New Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental revealed

The new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental unveiled at Boeing's Seattle plant on the 13th February in front of 10,000 Beoing employees and their families and invited guests in the hangar where the first 747 was unveiled in 1968. Boeing say that is is set to seat 51 more passengers than the current 747 at 467 in three class configuration. And will burn less fuel while doing so. And will be capable of flying 8,000nm at MTOW and at maximum passenger and baggage capacity.

Shockingly however, the firm has won only 33 orders so far for the passenger version of the aircraft from Lufthansa and Korean Air Lines, with 74 cargo versions being sold with some already flying. Although Boeing said they are confident that they will receive more orders once the passenger plane enters service later this year.

© Royal S King at airliners.net

The original 747 has sold more than 1,400 since it is was launched 42 years ago until the 747-400 was withdrawn from sale last year.

Aside from the capacity other features of the Intercontinental include new wings, a new tail, a sharper nose, state-of-the-art GE engines and a new cockpit. And while it carries fewer passengers than the Airbus A380, it will the world's longest airliner at 76.25 metres comparing to the A380's 72.73 metres.

The new model is seen as the newest rival for the Airbus A380, with the 787 Dreamliner set to A350 which are designed to bypass busy hubs and takes passengers closer to their final destination.

So the newest 747 which will always be the aircraft which identifies closely with Boeing than any other, when people think of Boeing, they think of the 747 and since its release it has proven and still proves to be one of the most iconic passenger airliners in the world.

Sources: BBC News

                Wikipedia - Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380

New EasyJet livery to save costs

As we all know airlines are always in fierce competition with one another, and trying to make the most profit. Many airlines and aircraft designers have already started thinking of innovative ways to do this such as using composite materials for the aircraft body, light weight carpets and even merging airlines together. The newest initiative is from EasyJet who, starting on today are beginning a trial use of a chemical on the paint of its aircraft which is designed to reduce drag and friction as the aircraft flies through the air. It is trialling the chemical which it calls "revolutionary nano-technology coating" on 8 of its fleet so far, but if the trial is successful then the chemical will also be applied to the rest of its 175 strong fleet.
The polymer in use only adds an extra 130g to the weight of the aircraft which comes as a huge benefit to the airline.

© Danijel Jovanović on airplane pictures.net

How does it work?
Firstly, a company who distributes the coating in the UK TripleO gives the plane a "polarising wash" Which opens the pores on the surface of the material to be treated and electrically charges it with a positive polarity. Which allows the coating to bond to the existing paint. The coat is then applied and makes the paint extra shiny which then reduces the build up of debris on the planes main structure, the leading edge of the wings and other areas, thus reducing friction and drag on the surface of the aircraft.


The new coating is set to reduce costs by 1-2% and so would have been a huge benefit to the airline last year with 40% of the airlines costs on fuel at £730 million, if the suggested 2% was to prove correct, the airline would have reduced this by £14million.
Chief executive of EasyJet Carol McCall says that the customers would stand to benefit: "If we can find new ways of reducing the amount of fuel used by our aircraft, we can pass the benefits on to our passengers by offering them low fares and a lower carbon footprint."


So as the airline industry tries to cut their costs, who knows what will be next, but we be sure the technology in use for these pioneering ideas if successful will continue to be used for years to come.


Sources: BBC news
                Wikipedia
                Airfleets.net