frame thing to check it is small enough to fit into the overhead locker or under the seat in front of you.

Be prepared to be asked to prove that your bag is within the airline's requirements.

Yes, size does matter, but then so does weight. I wish we could say that there is a uniform rule about these weights and dimensions, but unfortunately, every airline has its own idea of what this should be. Checking the airline website is really the only surefire way to know what that allowance is.

This is easy if you are travelling on one airline all the way. What if, for example, you are travelling from Singapore to Copenhagen via London? You might get a nice generous allowance from Singapore to London and then on your low-cost carrier flight to Copenhagen, you get virtually nothing. This means of course that the meagre allowance for the second sector becomes the governing factor for the whole trip. Unless of course, you anticipate consuming the difference on your first flight or posting the difference to Copenhagen from London.

What do we need to think about if we are choosing to go down the cabin luggage-only path? First off we need to be aware of all the things that are prohibited in the aircraft cabin. It would be a depressing start to the trip if many of our items were thrown out at the security check. So first off, make sure you check with your airline website to see what the prohibited items are. These are fairly standard these days, but things do change and it pays to know, as ignorance is no defence.  Right?

Smart packing is your friend. Think about what you actually need. Many of us over-pack, just in case, you know. With clothes try and make sure you wear your heavier clothes and that the lighter-weight ones are in your cabin luggage-compliant bag. For example boots, jeans, jackets, belts and coats can be worn or at least thrown over your arm, well maybe not the belts, jeans, or boots. I'm not saying you do a Joey Tribbiani from Friends, but you get the picture. When you do pack your clothes, roll them instead of folding them. This ensures you can use all the space most effectively and also your clothes will be less wrinkled and ready to wear when you get to your destination.

Check with the airline website to ensure you know the cabin bag acceptable dimensions.

 Now, toiletries. Of course, we know about the restriction on liquids in the aircraft cabin. The rule of thumb is no more than 100ml, but, yes I'm going to say it again, please make sure you check with your airline webpage to be completely sure. This means you need to pour the contents of your favourite shampoo, conditioner, etc into smaller 100ml plastic bottles. These can be purchased very cheaply and you can use them each time you travel. Make sure of course they close firmly as even in the aircraft cabin the difference in air pressure with ground level is significant enough to encourage liquids to try and leave the security of their container to go exploring in your clothes. Believe me, they prefer your clothes as it is very hard to get rid of things like shampoo and skin cream out of them.

That brings me to the next point. Your toiletries bag. Put that away in the cupboard again as it won't help you with your space-saving or weight-saving. You are much better off with a plastic zip lock bag. The zip lock bag can be made to lie very flat among your clothes which is a great space-saving technique. In addition, the plastic is more liquid-proof than some toiletry bags and can contain any random liquids or creams that make good their escape. When you do seal your zip lock bag, ensure you remove all possible air inside the bag as this will expand like a balloon as the cabin pressure reduces on the climb out.

Metal items are another area that care needs to be taken. Even though we know not to bring knives, scissors etc.. Care also needs to be taken to not include items that look like knives and scissors. For example, you can get tweezers that may have scissor-type finger holes. These are to be avoided in favour of the tong style variety. What you have to think of is how it looks to the x-ray machine operator. You may well get them through security eventually but who needs the grief of having to unpack your bag to show them the offending item? It may just put them in a mood to examine other stuff or confiscate the item anyway.

Cabin bag stowage in the overhead locker can work for everyone if you stow your case on its side with the bottom of the case against the back wall.

So what about our ever-hungry electronic equipment? No one needs the angst of thinking their gadgetry is going to run out of juice, but those plugs can weigh a bit. Consider perhaps taking only the cable part of the charger with the USB plug at the end. Most aircraft have the USB plug point for your flight, so that is covered.

At your destination many hotels have USB points now, but if not smart TVs have them. If you do need to take one and your bag weight is getting up there, then maybe a jacket pocket could be the answer. This could apply to any smaller but weighty items like camera lenses and the like.

So we've seen how it is possible to save on your next flights. Free cabin luggage is a boon for those who can squeeze their trip into a smaller bag. Let's make the most of this while we can as you can be sure that airlines will come around to finding a way to charge for something we are currently getting for free.

Please share any ideas you might have about maximising cabin luggage, we would love to hear them.

How to find airfare deals

How do I find great airfare deals?

So you're planning that special trip away, but how do you get the biggest bang for your buck when buying those flight tickets for the plane trip portion of the journey?  Like anything worth doing, finding the best airline flight deals takes a bit of planning.

Timing of your plane trip.

f you have some flexibility around the timings of your trip, you can use that to your advantage. Travelling in off-peak times means you won't be paying premium prices. Airlines, like any other business, use the supply and demand principle to maximise their return. For example, during the week you will find that early morning and late afternoon flights rarely have cheap fares available because these flights are frequented by business travellers. The airlines know that these flights will be well-filled, so there is no need to offer cheaper fares. So avoid these times if at all possible. The time of the day is therefore important.

Time of the day can be very important.

To find a cheap flight, other time factors are also just as important to consider. Times of the week also make a difference. For example, business travellers going to more distant destinations tend to go for the week. This means that Monday mornings and Friday afternoons/evenings are also peak times and unlikely times to find airfare deals. On top of that, you have weekenders departing on Friday evenings and returning on Sunday evenings.

So much to consider.

Other timings to consider in the search for your cheap flight ticket.

Ok, so we've considered the times above that are unlikely to provide us with good airline flight deals. That is, of course, assuming we have also ensured we're not travelling on a public holiday or around a sport or other event. In that case, all bets are off and prices go through the roof.

If you are travelling internationally then that adds a whole extra dimension to the exercise. Not only should you consider peak times in your origin country, but also those of your destination country and countries you might be passing through along the way. For example, I once travelled to London with a stop in Hong Kong along the way. I thought I had covered all my bases, but still, I couldn’t find flight prices that I felt were a good deal. The reason I found out was that it was the end of the summer school holidays in the UK and many children attending boarding school in the UK were returning to London. Lesson learned.

Make sure you know when special; events are on in your home city, destination city and even along your route.

Check Airline Prices.

Having done our due diligence and decided on some dates that we feel are optimum for avoiding any peak periods. What next?

Next, we need to find out what options are out there. Which airlines fly to our chosen destination? Also, another factor to consider and decide upon is, what class of travel we want to travel in. Talking about cheap fares, we may conjure up pictures of backpackers travelling on ancient aircraft stopping in 25 mountain villages along the way, just to save a few coins. Not necessarily so, unless of course, you want it to be. A cheap flight ticket can be any ticket that is a good deal for the service you receive. So whether you want to travel first, business or economy class, the principle is the same. Airlines put out deals on flights that they are having trouble selling. So decide at the outset what level of comfort your budget will allow for.

Looking for a cheap fare doesn't mean you have to travel on old aircraft. New state-of-the-art airliners like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A350, or A380 are designed to fly more economically and therefore give the airlines the ability to be more competitive.

The cabin class decided, we then start our search. To start, go to neutral online travel agency sites that sell all airlines equally. Well, that is perhaps a little naive. Even online travel agencies have preferred airlines they sell due to higher levels of return for them. With this in mind, still, perform some searches on those sites. This will give you a feel for which airlines are relevant for the route you wish to fly. Also, another handy tool is Google Skyscanner. You can perform searches as you can with online travel agents and find out which airlines fly and which fares are currently on offer. You can even set up alerts so that when prices change from your preferred options you will receive an email. This can be handy in case you forget the check back and a special is released.

Once you have ascertained which airlines are relevant to your requirements, visit their websites as well. I would recommend subscribing to alerts from them so that you get to hear about specials as they start or even before they start.

A special fare doesn’t mean that all seats on that airline for that route will be sold at that price. Airlines work overtime to control yield and special fares will be allocated on flights depending on their popularity. On a peak-time flight, even during the special fare period you will, in all likelihood, find no special fares. On less popular travel times, however, you will find those fares.  Airlines review these constantly and will adjust the number of special fare seats up or down depending on how sales are going.

Special fares work much the same as loss leaders work in other industries. For example, in your local supermarket, you see those items at the end of the aisle facing the front door being sold very visibly at knock-down prices. These items can be sold at a loss because they get people in the door and put them in a buying mood which they know will in most cases lead to sales of other items sold at the normal price.

If airlines did not fill their flights with cheaper fares then it would cause them to lose money as those flights still have to fly, empty or not.

 Airlines will do the same thing. Release a very small percentage of seats at a very low price to get people onto their website. Once there they have this idea that the prices are nice and low today, they will then look and see that the special deal fares are available on flights that they don’t really like the timings of, so they look at the next fare up to see if there are any better options. In their minds, they have already spent the amount of the special fare and they then see the difference between that and the not-so-special fare as the actual amount they are spending, which doesn’t seem so bad. Boom, the airline’s plan worked.

The message here is don’t lose sight of the bottom line.  If you find the special fare is not giving you what you need, back out and keep the research going unless you are happy with the new option you have found.

Where should I actually buy the fare?

This is a good question and no one answer is right. The travel industry can vary somewhat from country to country, but one thing you can count on is that it isn’t straightforward. We talked about online travel agency websites. These are great for seeing which airlines are the ones you should be shortlisting as logical options for the route you will be travelling. Should you buy from these websites?  Well, that depends. The travel agency needs to make money obviously, so how do they do it?  Once again there is no straightforward answer to that.  In years gone by there was a standard procedure where a travel agency sold an airline seat and the airline paid them a commission of X percent. Easy. Now, not so much. Very few airlines are now paying commissions to travel agents. Let’s take a look back a few decades.

Back in the early days of travel, we didn’t have the technology we have today. In fact, it was the airline industry that was at forefront of driving the development of computer networking. But that is an aside. In those early days, travellers had to come into an airline office to pay for their tickets. Of course, it was not possible for an airline to have offices in every town village, or city, so enter the travel agent who literally acted as an agent for that airline and collected money on behalf of that airline, and of course others. Now enter the online age and all of a sudden airlines can actually be everywhere. As a result, they, for the most part, have decided to stop paying those commissions that travel agents relied upon for so long.

Back when you had to go to an airline office or travel agent to uplift your paper tickets.

Travel agents and airlines used to have a good working relationship as airlines couldn't logically have an office in every town.

So who pays now? This is also not a single-answer question. In most cases you, the traveller, will pay a fee. So for the travel agency website, you may well see some cheap fares but beware of the fees at the end, they may well undo the advantage you gained by finding a cheap fare on their site. However, don’t discount using these agency sites. Some travel agencies have such high brand recognition that they can command respect from the airlines due to the high turnover of travel sold on their site. In a case like this, an airline might offer the travel agency net fares which are far below even what the airline is selling them for. The travel agency will mark them up and the markup will be their profit.  They will mark them up to such a level as to ensure a good return but remain at a very competitive level.

So, in short, there is no recommendation as to which is better, the travel agency site or the airline site. It really is a case of who comes up best on the day. It is definitely worth doing your due diligence.

So we’ve looked at the timings and the source of the special fares. One more thing that is worth considering is the routing of your flight. You will these days have seen that modern airliners are breaking all sorts of records in long-haul non-stop flights such as Perth to London, Singapore to New York, and Auckland to Dubai. The list goes on. Yes, these can save a lot of time and if time is a concern then these are a great solution.  If however, time is not so important and you don’t mind spending a few extra hours getting there, then check out services that do have stop-overs along the way.  For example, I used to travel to Europe from Sydney fairly regularly and I would choose to fly a carrier via Dubai. I had the option of the Sydney direct to Dubai, changeover, and then on to London. Instead, I chose the option that touched down in Bangkok for an hour or so on its way to Dubai. It took a couple of extra hours but I enjoyed a cheaper fare, as it was less popular with those in a mad rush, and I had the opportunity to stretch my legs and get some real air along the way.  It comes down to personal preference but there are opportunities to save.

I hope this has been some help. By all means, we would be happy to hear your ideas on how to save on your travel spend.

Flight mode, why do we need to use this when we fly?

Air travel is something that a great many of us get to do reasonably frequently.  For some, it is too often, for others it is not often enough. Whichever it is, we are all familiar with the various announcements that are made on-board, particularly this one...

"At this time, make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position and that your seat belt is correctly fastened. Also, your portable electronic devices must be set to ‘airplane’ mode until an announcement is made upon arrival. Thank you.”

Most of us dutifully obey the instruction and reach for our device(s) switching them either off, or to the particular phone maker's version of Flight or Airplane mode.

It wasn't so many years ago that the devices had to be turned off completely from the moment you arrived at your seat until such time as the aircraft reached a certain altitude. We were led to believe that our mobile devices would interfere with the aircraft's systems and it was very much in our own interests to keep those devices switched off.

I always used to have visions of some 10-year-old kid in row 36 who managed to get his game controller linked to the flight controls and then take us through some barrel rolls and loop-de-loops.

Your new pilot, the kid with the game controller.

Things have changed a little now. Your mobile phone can be left on, with most airlines, for the whole flight and the only concession you have to make is to ensure it is in Flight Mode for the duration of the trip. This is of course only for devices weighing under 1 kg. Not because they emit a stronger signal or anything, but because they can become seriously dangerous projectiles in the event of the aircraft performing extreme maneuvers.  So you will be asked to stow those during take-off and landing.

Ok, so back to the Flight Mode question. Why do we still need to use flight mode during the course of the flight? Various sources indicate that the effect of a mobile phone or cell phone on an aircraft's flight instruments is fairly negligible. Aircraft instrumentation is state of the art as you would expect from a unit costing tens if not hundreds of millions. There are so many systems with many kilometres of wiring throughout the aircraft that need protecting from each other, never mind your mobile device. These systems are fully shielded so that attenuation or interference from outside sources cannot corrupt signals sent around the systems.

So does that mean we can go ahead and just ignore the request for flight mode from the crew then?  Not quite. There is still relatively old technology used by the flight crew. The radio. No, not the one tuned to the football, but the one used in the all-important communications with air traffic control. The giving and receiving of instructions is still done using the good old radio waves.  Mobile devices depend on microwave towers or other ground stations to provide them with the required signal to enable them to provide you with information and other services you depend on. As you can imagine, these towers get harder and hard to find as you are cruising 11 kilometres up, perhaps over sea or desert.  Your phone, being the faithful servant that it is, tries harder by cranking up the signal strength to as much as 8 watts in an effort to enable you to view those all-important food and puppy shots.

So what, I hear you say. Well, cast your mind back to the days when mobile/cell phones switched from analogue to digital signal. When you got your new digital-enabled phone, you found the signal and call quality were nice and crisp. However, if you were ever on a call near someone with an analogue phone, you knew all about it.  It sounded like your ear was being ripped apart. This is what it can be like for the pilots, maybe not quite as extreme, but an annoyance never the less.

Let's face it, if the use of mobile/cell phones was of major concern to flight safety then you can rest assured that leaving the responsibility of ensuring the devices were turned off would not be left to the travelling public.  There is no doubt that on every flight you will find a number of devices that have been left on during a flight either due to forgetfulness or laziness.

Whether it is safety critical or not, we want our pilots to be as relaxed as possible. We want them to be able to hear and be heard when they talk to the ground without the possibility of interference blurring any flight direction instructions.  So complying with the flight mode instruction still carries as much weight as it ever did.

What Does Flight Mode Do?

The control centre on your mobile or cell phone.

The flight or Airplane mode function on your phone or other radio-equipped device is the main control switch to turn off all radio-enabled functions on your device. On your typical mobile/cell phone, this includes voice/text, data (3g, 4g, 5g, etc), Bluetooth, and Wifi. You also have GPS but this doesn't actually send anything, it sits there and listens for satellite signals and then translates them into something you understand by showing it on a map. Without data, however, you won't get your map presentation so having GPS can be as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike.

For a few years now several airlines have been trialing and supplying Wifi onboard their aircraft. What this means is that you have the ability now to connect to the aircraft's onboard Wifi service and enjoy surfing the net and checking your email in the same way you can do at an internet cafe. "So hang on", I hear you say, "I had to put my phone in Flight Mode, so how can I connect using Wifi?" Very good question and by the way, bravo for putting your phone in flight mode. As I said, Flight Mode is a master switch for turning off all radio-related functions on your cell, mobile, tablet, or laptop. Once they are all off you can turn individual functions back on. So seat belts on, Flight Mode on, and then wait for the announcement that Wifi service has commenced and turn just Wifi on.

The Wifi signal is much weaker than your main mobile or cell call signal as it only needs to talk to a device mere metres from your seat to get a connection. This is not going to scream in the pilot's ear so everyone is happy.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about onboard Wi-Fi. I've always seen flying as a few hours you can step off the planet and leave your responsibilities behind with a good excuse for doing so. You know what I mean, let them miss you a little. Now I'm sure that corporate travellers will be expected to connect up and be available online or get that project completed because all resources are available. No peace for the wicked.

Flight Mode as we have seen is not going to make or break your flight as far as we can tell, but let's show some consideration for the pilots who have to talk over the interference. Your phone charge will last a lot longer in Flight Mode, so everybody is happy.

Fly safely and LIKE us if you do.

Aircraft Noise

The emotive topic of aircraft noise.

Aircraft noise can be a very emotional subject for those who are affected by it in their day-to-day lives. Yes, like other aircraft enthusiasts, I love being next to an airport taking in the sights and thrilling at the gut-shaking sounds of powerful jets. However,  I have also lived with those same jets passing near my home. The disruptive effect on your day-to-day life cannot be overstated.  Not being able to speak to someone else in the room or listen to your favourite TV show gets very frustrating. In the 1980s I lived in Fulham, London.  Twice every evening our windows literally rattled as first the Concorde from New York arrived followed sometime later by the one from Washington DC. Thrilling at first, but it gets old rather quickly.

So what is being done about it? What is the solution?

Aircraft noise in most countries is taken very seriously. Its disruptive characteristics have a negative effect on those exposed to it at close quarters. Loss of quality of life, and loss of productivity by those who have disturbed sleep among other things.

Enter the Jet Age.

In the early days of passenger air travel, piston-driven propellor engines were the only form of propulsion. Whilst they were relatively noisy, they didn't produce sounds in the high-frequency range that jets do.  When the jet age began with aircraft like the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC8, a whole new ball game started. These early jets, compared with today, were fuel hungry and extremely noisy. Their engines were what you call pure jets, consisting solely of the jet engine turbine. The result was that the high-pressure ignited fuel-air mixture was forced out of the tailpipe into still air. The friction caused between the fast travelling air meeting the still air was significant and caused a large amount of roaring sound that resulted.

Aircraft and particularly engine makers have for decades been working diligently to find ways to reduce the sound footprint of a jet engine. The most significant breakthrough was the bypass engine. The concept is to take the aforementioned pure jet, the jet turbine, and encase it in a second nacelle. The nacelle is the outer casing of the engine. Inside the front of this nacelle is a large fan. This fan sucks in air from the front of the engine and feeds some of it into the jet engine turbine, the rest of it flows around the jet turbine and is ejected back around the flow coming out of the exhaust tailpipe of the jet turbine.  As well as adding to the thrust of the engine, the bypass airflow also serves to encapsulate the exhaust from the jet turbine. This serves to reduce the friction between the jet turbine exhaust and the still air, as well as dampening the sound.

New methods and materials used in the construction of engine nacelles and the engines themselves have also been instrumental in reducing jet engine noise.

Boeing for example has adopted a new configuration for the trailing edge of their engine nacelles which can be seen on the Boeing 787,  Boeing 747 8, and the new 737 Max aircraft models. The nacelle trailing edge is finished in a chevron configuration, like a sawtooth. This means there is a longer linear trailing edge which allows the air from the engine and the still surrounding air to merge together over a larger area, spreading that shock over a larger amount of air particles. The smoother the transition through the air of an aircraft, the greater its fuel economy and the less noise it makes.

This Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 shows off the chevroned rear of the engine nacelle that ensures a smooth laminar airflow over the engine casing.

Aircraft design improvements around noise reduction are not just limited to creating quieter engines. When Airbus Industrie began its initial design of the giant A380, one of the design requirements was to make it as quiet as possible. The engines, of course, were designed to be state-of-the-art and provide noise reduction to strict specifications.

Airbus, however, also looked at another factor. An aircraft has a much larger noise footprint when it flies close to the ground. That stands to reason, an aircraft flying low over your house makes much more noise than one flying twice as high. So what Airbus undertook to do was to design the aircraft so that it was capable of a steeper climb out. That is to say that the A380 is designed to be able to climb more steeply after take-off, thereby spending less time closer to the ground while departing a city.

Flying Quieter

It is not only what you are flying in that makes a difference. Airports located near built-up areas are continually being pressured to find ways to reduce their noise footprint. As our urban areas continue to sprawl, airports that may once have been located in the countryside now find themselves surrounded by new housing and industry. It is tempting to think, well they knew the airport was there already so how can they complain? The truth of the matter is, many of our cities are getting overcrowded and whatever land is available must be used.

As our cities get bigger and spread around airport areas, more people are finding themselves living with aircraft noise. Of course, airports provide cities with the lifeblood of their economies. Having an airport near the centres of business encourages companies to base themselves in those cities.

Many airports have adopted various noise abatement procedures to help reduce the noise impact of their operations. For example, they can adopt air traffic control procedures that vary the approach paths to the airport. That way fewer aircraft will fly over more suburbs rather than a few suburbs bearing the full brunt. Aircraft can be guided over water or forested areas as much as possible. During off-peak times secondary runways can be used to allow those living under the main runway(s) approach path to have a break.

The way aircraft are controlled in the landing phase can also make a difference. In the landing phase, most aircraft generate a significant amount of noise due to the configuration of flaps and additional engine thrust required to compensate for the extra drag caused by the extension of flaps. Traditionally most approach patterns for landing at an airport have consisted of stepping the aircraft down to lower altitudes as it gets closer to the airfield. For example, it gets cleared down to 10,000 feet where it flies for a while, then down to 5,000 feet where once again it flies for a while.

The Continuous Descent Approach ensures that the landing aircraft stays as high above the ground as possible during the whole landing approach phase. Thereby it minimises the noise footprint over populated areas it passes over by being higher above them.

During this time it is overflying populated areas at these relatively low altitudes generating noise. A new approach, literally, is the constant glideslope. This means the aircraft is not asked to start descent until it is clear all the way to the runway. It means the aircraft will descend at a constant rate all the way to the ground and not spend any time flying over the ground at lower altitudes waiting to get further clearance to descend. Like the A380s take-off above, the aircraft will spend the minimum amount of time close to the ground where it is the noisiest.

A curfew is an option adopted by many airports. This restricts the operations of jet aircraft to certain hours of the day. For example, there may be no jet operations permitted between 10 pm and 6 am. This ensures that there is a quiet time when most people are trying to sleep. Curfew can cause problems for airlines. Flight delays for aircraft travelling to the curfew airport can be further exacerbated if that delay means they may arrive after the curfew comes into effect. If they were only delayed by an hour to start with, they may find that the curfew will add a further 8 hours to the delay as they need to now arrive after 6 am.

Another scenario affecting airline competitiveness is where we have two airlines, one based in city A where there is a curfew, and one in city B where there is no curfew. Both airlines want to maximise the number of flights they can do between cities A and B to profit from carrying more passengers. The airline operating from city B with no curfew has the advantage as they can start operating earlier and finish later.

Here we can see that the airline that operates out of the airport with a 10 pm to 6 am curfew is compromised by having to start later and finish earlier than its competitor based at the non-curfew-affected airport. In this comparison, the airline from the non-curfew airport can do 3 return trips against its competitor's 2.

By leaving at 4 am for example and arriving just after the 6 am curfew the airline from the non-curfew city is already halfway through their first return trip before the airline from the curfew city has even started. Similarly, the non-curfew city airline can depart on their last leg just before the 10 pm curfew whilst the curfew city airline needs to conclude their last flight by 10 pm.

Another innovation to make airports quieter is the provision of electrical services for aircraft at the terminal gates. You may have noticed when you are at the airport that even though a jet might be stationary at the gate, you can still hear a jet engine whine. This is caused by what is known as the APU or Auxilary Power Unit.

The APU is a small jet engine that usually sits in the tail cone of a jet aircraft. It doesn't provide any thrust as its sole purpose, as the name implies, is to provide power to the aircraft whilst its main engines are not running. This power is what is used to run lighting, air conditioning, and other electrical functions whilst the aircraft is parked.

The APU may be much smaller than the main engines, however, its noise output is still significant. If you live next to an airport the jet noise is constant. To alleviate this type of noise, many airports are providing land-based power which an aircraft can plug into instead of firing up their noisy APUs before shutting down main engines. A significant amount of noise is avoided as well as unnecessary pollution.

Friendly Neighbour

It is accepted that airports are not the best of neighbours. Some airports, however,  make an effort to try and make life better for those who live close. 

I use an example from Sydney, Australia, which is the largest city in Australia and a very important commercial hub. Sydney's Kingsford Smith International airport is located around 7 kilometres from the city centre which is handy for travellers but also ensures many parts of the city are exposed to aircraft noise.

Sydney city undertook to compensate the worst affected suburbs by providing the homes with soundproof double-glazed windows. This, of course, helped those residents immensely, but at what cost?  Well, subscribing to the concept of the user paying the users of the noisy aircraft paid. A levy of A$3.60 was applied to each ticket that involved an arrival or departure in Sydney. Once the expense of the double glazing was covered the levy was removed.

It is doubtful we will ever completely resolve the issue of aircraft noise, but finding ways to reduce it and manage it better goes a long way to improving the lives of those who are subjected to it. Finding ways to observe noise abatement helps us all.

Boeing 797 a Middle of Market Solution.

The use of the 797 designation could be a nice round-off for a 60-year cycle since the introduction of the Boeing 707. But why do we need another Boeing model and what is the Middle of the Market?

Middle of the Market(MoM) is a term Boeing coined back in 2005 which described their then MoM solutions, the Boeing 757 at the top end of the single-aisle market and the Boeing 767 at the bottom end of the twin-aisle market. Those two venerable workhorses have been out of production for some time now which is why Boeing is concerned about this sector of the market.

So where does the Middle of the Market lie? One could be forgiven for thinking that the 737 is growing bigger in the form of the 737 MAX and there is a smaller 787, the 787-8. However, let's take a closer look at how those two aircraft compare.

Aircraft	Max Take-off Weight	Range	Configuration	Passengers
Boeing 737 MAX-9	88,300 Kg (194,700 lb)	6,510 km (3,515 nmi)	2 Class	178
Boeing 787-8	227,900 Kg (502,500 lb)	13,621 km (7,355 nmi)	2 Class	335
Gap	139,600Kg (307,800 lb)	7,111 Km (3,840 nmi)	-	157

Looking at the figures above you can get an appreciation for the large gap between the largest 737 and the smallest 787.  To service this section of the market, airlines have to either underutilise their 787s or schedule more frequent services with their 737s. Neither option is very financially desirable which is why Boeing is looking at a completely new design for this niche in the market.

Sources indicate, and Boeing themselves have made announcements at the last Paris Airshow, that they expect to begin design work on what has unofficially been named the Boeing 797 or the MoM in 2018. The expected Entry Into Service (EIS) is 2024-2025 however, some sources indicate this could slip to 2026.

So what will the anticipated new model be like?

General design requirements call for an aircraft that can manage a range of up to 9,630 Km (5,200 nmi), around 10 hours flying. This will enable the aircraft to be used on routes such as the North Atlantic where it would be small enough to operate into and out of smaller city airports, avoiding the traditionally overcrowded main hubs. For passengers, the benefit will be to be able to fly to far-off destinations from their home airport without inconvenient connections along the way.

The carrying capacity will, of course, depend on the carrier’s choice of the configuration of the passenger cabin. The passenger carrying range is targeted for 220 – 270.

The new design will require a new range of engines with thrust in the 45,000-50,000 lbs range. Boeing has specified a requirement for a geared turbofan. This is where a gearbox sits between the big fan at the front of the engine and the internal turbine. This enables greater control over the engine with the ability to maximise the efficiency of engine speeds at different stages of flight. CFM, which is 50% co-owned by G.E. and Safran, have indicated they will be competing with Rolls Royce to produce such an engine, whilst Pratt and Whitney will offer an upgraded version of their GTF engine.

Boeing is confident in this sector of the market and estimates that they will be able to sell 4,000 797s over a period of 20 years. Airbus for their part are confident that their current offerings of the Airbus 321 NEO and A330 NEO will cover them, however, they haven't ruled out the possible addition of an A322 to the Airbus family.
Construction of the B797 is likely to draw on lessons, new techniques, and new materials that have gone into the development of the 787 as well as the 737 Max. The wings and fuselage will be made primarily from carbon fibre materials, as is the larger 787. We may also see the split winglets which are a feature of the 737 Max. These will increase the wing lifting area, giving better fuel economy without the penalty of a greater wingspan. The benefit of maintaining a lesser wingspan is to enable the aircraft to fit into smaller gate areas at smaller airports thus enabling the concept of flying between more regional centres.

This view shows the distinctive Boeing 737 MAX winglet. Two smaller winglets mean that there is less weight required than for a more robust single longer span. In addition, it means that a significant addition wing surface is added whilst still being able to fit into Gate size C at airport terminals. Will we see this design feature included in the Boeing 797 design?

No doubt as design decisions are laid down, we will get a much clearer idea of how the latest Boeing offering will look. Meanwhile, 2026 seems a long way off. To bridge the gap, Boeing is seriously considering reintroducing the 767 300ER as an interim measure. It is a decision that has been on again, off again, but apparently, it is currently in an on-again phase. The last off-again phase was due to the production of the 787 being lifted from 12 to 14 per month, but we assume this roadblock has been removed.

Let us see what the future brings.

If you know any more about the Boeing 797 or MoM, please feel free to comment below.

Why are airplane windows rounded?

You may have wondered why airplane windows are round. Yes, it does look sleeker perhaps and gives a streamlined impression. To be honest as far as streamlining goes it matters not whether the windows are square, round or some other shape, as they are flush with the fuselage metal and the air goes past them just as happily. So, is there another reason for rounded windows?

The answer, of course, is yes. Every feature of an aircraft exists for a very specific reason. Designs of various components are normally in place to respond to certain conditions that exist in various phases of flight to which the aircraft will be exposed. These can be anticipated conditions that designers are aware of, or they can be the result of lessons learned in the school of hard knocks.

An airliner window showing a rounded shape which we are very familiar with today

The design of aircraft windows falls into the school of hard knocks category.

In the early days of aviation when passengers were first being carried, windows were found to be required as people would tend to become quite claustrophobic in a windowless tube. In spite of the weight penalty incurred by adding slabs of perspex at regular intervals along the side of the fuselage, designers resigned themselves to the necessity if they were to carry more than just cargo.

The early airliner windows resembled those you might find on a bus.  They were usually rectangular in shape and came in various sizes depending on who’s aircraft you were in. Passengers would have the opportunity to enjoy the view and assure themselves that they were indeed flying right side up.

This worked like a dream, everyone was happy, and passengers enjoyed the flying experience quite happily entering this metal or canvas tube to be taken aloft and deposited at some distant location. This applied to propeller airliners and worked well in their operating range of altitudes to a maximum of the mid-20,000s of feet.

Junkers Ju52.3m G-AHOF BEA Ringway.

Enter the jet age.

In the early 1950s, there was a new sound in the sky. Jet engines were used for the first time on passenger transport aircraft. The de Havilland Comet was a radical new concept in passenger travel. With its four jet engines buried in the wing roots, it was a very sleek-looking aircraft for the period.

The Comet offered faster travel times as compared to its propeller predecessors partly due to its ability to fly higher in thinner air, which propeller engines were not capable of doing.

For a year, the Comet enjoyed huge success. It was popular with passengers as the higher altitude flights meant not only faster travel times but also smoother flying due to the Comet’s ability to fly above most of the turbulent weather, that propeller aircraft were forced to fly through

In 1953 and 1954, the Comet was involved in several fatal incidents. The incidents involved the total breakup of the aircraft with the loss of all lives on board.

The cause of these accidents had investigators baffled. With all the pieces of wreckage retrieved, they could ascertain that the aircraft suffered catastrophic structural failure. Eventually, they were able to pinpoint the source of the break up to a point in the roof of the fuselage. It took some time before they finally worked out the root cause.

Effects of high altitude flying.

As mentioned earlier, propeller aircraft are limited in how high they can fly. This means that the effect of high-altitude flying is not really a factor in their day-to-day operation. Let’s look, however, at jet airliners. These aircraft fly much higher, often twice as high as their propeller-driven cousins.

A de-Havilland Comet airliner prototype at Hatfield England. You can notice the very square shape of the windows compared to those we are used to today. This was how it was done on propeller-driven airliners of the past, but was to prove fatal in the jet age.

We know that we as humans can only survive below a certain altitude if we are not to succumb to the effects of hypoxia. This, in simple terms, means we need to have a certain amount of oxygen in the air we breathe or we will lose consciousness and eventually perish. Airliner manufacturers are aware of this situation and have as a result come up with pressurisation in aircraft cabins when it is anticipated that this aircraft will climb above the acceptable altitude.

In the past, most airliners have offered cabin pressure that is approximately equivalent to the pressure at 10,000 feet above sea level. In today’s more modern aircraft such as the Airbus A350 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the pressure offered is closer to that found at 6,000 feet above sea level.  Obviously the lower the pressure altitude, the more comfortable it is for the passengers as it is closer to what they are used to on the ground.

Let’s look at what this does to the aircraft fuselage. An aircraft such as an A350 takes off from sea level and commences its climb to a cruise altitude of let’s say 35,000 feet above sea level. As it climbs out, the air inside and outside the aircraft is of equal pressure. On passing 6,000 feet, the pressurisation system kicks in. As the climb continues, the cabin pressure is held at that which was found at 6,000 feet. On the outside, however, the pressure continues to fall the higher the aircraft climbs. On reaching the cruise altitude of 35,000 feet, the pressure differential between the outside and inside is almost 6 times. There is almost 6 times more air pressure inside the aircraft than outside.

Today's aircraft are made from various metal alloys and have a very high strength-to-weight ratio. This notwithstanding, there is still some anticipated growing and shrinking of the fuselage each time the aircraft climbs and descends. Each takeoff, climb and descent, and landing is known as a cycle. Aircraft with very high cycle amounts are those that are used on short domestic hops as opposed to those doing long trans-continental or trans-oceanic flights. These aircraft are rigorously checked for any cracks or metal fatigue resulting from many cycles where the fuselage is subject to many expansion and contraction events.

Before the advent of the jet age, the understanding of effects of cycles and metal fatigue was not understood as they had not been applied to airliners that had been used thus far. It was not until the Comet flew much higher and endured many cycles that things unravelled. The Comet still flew fairly short hops by today’s standards, much like the propeller aircraft of the day. A trip from London to Singapore would involve many stopovers such as; London, Rome, Cairo, Karachi, Calcutta, Rangoon, and Singapore. That is 6 cycles for one trip.

Square Windows

As mentioned above, investigators of the Comet crashes were able to pinpoint the source of the structural failure to a point in the fuselage roof. It seemed as if a crack had opened up along one of the joins between pieces of the aluminium skin. After some time and testing, it was found that the crack had started at the corner of one of the windows.

The Comet was designed with square windows just like its propeller-driven ancestors. Unlike its propeller-driven ancestors, the Comet experienced a much more extreme difference in pressures as it flew much higher. Tests showed that structural pressures would always find the weakest point, which in this case was the corner of a square window. Instead of pressure being absorbed evenly throughout the structure it was found the window corner was the weakest point which became the focus of the pressure.

This is the actual fragment skin that peeled off the de Havilland Comet G-ALYP, retrieved from the ocean floor, that allowed investigators to figure out the flaw that caused several crashes. This changed how jet airliners were made forever.

The Comet was grounded for two years while the research was conducted and corrections were made to the design. Whilst the Comet mark one never flew again and sales were severely affected for the following versions, it still went on to have a successful 30 years of life with rounded windows.

So why do we have rounded windows on aircraft? It is to maintain structural integrity and distribution of the considerable forces applied to the fuselage evenly.

A BOAC Comet 4 registration G-APDA. The de Havilland Comet with rounded windows continued on to a successful 30 years of service. Here we see the larger Comet 4C model which included round windows and wing pods for additional fuel.

Where is MH370 two years on?

Here we are, 2 years down the taxiway from one of aviation’s biggest mysteries. Two years ago 239 passengers and crew settled in for a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The Boeing 777 belonging to Malaysia’s national flag carrier, Malaysia Airlines, lifted off into the balmy Malaysian night and flew into history. Now on the second anniversary of the aircraft’s disappearance, we seem no closer to finding an answer.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 like MH370 lifts off.

Now on the second anniversary of the aircraft’s disappearance, we seem no closer to finding an answer.

It seems inconceivable in today’s high-tech world that we can lose a big airliner so utterly and completely. It goes to show that we haven’t quite got the ability to track the movement of everything that goes on in our world.
Since that fateful night two years ago, there have been so many theories of cover-ups, lies, and deception. Was it done by a rogue pilot? Was the aircraft deliberately flown below the radar to enable it to be hijacked elsewhere? Was the aircraft flown in the shadow of a Singapore Airlines flight to enable it to be flown to Central Asia undetected?

The initial search area for MH370 centered on the logical areas around the Malaysian Peninsula.

We’ve heard of an oil rig worker seeing a ball of fire crash into the sea in the distance in the South China Sea.

We’ve heard of inhabitants of an island in the Maldives, where large airliners are rarely seen, reporting a low-flying large jet flying overhead hours after the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777. This prompted a theory about the jet being flown to a small atoll called Diego Garcia which lies just south of the equator in the middle of the Indian Ocean and belongs to Great Britain.

It just goes to show that we do not take readily, as humans, to unexplained situations and work to fill the void with theories of what we think the likely train of events may have been. It also serves to show we are quite willing to believe some fairly far-fetched theories to fill the void of actual knowledge.

But as usual, it seems fact is stranger than fiction. Of all the far-fetched scenarios, who came up with one where the airliner found its way into the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean? No one as far as I can recall.

I must admit that when I first heard of it, I was amazed at why someone would believe such a far-fetched story. Of all the stories I had heard, this seemed to be the most fanciful.  A flight that was headed north ends up being further south than it was ever intended to go north.

The current search areas were determined by satellite pings as well as the fuel range limits of MH370.

Those engine ping handshakes that gave the arc of the area where the aircraft is supposed to have been, were obviously conclusive enough for several governments to throw in millions of dollars worth of search time and resources. While it is admirable that governments are seen to be caring about those poor souls who perished, and those who are left behind wondering what became of their loved ones. I am often left wondering why the Southern Indian Ocean scenario was so readily accepted so quickly and why governments were so quick to be prepared to throw millions at the project.

I am not trying to promote any of the conspiracy theories. I do find it strange that not one floating object such as seat squabs, neck pillows, and other floating objects has ever been found. These objects are more susceptible to wind-driven effects, as opposed to the flaperon found on Reunion and the alleged horizontal stabiliser piece found in Mozambique that would have floated below the surface and been more influenced by ocean currents.

There are of course many kilometres of uninhabited coastlines around the Indian Ocean, but something should turn up somewhere and be found. If the flaperon and other pieces were ripped off the aircraft, I feel it safe to assume the fuselage did not stay intact to contain all the loose objects that should have floated away.

I just hope that something is found soon. Friends and relatives need closure and aviation needs to know what happened and how it happened so steps can be taken to remove the likelihood for the future.

Aviation becomes safer as we learn from accidents and incidents and build processes to prevent them from happening again.

I don’t pretend to be an expert in any way shape or form and would love to hear the opinion of others. Feel free to join the discussion below.

Plane Spotting and Plane Spotters.

Plane Spotting

Very few of us can resist watching and taking in the sound of raw power as a jetliner makes its take-off run and claws its way into the sky. Plane spotting or plane watching is a pass time enjoyed by many. You don’t have to be a plane spotter as such but just someone who has a few minutes to spare as you head past the airport, or a parent giving your kids the thrill of the beauty of flight.

The planes themselves are a marvel to watch as they make their precision landings and powerful take-offs. But this also stirs the imagination around where they are going and where they are coming from, conjuring up images of far-flung places.

Access to airfields for plane spotting

Every airport is different, some are easily accessible for plane spotters, while others present quite a challenge. With the extra security around air travel these days, airfield operators are keen to keep as much distance between the public and operating aircraft as possible.

Some airports, like Auckland's’ Managere Airport are challenging as they are surrounded by water. Sometimes going off the airport location can give you a better vantage point.

The first thing to do is to familiarise yourself with the airfield. If it is your hometown you may already know all the locations that are appropriate for getting good views of the runway. If you are not familiar, then Google Maps is a good way of getting a feel for the best places to try. It may be a little hit-and-miss at first as you might find some of the roads indicated on the map are private access roads and not for public use. Be sure to comply with all access rules as security is taken very seriously today and heavy fines could apply.

Best views for plane spotting

As I said, some airfields offer more choices of locations for plane spotters due to the nature of the topography of the countryside in which they are located. Maybe they are surrounded by industry with warehouses blocking the view, or maybe they protrude out into the water with no way of getting close. Whatever the situation, there is usually some location that offers the opportunity to catch sight of air traffic coming and going.

Where to be to watch taking off aircraft.

When you do have a choice of locations, you need to decide which phase of the landing and take-off phase you want to see. Do you want to be in the middle where you can see taking-off aircraft rotate and begin to climb out as well as landing aircraft completing their landing roll? Do you want to be at the end of the runway where you can either have taking-off aircraft climbing over you or landing aircraft descending over you? Each time you go and plane spot, you can choose a different experience and if you are so inclined, add to your photo collection

Where to be to watch landing aircraft.

Conditions to help you choose your plane spotting location.

As we know, aircraft operations are very weather dependent. Aircraft fly in almost all weathers, however, it is how they fly that changes. The wind plays a critical part in how the airfield is used due to the fact that aircraft must take off and land into the wind. This reduces the length of the runway they require, as the air is already moving over their wings before they even start their take-off roll.

This will perhaps affect the location you choose to plane spot.  For instance, if you stand at the upwind or windward end of the runway on a windy day, you may possibly not see many aircraft up close. The arriving aircraft will stop more quickly as their speed across the ground is slower on landing. Taking off aircraft may be quite high by the time they cross over you, as their rate of climb will appear much steeper. A location closer to the downwind end of the runway would be better.

The angle of the sun is also another aspect to consider. Even if you are not photographing the planes, you will be more comfortable with the sun behind you than having to look into it. Aircraft rise into the sky and as you follow them with your eyes you will likely look directly into the sun. Be aware of the orientation of the runway you want to visit. If it runs north/south then try to be on the east side in the morning and the west side in the afternoon. If you are photographing the aircraft then you will ensure that the detail and colourful liveries of the airliners are nicely represented instead of that disappointing shot turning out to be little more than a silhouette.

Plane Spotting Photography

Like any kind of photography, the sky is the limit on what you could spend on getting the best equipment. This is great for those who live and breathe aircraft and perhaps make an income through flight photography. These are the enthusiasts who have huge telescopic lenses, tripods and all sorts of other paraphernalia.

For most of us, this is not the case. We love to watch aircraft and even like to build up a nice collection of photos of the aircraft we have seen. So long as your camera has a reasonable zoom lens on it and you are not 5 kilometres from the runway, then you have a reasonable chance of capturing some great snaps.

The other thing that can help you is to be sure your camera has a good megapixel rate. I will be honest, many of my earlier pictures were done on my phone which sports 13 megapixels. How this helps is that even if your zoom can’t get you close enough, the density of the picture can go some way to making up for it, in fact quite a long way. Once you have your picture on the screen you might find your aircraft occupies a quarter or maybe even less of the picture. By cropping it and zooming in you may find that you still end up with quite a nice picture.

The picture below of the QANTAS A330 was such a picture. It was quite a long way off, but because the megapixels were quite high I was still able to crop and zoom in to feature this aircraft. To do this I simply used the default Windows Picture viewer which has an edit function. Not rocket science, nor in any way costly.

You might also notice that I didn’t adhere to my own advice as relates to the sunlight. The colours would have been more vibrant had I been on the other side of the aircraft. On this occasion, I was there very early to capture dawn pictures, which put me on the western side of the airfield in the morning.

A QANTAS Airbus A330 climbs out from runway 34L at Sydney Airport.

Alternative places for plane spotting.

It may sound a little strange, as where else would you go to spot planes other than an airfield? As nice as it would be to get some good views of aircraft in level cruise, it is not really possible. Any land formation high enough would be avoided by aircraft like the plague.

There are other locations you can consider though when looking to snap or just watch aircraft. Sometimes these locations can be near the airport and will give you the ability to watch these aircraft in a slightly different phase of flight. For example, I went to the car park of a well-known Swedish furniture store which is on the flight path of aircraft departing to the north. As the crow or aircraft flies, it is less than a kilometre from the runway threshold and a little to the west.

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-841 Registration 9V-SKA was the world's first commercial A380 delivered 16 Oct 2007 seen here climbing out from Sydney.

This enabled me to capture aircraft in the post-takeoff climb configuration during and just after landing gear retraction. Being slightly to the west of the runway centre line meant that I was able to get a bit of a side view rather than just seeing the underbellies of the departing airliners.

Perhaps in your location, there might be a hill or building that can give you a bit of elevation alongside the approach or departure track of aircraft into and out of your local airfield.

When should I go plane spotting?

The object of the exercise is to go to the airfield at such a time when there will be a lot of aircraft movements. Your location will determine how challenging or easy this is. If you live near London Heathrow for example, then you would be hard-pressed to go when it isn’t busy. If you live somewhere that is a little more off the beaten track then it may take a little more research before you go out.

Like any kind of movement of people, airports often have peak and quiet times. Obviously, you want to go in the peak time if possible so you can view the most number and biggest variation of aircraft. Most airfields these days have an online arrivals and departures information website. Use this to get a feel for the best times to go and do some plane spotting.

How can I monitor air traffic once I am at the airfield?

It used to be that the only way to monitor air traffic was by the use of a multi-band radio scanner. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a great way to monitor where the air traffic is as you listen to communications between air traffic controllers and aircraft flight crews. As well as the information on where aircraft are. It adds a bit of a human touch as you can actually listen to the pilots of the aircraft you are watching.

Today we have access to mobile phone apps that allow you to track all the aircraft as if you were an air traffic controller yourself. Using such an app you can monitor the aircraft as they approach the airfield and line up for landing. This way you can be prepared for aircraft that you hope to capture on film. Examples of these include; Flightradar24 and FlightAware.

I hope that this item on plane spotting has helped you in some way. I would love to hear your plane spotting experiences, perhaps you have favourite spots that you can recommend to others.

Thank you for stopping by.

How Safe is Flying?

How safe is flying today?

How safe is flying? I used to get asked this a lot while I was training for my private pilots’ licence. My favourite response always used to be. “Well, the most dangerous part is the drive to the airport.”

Seriously though, it is a very good question. How safe is flying in those gigantic machines along with a few hundred other people coming along for the ride? Let’s face it, this isn’t a perfect world and things go wrong. When airliner accidents happen, they of course go spectacularly wrong. Larger aircraft, carrying more passengers flying faster. It seems a miracle any get through at all. But they do. In fact, travelling by air is one of the safest methods of transport available today.

As an example, in peak times there can be 5,000 commercial aircraft flying over the U.S.A. at any one time. Similar numbers are also over Europe and Asia. These flights all happen every day with little incident.

Air Crash Investigations

Air safety is no accident. Let’s turn that around. Ok, we know accidents happen, we see it on the news and of course those popular TV programs like Air Crash Investigation. It may seem like a lot of people taking a ghoulish interest in a tragic event.

The actuality is that accidents contribute more to air safety than almost anything else. When an accident happens, no matter how minor or major, investigators will examine the details until they are 100% sure of what the cause was. This can be a painstaking process and sometimes takes a year or more.

The reason for this painstaking process is prevention. By investigating and determining the cause of an accident, processes or new methods in construction can be put in place to prevent a similar accident from occurring in the future. In this way, no accident is ever without benefit for future fliers. These benefits will manifest themselves as new training procedures, new maintenance procedures, or new construction methods.

B Checks must be done in the aircraft hangar, whilst C and D checks must be done at a purpose-built aircraft maintenance centre.

Aircraft Maintenance

Aircraft maintenance is a key component to the safety of flying. Each aircraft has strict guidelines set down by the manufacturer on how the specific aircraft should be maintained. In addition, there are strict guidelines set down by aviation authorities such as the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) in the U.S. or EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) in Europe as well as other national aviation bodies in other countries. These bodies set the minimum standard of maintenance procedures for aircraft in that country as well as those flying into that country.

These procedures are constantly being updated with new findings from accidents, incidents or new technology that comes into the industry. All this is in place to ensure that when you and I get on a plane, we can count on doing so in full safety.

Aircraft maintenance service intervals can be broken into 4 categories or checks plus the daily pre-flight inspection. The timing of each of these checks is generally determined by the number of hours an aircraft has flown and/or the amount of flight cycles an aircraft has endured. A flight cycle is one take-off and one landing. Therefore a flight from Melbourne to London via Bangkok is 2 flight cycles.

How Safe is Flying is Determined By Aircraft Maintenance Checks

Daily Inspection

Prior to every day's first flight, a visual inspection of the aircraft is carried out. This inspection is a methodical walk-around performed by one of the pilots and is a check for any superficial damage or anomalies on the aircraft. The visual inspection looks for any outwardly obvious damage or inconsistencies that might render the airliner unsafe for flight that day.

• The wings and skin are checked for damage caused by bird-strike or other foreign objects.

• Moving parts such as flaps, ailerons and elevators are checked for any foreign objects that may impede their free movement.

• Tyres and are checked for splits or excessive wear.

• Brakes are checked for  foreign objects or cracking

• Air intake ports are checked for foreign objects

• Pitot and Static air intake tubes are checked for any blockage

These checks are continued throughout the day before every flight. You can rest assured that the pilots want to have a safe aircraft every bit as much as you do. Nobody likes surprises once you are in the air.

Airlines very carefully schedule the various maintenance checks to coincide with their due date whilst minimising time out of service for aircraft.

As your car requires servicing according to the manufacturer's manual, aircraft also have a stringent schedule for mandatory checks and servicing. Airlines must have very detailed documented procedures for every step of aircraft maintenance which must be followed to the letter and signed off. As part of their certification to be allowed to fly into and out of various countries, airlines must be able to show their maintenance procedures and how they are followed to ensure passenger safety. In this way, the question of, how safe is flying? can be answered. As safe as we can possibly make it.

Airliner maintenance and safety checks can be broken down into 4 different levels. These are commonly known as the; A, B, C and D checks.

A Check

Other than the Daily Inspection, the A Check is the lightest check and is performed the most often. Depending on the aircraft type and the kind of use it gets, the A Check is performed every 300 – 600 flight hours or every 200 – 300 flight cycles. Remembering that a flight cycle equals one take-off and one landing. If the aircraft is used on short domestic flights, for example, it is more likely the cycles will be the determining factor as these will build up more quickly versus the flying hours.

The A Check itself is generally carried out overnight while the aircraft is not in service to minimise any loss of revenue. Around 20 – 50 man-hours are involved in this check and it can be carried out at the airport gate.

B Check

The B Check is a more intense check and needs to be performed in an aircraft hangar. The check is performed around every 6 months and depending on the aircraft type may require 120 – 150 man hours. A Checks can be incorporated into the B Check so that the aircraft’s removal from flying schedules is minimised.

C Check

The C Check is a much more intense check and requires a lot more space. For this reason, it must be carried out at a designated maintenance base. Depending on the aircraft type, this check is required to be carried out every 20 to 24 months which is also influenced by the number of flying hours. Around 6,000 man-hours will be required which may keep the aircraft out of service for 1 to 2 weeks. A much more in-depth check of the airframe is carried out while many components are removed for inspection or replacement.

This check is designed to capture any problems with corrosion and cracking before they become a problem, as well as replacing or servicing smaller components.

Early detection is the purpose of most of the checks performed during maintenance periods.

D Check

The D Check is by far the most intensive check performed on aircraft and is also known as the HMV (Heavy Maintenance Visit). This check is carried out around every 6 years and can take the aircraft out of service for 2 months. Like the C Check, the service must be carried out at a purpose-built maintenance base with the appropriate facilities. The work can involve around 50,000 man-hours and essentially is a total strip down of the aircraft. Often even the paint has to be removed to allow a detailed inspection of the aircraft skin, looking for cracking and corrosion.

Airlines will often use this opportunity to refresh or update the livery of the aircraft as well as refurbish and update the cabin interior.

The cost of performing a D Check is huge. Depending on the aircraft type, a ballpark figure of 1 million US dollars is not unusual. For this reason, the number of maintenance bases in places like the US is few. Many airlines will fly their aircraft to locations where labour costs are lower to perform this check. This doesn’t mean the work is inferior, as the same stringent documented work processes are in place and supervised.

As a rule of thumb, an airliner generally has 3 D Checks in its working life. After the third, the aircraft value has diminished to the point where it is likely to be worth less than the cost of doing the next scheduled D Check. At this point, the airline normally decides to retire the aircraft.

Air safety is no accident, but a painstaking very highly controlled process.

Conclusion

How safe is flying? When we look at the number of flights that are achieved without incident every day, we can see that the expectation of arriving at our destination in one piece is almost a given. Almost, because nothing in life is guaranteed. The same could be said for walking or driving down to our corner store. There is an element of risk in simply being alive.

The airline industry, and in this I include airlines, airliner manufacturers, and airport operators, takes safety extremely seriously. Their reason for their existence depends on the public being comfortable with the answer to, how safe is flying? Flight, for most people, is the only time in their lives that they will be in an environment that is totally hostile to their being. Too cold, not enough air to breathe, too far to fall, and too fast. Air travel has to be seen to be going the extra mile to provide a safe environment.

By learning from every accident that occurs and using that knowledge in maintenance procedures or flight training procedures, bit by bit accident likelihood is reduced.

Being on a commercial airliner is now one of the safest places to be.

I would love to hear your views or experiences regarding how safe is flying today. By all means, leave those comments below. Thank you for stopping by and reading about how safe is flying.

Long Haul Flights

Getting to far-flung parts of the world has been a challenge to mankind for as long as history stretches back. Knowledge of riches and resources beyond what can be found locally has driven us to find new ways and routes to far-distant corners of the planet. What virtually anyone can achieve on today’s long-haul flights in a matter of hours would have taken months, if not years in the not-so-very-distant past.

Whether it was the Vikings setting off for lands unknown, the Chinese doing the same, or the Portuguese circumnavigating the Earth. We have always been driven to new horizons by the prospect of the exotic worlds that lie beyond and how they could enrich our lives.

We still live by those same principles. Instead, however, of intrepid explorers setting off for journeys that may take them from their homes for years at a time, or forever, in many cases. We have business travellers completing those same journeys in a matter of hours and making trade deals. We have holidaymakers making those same journeys to find the sun, or a great shopping deal not available at home.

Those journeys are now so common as to seem mundane to many. While travelling over routes that were once only for the brave and those willing to risk life and limb, we now quibble over the quality of food, the entertainment system, or how much legroom we have. How quickly we adapt.

Today we are seeing records tumble every few weeks as airlines propose and begin ever longer “non-stop” routes. These are made possible by the latest long-range airliners, such as the Airbus A350, the Boeing 787,  Airbus A380, and the Boeing 777. Emirates launched their super long-range route from Dubai to Auckland, initially with the Airbus A380 but now with the Boeing 777-200LR (LR=Long Range), a distance of 14,200 kilometres. That is around 16 hours, depending on the wind.

The Emirates flight is impressive but that record is set to tumble as Qatar Airways is about to launch a Doha to Auckland non-stop flight which is 300-odd kilometres longer than the Emirates flight. Also announced are United Airlines' non-stop flights from San Francisco to Singapore, and Singapore Airlines flights from Singapore to Los Angeles.

So how did we get around the world before the advent of today’s modern airliners?

The simple fact was, that travel was for the rich in most cases. Yes, there was the opportunity to travel relatively cheaply by ship if you travelled in the lowest class. This kind of travel was usually once in a lifetime as you emigrated from one country to another. Long-distance aviation was another story.

The difficulty for early international travel was to create an aircraft that could carry a usable payload for a long enough range. There has always been a trade-off between carrying enough fuel to reach the destination versus carrying enough payload (passengers) to make the trip profitable for the airline.

Flying Boats

uring the 1930s on both sides of the Atlantic, aircraft makers like Boeing and Short Brothers decided that the future of long-range passenger air travel lay with the flying boat. These large chunky machines were generally powered by four propellers affixed to a huge wing atop the fuselage. Inside the accommodations were laid out as if the travellers were on a first-class sea journey.  Cabins could be set up for seating during the daytime, and as sleepers for night-time. There were even dining rooms so meals could be taken in a civilised fashion.

Boeing 314 Clipper.

Little wonder that a trip from the UK to Australia would cost as much as an average annual salary. The cabin may have been first class, but it was quite an adventure never the less. One of the reasons for choosing to land and take off from water was the ability to fly to places, or via places, where no adequate runway was prepared.

These lumbering behemoths may have been able to lift a luxurious cabin and its occupants into the sky, however, their range was severely limited by today’s standards. At little better than 1,000 kilometres, they had to hop their way across the globe which made for very long journey times. For example, a trip from Sydney to Singapore which today takes between 7 and 8 hours, involved a journey time of four full days with three overnight stop-overs. This was not too dissimilar to travelling by ship where you got to see some of the world along the way.

Land-Based Propeller Airliners

War always brings advances in technology and for aviation, this was certainly the case. A new generation of land-based propeller airliners emerged making use of advances in engine reliability as well as many more airfields that were now available.

These airliners started to resemble what we see today as far as cabin layout is concerned. Gone was the cavernous and opulent interior of the flying boat to be replaced by a more practical cabin seating both economy and first-class passengers in most cases. Airliners of this age were more streamlined and were capable of higher speeds than the lumbering flying boats.

A preserved Super Constellation “Connie” comes in to land. The long nose-wheel and curved fuselage were designed to keep the longer propeller blades clear of the ground, whilst the triple lower tail enabled it to still be stored in the standard hangars of the day.

Perhaps the pinnacle airliner of this age was the Lockheed Super Constellation, a very sleek aircraft almost resembling a dolphin in shape. With a cruising speed of 295 knots (547 KPH), she had a maximum range of 4,700 Nautical Miles (8,700 Kilometres). For the princely sum of around 2.5 times the average annual salary, one could travel from Sydney to London in no less than 64 hours. The journey would involve 8 stops, such as; Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo, and Tripoli. The journey, lasting 3 days, would involve overnight stops in Singapore and Cairo.

Engine reliability was still an issue and it was not uncommon for a delayed propeller airliner to arrive with only 3 of its 4 engines running.

In addition, these aircraft were all susceptible to weather conditions. The Super Constellation had a service ceiling of 24,000 feet which means it was not able to climb above weather as we expect today’s jets to do. This could lead to delays as pilots awaited weather systems to pass over, manoeuvring around them if they were already airborne

A New Sound in the Sky

The late 1950s saw the introduction of the Jet Airliner age. Aircraft like the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC8, each with four jet engines mounted beneath their swept-back wings, started to be the mainstay of intercontinental travel. With a much higher speed than the propeller airliners, these jets dramatically cut down travel times. The Sydney to London trip could be done in half the time at around 30 hours.

The jet airliner age brought faster speeds as well as the ability to fly above most weather. This QANTAS Boeing 707 sported the V Jet insignia where the V stands for Vanna, the Latin for fan. It was powered by the newer generation fan jets.

The problem of range was still there though. These jet flights, while being faster, still required multiple stopovers along the way to refuel. The Sydney to London route would require 5 to 6 stops along the way.

Enter the Jumbo

In 1969 passenger aviation changed dramatically. Boeing launched their most audacious design yet, the Boeing 747. This aircraft, dubbed, the Jumbo Jet enable several hundred passengers to be carried all in one aircraft. One result was a drop in the cost of flying which brought it within reach of the common person.

Pan Am Boeing 747 May 1985. Pan Am was the driving force behind the development of the Boeing 747.

Whilst the size and carrying ability of the 747 were impressive, one of the great features that attracted airlines was its range ability and speed. It could fly further and faster than the DC8 and 707 at a cheaper seat/mile cost. This opened up the ability for intercontinental airlines to offer faster and cheaper journey times to faraway destinations. If we go back to our Sydney to London route, the early 747s reduced the stopovers to 2 which were typically Singapore and somewhere in the Persian Gulf like Bahrain. The journey time was now in the low 20 hours.

There was even a shorter version of the 747, 747SP (Special Performance)  which had an increased range due to the reduced weight. This was requested by Pan Am and Iran Air so that they could service some of their longer non-stop routes such as New York to the Middle East and Tehran.

Later versions of the 747, such as the 747-400 were built with newer technology engines as well as winglets for extra lift which enabled them to fly the world's longest routes as they have been doing to this very day.

It’s Twins!

Jet engine technology has now reached a point of reliability where a shutdown during flight is almost unheard of. An aviation standard called ETOPS (Extended Operations or Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim) governs the certification of twin jet airliners to fly long distances over water or remote territory. These certifications have been gradually granted to the large twin jets we see in our skies today.

It took a while to gain acceptance that twin jets could be used on long over-water intercontinental routes. Airbus had an each-way bet with their A330 and A340 models. They are essentially the same airframe, but one has four engines and one has two. Their adage was, “four engines for long haul”. The A340 proved popular at first and boasted a long-range model that flew some of the longest routes in the world. It was quipped that it was a flying tanker with a few passengers along for the ride.

Once ETOPS approval was given to the large twin-jets such as the; Airbus A330, Boeing 777, and more recently the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350, the economics of the four-engined airliner just didn’t stack up anymore.

Today

Today it seems to be the age of the twin-engined airliner which is capable of meeting and surpassing the performance, reliability and economics of all previous airliners. What used to take 6 weeks by ship, 4 days by flying boat or 3 days by Super Constellation is now possible in around 17 hours.

Airbus A350 XWB is the new high-tech twin jet airliner from Airbus.

When we expect to be able to go and explore any part of the world in the few weeks of holidays we are allocated, or go and close a business deal on the other side of the world, this is a huge step forward.

On the other side of the coin, one has to wonder what is lost when you no longer stop along the way. Have we lost the adventure that makes travel exciting? Will we no longer look forward to the journey itself as we complain about the food and watch the same shows we watch in our own living room?

It seems long-haul flights have become as exciting as a trip to the mall.

What is the average plane speed of a modern airliner?

Average Plane Speed

How often have you sat aboard a jet airliner and wondered about the average plane speed and how it is arrived at? Why is it that different speeds are used at different stages of the flight and why do they climb to different altitudes each time you fly?

To answer this we have to look at the various factors that determine the answer.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere in which you will be flying is a very fluid environment and just like the sea, has established currents. Also like the sea, it has varying pressures with the highest pressure being at the Earth's surface and that pressure decreases the further we get from the surface until we reach the near vacuum of space.

The currents or winds and the changing pressure play a huge part in the planning of flights and the way they are carried out. Some winds are a constant feature of the atmosphere. On the surface, we know of the Trade Winds that blow along the Equatorial regions. These winds were counted on by the early sailing ships and were so named as they blew the early traders to and from their destinations.

Like the early traders, we still count on the wind to aid us in reaching our destinations more quickly.

Since the advent of jet airliners in the 1950s which could fly much higher than their propeller ancestors, it was found there are very strong winds at those higher altitudes which were named the Jetstream. When flying with the Jetstream, one can easily add significant speed to the flight and reduce the flying time to the destination. The winds move slightly with the seasons but can be counted on to the extent that airlines schedule their flights taking into account a faster flight with the Jetstream and a slower flight against the Jetstream.

Measurement of Aircraft Speed

When we ask the question, how fast is an aircraft going? There are several answers that can be given and it can be very dependent on the stage of flight the aircraft is in.

Average plane speed and Take-off

We are sitting on the runway in a shiny new Boeing 777 about to apply full power and commence our take-off run. We’ve done our calculations and with the weight of cargo and fuel, we expect the airliner to become airborne at, for example, 152 knots(nautical miles per hour).

An Emirates Boeing-777-300 takes off in Sydney.

Hold on a minute, what does that mean exactly?

Ok, the additional information we need is that the local wind on the runway is blowing in your face and you will take off into the wind. When you are taking off, you don’t care about how fast the wheels are spinning on the ground, you care about how fast the air is moving over your wings.

For instance, if the wind is blowing in your face at 20 knots, you only need to achieve 132 knots ground speed before you can expect the aircraft to start flying. This makes for a shorter take-off run as you started with a bonus of 20 knots before you even applied engine power.

If you decided to take off with the wind in the other direction, you would start off with 20 knots of wind going the wrong way over your wings and therefore would require a longer take-off run. The result is you would take the tops off the car park shuttle buses on the perimeter road which is not approved.

So we have established that speed through the air is the governing factor of flight. This is measured and expressed as KIAS or Knots Indicated Air Speed. Simplistically this is measured by air rushing into a forward-facing tube called a pitot head or pitot tube which channels the air into a bladder inside the Air Speed Indicator. The higher the pressure which is driven by the forward movement of the aircraft, the higher the bladder causes the dial to read. It is a little more complex than that but it gives you the idea at least.

A breakdown of the basic phases of an airliner's flight.

Climb Out

Now in the climb-out phase, air traffic control will be aware of the flight plan you have lodged, however, their first priority is to get you into a traffic flow that will clear you from the airport area without banging into other flight traffic. You will be given an assigned altitude, compass heading and speed. At busy airports, this can be a long involved process and you may find yourself tracking all over the countryside, possibly even in the opposite direction to your intended destination.

During this phase of flight, the rule of thumb all over the world is that you must remain under 250 KIAS (Knots Indicated Air Speed). Remember this is your speed through the air and not across the ground, so if the same wind you had on the runway is still blowing at this level you will have a ground speed of 230 Knots if you fly against it, but if you turn around and fly with the wind you will be doing 270 knots ground speed.

The speed restriction is there to enable safer control of aircraft in a constricted space. In some cases, if it is not busy, air traffic control may release you from the speed restriction and allow you to go off on your merry way.

A QANTAS Airways Boeing 747-438 Registration VH-OJT delivered 26 Oct 1999 climbs out at Sydney. She is restricted to 250 KIAS and is under Sydney departure control.

Climb to Cruise Altitude

So long as the sky above you is not too congested you should get your clearance to climb to your desired cruise altitude and start on your actual journey. As we pass through 10,000 AMSL (Above Mean Sea Level) we can increase our speed from 250 KIAS to that recommended in our particular airliner manual. The rule of thumb is 300 KIAS.

You may wonder why we need to bother to climb to those high altitudes. Isn’t the view nicer down here where you can see something? There are a couple of answers to that:

Firstly, at higher altitudes, we can fly above most of the weather. This is a winner for the passengers who expect to have mostly smooth flying when they get on an aircraft. In the pre-jet days, aircraft were much more susceptible to the vagaries of the weather as they had to fly through storm clouds and the like which was very uncomfortable.

Secondly, the higher you climb, the thinner the air. This means an aircraft can pass through it with less air resistance and therefore can fly faster using less fuel. This not only makes the airline accountant happy but also enables a long-range aircraft to achieve that range. For example, if I loaded up my Boeing 777 with enough fuel to get from Singapore to London and then only flew at 10,000 feet of altitude. I would expect to be looking for an emergency landing site somewhere in Afghanistan as my fuel was about to run out.

A United Airlines Boeing 777-200ER taxis to runway 34L in Sydney. The 777 replaced the 747 on the US-Australia routes as of 01 April 2014. The trans-Pacific route is one of the world's longest routes and demands a careful balance between fuel and payload.

Initial Cruise

The logistics of managing a long-range flight are quite complex. The object of the exercise is to take as much payload as we can and carry it over the distance required. Obviously, for long-range flights, we need a significant amount of fuel which will make up a large proportion of our weight at take-off and initial climb-out. You may have noticed on long-haul flights you have been on, that you might climb to an altitude of around 30,000 feet to start with and then after a few hours, you may then climb to a higher altitude possibly approaching 40,000 feet.  There are two reasons for this:

Firstly, in the initial stages of flight with full fuel tanks, the aircraft is too heavy to climb economically and safely past the early 30,000s. Doing so would burn more fuel trying to achieve a higher level. It could also put the aircraft in an unstable flight phase where a stall might be possible.

Secondly, pilots may change the altitude of the aircraft during a flight from time to time to either make use of more favourable tailwinds or to avoid unfavourable headwinds.

Speed in the Cruise Phase of Flight

Once your aircraft reaches a certain height, the effectiveness of the ability to measure speed as KIAS (Knots Indicated Air Speed) begins to diminish. The air is now so thin that it can no longer provide accurate readings on the Air Speed Indicator.  This is where speed starts to be measured differently.

Most aircraft and modern airliners particularly have their speed controlled by autopilot. A speed is selected, 300 KIAS for example, and the aircraft happily flies with the autopilot applying or reducing thrust to maintain the desired 300 KIAS. When the aircraft achieves an altitude of around 25,000 feet, and this varies slightly from aircraft to aircraft, the speed is automatically changed from KIAS (Knots Indicated Air Speed) to a Mach number.

What is a Mach Number?

A Mach number is an expression of speed relative to the speed of sound. For example, Mach 1 equals the speed of sound. Mach 0.5 is half the speed of sound, and Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound. On top of that, we need to add the complexity of the air temperature.  The speed of sound is not a constant value but depends on the air it travels through for its’ speed. To illustrate this let’s take it to its’ extreme.

We know that in the sea, or water, in general, that sound travels long distances. Whales can communicate over long distances with their songs. The water molecules are dense and therefore will transmit the sound readily. At the opposite end of the spectrum, we can go into space and find that that it is almost silent. In the near vacuum, there are few molecules available to help conduct sound.

This is why when you ask, what is the speed of sound? The answer will be 761.1 miles per hour / 661 knots / 1,225 kilometres per hour, with the qualifier being, at 15 degrees Celsius at sea level. This relates to the pressure of air which is governed by the altitude and by the temperature.

Using this knowledge we can understand that the higher you fly, the lower the speed of sound becomes.  If you look at the speed of sound at sea level and compare it with that at around 40,000 feet, you would see that it is around 90 knots slower at that height than at sea level. The fact that the temperature is much colder at 40,000 feet, around minus 56C, means that it is not as slow as it might be if the temperature was the same as at sea level.

Concorde is the only airliner to date that has achieved supersonic flight or flight that is beyond Mach 1. The design is very specific and the cost to run was enormous. The sonic boom generated by the shock waves ensured that this aircraft could only ever be used over water.

The only airliner to achieve greater than Mach 1 is the Concorde which was capable of Mach 2. This airliner was specifically designed to fly through the sound barrier as it used to be known. It took many attempts to break through this so-called barrier as it calls for a totally different aircraft design. As an aircraft approaches the sound barrier, shock waves start to build up on various surfaces of the aircraft. These have an adverse effect on the aircraft’s forward movement and can negate any advantage of flying more economically through thinner air. If you persist on going faster still and get closer to the speed of sound, you will start to feel the aircraft start to buffet more and more violently until you reach a catastrophic failure of the air-frame and the aircraft breaks up.

Every aircraft comes with a Do Not Exceed speed, which indicates the air-frame is not built to sustain the possible pressures of those high speeds.

Transitioning to Mach Number

We are climbing through the mid-20,000 feet of altitude and our autopilot throttle control clicks over from KIAS to Mach.  It may be around Mach .50 or so depending on conditions and how many knots we were doing. Each airliner will have a maximum allowable Mach number and a cruise Mach number.  The cruise Mach number is used to maximise the performance so we get the most economical flight results as well as keep our aircraft within safe operating parameters. Too fast and we could bring on the buffeting which could break up the aircraft. Too slow and we could bring on a stall as the wing struggles to provide lift in the thinner air.

Typically most airliners operate in the Mach 0.71 to 0.85 range depending on the design.  To see the average plane speed for any of our featured aircraft be sure to look in the menu at the top of the page and select the Specs page for your desired airliner.

With the current flight information systems that most airlines offer, it is possible to see how fast you are flying and lots of other interesting statistics as you travel along. I always get a kick when we have a following wind to see how high the ground speed can get up to. Getting over 1,000 KPH always feels like a bonus to me.

Thanks for stopping by to find out a bit more about average plane speed. As you can see it is quite a complex answer to what appears to be a straightforward question.

I’d love to hear about your flight experiences, how fast have you gone? how high have you gone?

What causes turbulence, things that go bump in the flight?

What Causes Turbulence?

What causes turbulence you wonder as you sit there with your seatbelt hanked in as tight as a drum. Your white-knuckled hands gripping the armrests as if your life depended on it. There is no doubt that extreme in-flight air turbulence can be a very frightening experience. A large airliner shaking, dropping, and rising can feel very dramatic, especially when our only view of the world is the inside of the cabin with no reference to the outside world in most cases.

Understanding what causes turbulence may go some way to alleviating the fear of it when it happens. Most of us, me included, always hope for a calm turbulence-free flight every time we board. In most cases, we are rewarded with just that, a calm flight with a few minor bumps along the way. But why does it happen?

Air Movement

The air in the atmosphere that surrounds us is fluid, just like the waters in the oceans, lakes and rivers. Like the waters in those environments, it never stops moving. External effects like the heat of the sun and the spinning of the Earth ensure that the air is constantly in motion. It is always rushing from one place to the next, never still. You experience this yourself in the winds you feel. If you are on the coast you will be aware of sea breezes in the afternoon caused by the sun heating the land. The warmed air over the land rises and cooler air from over the water rushes in to take its place, creating that sea breeze.

What causes turbulence? Thermal activity resulting in towering cumulonimbus clouds are areas of a high likelihood of turbulence.

Air movement is affected by large global influences, such as ocean or continental temperatures as well as local influences such as mountain ranges.

Consider your aircraft moves through the air much like a boat on the water.  It is subject to waves and eddies in the same way and moves with them, up and down, side to side, etc.. This is what we experience in the aircraft cabin.

4 Types of Air Turbulence

There are 4 basic types of air turbulence. In most cases these are predictable and pilots are aware of the situation before they commence the flight. Obviously when turbulence is known to exist, all possible will be done to avoid or at least minimise the exposure of the aircraft and passengers to the effects. This is not always possible.  Let’s have a look at the different types.

What causes turbulence? – Thermal

As we mentioned earlier, the heat of the sun is a large cause of air movement in the atmosphere. Air rises as it starts to warm and pushes its way through cooler air in the upper atmosphere. This can lead to unstable moist air mixing with dry cooler air and creating up-and-down draughts. These are the kind of conditions experienced particularly in warmer climates where the heating can be quite extreme. In most equatorial regions where humidity is high on the surface, the thermal effect is quite evident in the formation of woolly clouds which may start towering into the upper atmosphere. This is where you can expect thunderstorms to start forming.

What causes turbulence? As the day heats up, warm moist air rises and creates unstable air as it mixes with cooler drier air above. This creates up-and-down draughts that can be quite violent.

When you experience the aircraft dropping or rising, it is because it is flying through an air stream that is going up or down. They are sometimes called up draughts and down draughts. It may feel like the aircraft has stopped flying and is simply dropping out of the sky.

In reality, the aircraft is still flying through the air, as it was in the still air, but that packet of air itself is moving. Of course, if the change from still to moving air is quick enough, the effects can be quite startling as gravity takes a while to catch up if indeed it can. For this reason, you are always advised to keep your seat belt loosely fastened during flight.

The aircraft may fly into a down-draught which can cause it to descend faster than gravity can pull you with it. In extreme cases, food trolleys and cabin crew have been thrown against the ceiling during undetected turbulence.

What causes turbulence? – Ground Effect

As the air moves across the Earth's surface, it may move unimpeded over oceans and fairly flat land. However, we know the Earth’s surface is not all flat. It is dotted with mountain ranges on a large scale or man-made objects on a smaller scale.

All of these features can contribute to creating varying levels of air turbulence. If you have ever been to the beach or even a river and watched the water pass over and around rocks, you will have a picture of how air also behaves around obstructions. The water gets all confused and turbulent at it meets and passes the obstacle. It can then take quite a bit of distance before the water stabilises back to a smooth flow again.

What causes turbulence? Mountains have a significant effect on the air passing over them. Some of these effects can persist a long way downwind of the mountain itself.

At high altitudes, there is little effect, but sooner or later an aircraft has to descend or take off and possibly come into the affected area of ground effect turbulence.

Some parts of the world are more susceptible to ground effects than others. For example, airfields located near mountain ranges, particularly if they are downwind of those mountains. The air having passed over the mountain ranges swirls and eddies as it rolls down the downwind or leeward side. Like our rock in the stream of water, the air may be disturbed for tens of kilometres or more before it reverts to a steady and stable stream of air.

Another feature of ground effect turbulence is the updraught. Let’s look at our mountain range again.

As the wind or packet of air contacts the mountains, it suddenly has nowhere to go. The air behind it is pushing it against the mountains and it finds the only way to go is up. This air can be pushed upwards at high force as the pressure of the air on contact with the mountains increases because the air behind keeps pushing it. This means the upward draught can go much higher than the mountains themselves which can result in something that feels like the aircraft has been punched from below.

A combination of thermal and ground effects can also produce significant turbulence. The way the sun heats different types of land can produce instability. Even over flat land with no hills nearby, the sun can heat fields that have been ploughed quite differently from those that have green crops growing on them. These fields in turn will heat the air above them which then begins to rise. Ploughed fields are usually mixed in with wooded areas and fields that have green crops, so you will find different parcels of land will heat air at different rates and some not at all. This creates an unstable air mass with some air rising faster than other cooler air and the swirling and eddying begin as they contact each other.

What causes turbulence? – Shear or Wind Shear

Shear or wind shear is when two packets of air that border each other are travelling at different speeds and/or directions. This can be horizontally or vertically.

Flying within either of the air packets is no problem at all. The transition from one to another, on the other hand, can be uncomfortable and in some cases quite dangerous.

First, let us look at shear in a horizontal situation. Let’s say the air at 20,000 feet is travelling east at 20 knots, however, the air at and above 21,000 feet is travelling east at 70 knots. Where the two layers of air meet will be an area of turbulence as the air moving at 20 knots tries to slow the air above down to its speed and the 70-knot air tries to speed the 20-knot air up to its speed. There will be eddies and disturbances between the layers much like our rock in the stream.  Tumbling waves of air will make for a bumpy transition.

What causes turbulence? Wind shear at low altitudes is dangerous for aircraft. Many airports have equipment to warn if such conditions exist in the area.

Still, in our horizontal shear transition, the second factor that has to be watched for is the aircraft’s airspeed. Often the difference in speed between the two air packets can be quite high. This can present a problem.

An aircraft has parameters around the speed at which it must be flown. Too slow, and the aircraft stalls and ceases to fly. Too fast, and the maximum air-frame speed might be exceeded. This needs to be avoided as bits could start to fall off which means a lot of paperwork and explanations to the next crew who need to fly this aircraft.

Aircraft measure their speed through the air, irrespective of what that air is doing. So if the aircraft is doing the correct speed in the first air packet, then it transitions to the second, it will suddenly be flying faster or slower than before until it stabilises to the new air mass. In our example above with the 20 and 70-knot air packet speeds. An aircraft climbing from one to the other at 300 knots in the 20-knot air packet will suddenly be doing 250 knots when it enters the 70-knot packet.

The other form of shear or wind shear is the vertical type.  This is when packets of air are rising or falling at significantly different rates. This type of shear is quite dangerous at lower altitudes as aircraft do not have as much separation from the ground to recover.

Most airports have equipment in place to detect such events in the immediate locality to ensure safe departures and arrivals. These shears can be caused by thermal activity as described above, including thunderstorms which are often preceded by a micro-blast containing extremely strong and volatile winds. Some have strong enough down-draughts that a jet airliner can’t out-climb them.

What causes turbulence? – Aerodynamic

What causes turbulence? The effects of wake or aerodynamic turbulence are beautifully illustrated here as this aircraft passes through clouds.

Aerodynamic or wake turbulence is the disturbed air left behind an airplane. If you have ever looked behind a moving boat or ship, you will be familiar with the wake it leaves behind. Waves travelling outwards the further away it gets. If another boat of equal or lesser size crosses this wake, it can be quite a rough ride for it.

So it is with aircraft. As wings move through the air and create lift, they also create drag which causes a wake of disturbed air. For this reason, very strict protocols exist for air traffic controllers when they direct aircraft at or near airports. There is a system of minimum time separation for aircraft taking off and landing which relates to the size of the leading and the following aircraft. For example, a business jet flying directly behind an Airbus A380 would likely have its wings ripped off. Drastic, but you get the picture.

What causes turbulence and how is it avoided?

Like most things, preparation and avoidance are the best tools when it comes to dealing with turbulence. In most cases, weather forecasters are able to predict when and where turbulent conditions may exist. This information is passed on to the pilots and flight planners. They will, where possible, plan flights to avoid these areas, or at least aim for the most moderately affected areas.

Communication between pilots and between pilots and air traffic control is a very important way of creating awareness of turbulence areas. Weather forecasting can tell you so much, but sometimes un-forecast conditions can exist. The sharing of that information will enable aircraft that follow behind to either be prepared or perhaps even detour around the affected area.

What causes turbulence? Weather forecasting is a very important factor in ensuring the safest flight plans can be made to avoid turbulence.

A weather radar is another way to see ahead and be warned of possible adverse weather.

Large airliners have a forward-facing radar built into the nose of the aircraft. This radome, which is a shortening of the words, radar dome, is a forward-facing radar that looks at the weather ahead. Most weather patterns involve some sort of moist air and from this, the radar can see where there might be adverse weather conditions ahead, particularly thunderstorms.

Based on this information the pilot can decide to fly around, under or over a particular weather situation, providing air traffic control requirements allow for this.

CAT or Clear Air Turbulence is harder to detect. This is the kind of turbulence that catches everyone unaware. There is no moisture that helps detect its existence and it is a very good reason to keep that seat belt on loosely during the whole flight.

What Causes Turbulence – Conclusion

Like water, the air is a very fluid environment. In most parts of the world, most of the time, we can traverse this environment without incident. We have to accept, however, that it is still a natural environment that can be unpredictable and also hostile to us.

By understanding what conditions can cause turbulence, we are better able to predict when and where it might occur. In addition, we have technology in place that can sense many types of turbulent air and enables us to avoid those areas. Not all turbulence can be predicted or sensed before being encountered, so there will always be the risk of experiencing some turbulence.

Although it may appear that your aircraft is a fragile contraption, the strength built into it is extraordinary. During the certification testing of a new airliner, one of the tests is to break the aircraft’s wings.  That involves bending the wings to an insane level until they break. The pass mark is for the wing to be able to withstand at least twice as much pressure as the worst imaginable turbulence. Most airliners pass this with a very generous amount of leeway.

Understanding what causes turbulence is one of the many things that keep us flying safely.

We would love to hear about any experiences you might have had with in-flight turbulence. How did it make you feel? Was it dramatic? Feel free to comment below.

Sydney Welcomes American Airlines Boeing 777 300ER.

It might have been Friday the 13th, but Sydney turned on a stunning morning for the publicity visit of the American Airlines Boeing 777 300ER twin jet. This Boeing 777 had flown overnight from Hong Kong after completing a Dallas to Hong Kong service and added in a side trip to Sydney to promote the new direct American Airlines service between Los Angeles and Sydney. After an absence of 2 decades, American Airlines returns to these shores working in concert with Australian carrier, QANTAS.

The aircraft was flown empty from Hong Kong to Sydney with just two pilots on board. With an arrival at around 08:30 am into Sydney and a departure around 10:00 pm that evening, the pilots used their thirteen and a half hours in Sydney to sleep, before flying the return sector to Hong Kong.

Air traffic was at acceptable levels and Sydney tower approved a low-level pass over the airfield by the giant Boeing 777 300ER twin jet. Descending to 1,800 feet she came in from the south and did a slow fly over the field along the runway 34 left centre line. She then continued on and did a west-to-east pass over Sydney Harbour before returning back over the sea to land on runway 34 left.

Brand New Boeing 777

This American Airlines Boeing 777 300ER registration N734AR is under a month old with its first flight on 15 October 2015. It was delivered to American Airlines in Dallas / Fort Worth on 26 October 2015. Powered by 2 giant General Electric GE GE90-115B engines which are currently the largest turbofan jet engines in the world, the Boeing 777 has a very impressive presence. The engines themselves are rated to produce 115,300 lbs of thrust or 510-kilo Newtons. 

Front view of the General Electric GE GE90-115B engine which is currently the largest turbofan jet engine in the world.

Walking around underneath the 777, one gets some perspective of the actual size of this aircraft. I was fortunate enough to be able to have an up close and personal look, whilst she was housed in hanger 96 at Sydney airport for publicity visits by the press, as well as representatives from the travel industry. If the size didn't impress, the newness certainly did.

Shiny new painted tail of American Airlines Boeing 777 300ER, Registration N734AR.

Under the Boeing 777 tail looking forward. Less than a month old and this American Airlines 777 was as shiny as a new pin.

The huge engine intake on the largest turbojet engine in the world powers this American Airlines Boeing 777 300ER.

This newness was even more evident when entering the cabin from the rear door. That feeling of getting into a new car. 

On Board the American Airlines Boeing 777 300ER

There are basically 4 classes in the American Airlines 777 300ER. Main Cabin, Main Cabin Extra, Business Class, and First Class. In the Main Cabin, the configuration is 10 seats across the cabin width in a 3 x 4 x 3 setup. In Main Cabin Extra there is an additional 6 inches of legroom in the same seating style.

American Airlines Boeing 777 300ER Main Cabin. Seats are in 3x4x3 configuration.

Both Business and First Class are set up in a herringbone alcove configuration which gives each seat the feeling of privacy. All classes can enjoy 250 movies, 130 TV shows, 18 radio channels, and 380 music albums.

Each seat also has AC outlets as well as USB connections, so you will be able to have your devices fully powered during the flight and charged up for arrival. For an additional cost, WiFi is also available. The dome on top of the aircraft fuselage is the receiver for satellite internet which drives the WiFi connection.

Boeing Sky Interior

The cabin itself is presented in Boeings' new sky format, with contoured ceilings and LED lighting. This interior gives a feeling of space and coupled with the fully controllable LED lighting has a calming and relaxing effect.

Boeing Sky Interior LED lights change the look and feel of the cabin with dimming and colour changes.

Whilst walking through, each cabin had slightly different colours being emitted by the lighting which was quite effective. The feeling of space created by the contoured ceilings and luggage bins was not done at the expense of the storage space. I found the overhead luggage bins to be quite generous in size and well able to accommodate the wheelie bags that have become the favourite of today's traveller.

The average flying time between Sydney and Los Angeles is around fifteen and a half hours which can vary due to winds aloft.  The new 777 300ER certainly looked like it would make for a comfortable ride with plenty of entertainment to pass the long journey. 

One thing I did notice and if I was travelling as a couple I would try and get these seats.  There are two together next to the window instead of the usual 3 if you go to row 30, seats A and C. I believe the opposite side would be the same and would be row 30, seats H and J. They seemed to be able to recline even though the bulkhead is behind them. If anyone tries these, be sure to leave us a message below and give your thoughts and experiences.

Seats 30 A and C look good if you are travelling as a couple. Two across instead of three.

Thank you for stopping by.

Qatar Airways, the A350 Launch Customer.

Today marks 10 months since Qatar Airways, the A350 launch customer received their first Airbus A350 XWB.  Pressing it into service between Doha and Frankfurt on the 14 of January 2015, Qatar Airways became the first airline in the world to offer passengers the Airbus A350 service.  This has been a long road for Airbus, from conception to testing and finally production. The video of the A350 journey below sums it up very well.

Qatar now has 4 of the 43 Airbus A350 900s it has on order.  In addition, Qatar also has 37 of the larger Airbus A350 1000s on order.

The 4 A350s now in service carry the following tail numbers: A7-ALA, A7-ALB, A7-ALC, A7-ALD. These aircraft are used primarily on the  Doha to Frankfurt and Doha to Singapore routes at the following times.

Qatar Airways A350 XWB Timetable
Flight Number	Origin	Destination	Departure	Arrival
QR 069	Doha	Frankfurt	01:20	06:55
QR 070	Frankfurt	Doha	11:25	18:25
QR 067	Doha	Frankfurt	08:00	13:35
QR 068	Frankfurt	Doha	15:40	22:40
QR 938	Doha	Singapore	07:00	19:50
QR 939	Singapore*	Doha	21:20	23:55

As you can see it is still quite a rarity to be able to actually see, let alone fly on an A350. If you are lucky enough to be able to do either, we would love to hear from you and hear your thoughts below in the comments.

Vietnam Airlines, the Second Operator of Airbus A350.

Whilst Vietnam Airlines is the second operator of the A350, the actual ownership of their aircraft lies with aircraft leasing company, Aercap Holdings N.V. based in the Netherlands.  

The first aircraft joined the fleet on 01 July 2015 and was used on the Hanoi to Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) domestic route for familiarisation and testing. Vietnam Airlines has now received two of the 10 A350 900s they have on order.  These two aircraft are registered as: VN-A886 and VN-A887.  The current routes served by the these 2 aircraft include, Ho Chi Min City, Hanoi, Seoul and Paris.

Air Vietnam the second of the A350 operators. This A350 941, registration VN-A886 was their first aircraft, delivered on 01 July 2015.