777-200LR Flight Test Journal: Archives

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29 July 2005

Live from Newark

Jim Condelles

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Media Relations

There's nothing like getting an entire day's worth of news coverage for your new airplane on national television!

This week the 777-200LR World Tour touched down in the largest media market in the U.S. And I had the unique experience of helping coordinate news coverage for Boeing during the Worldliner's stop at Newark Liberty International Airport, just outside New York City.

We hosted about a dozen news organizations at a Continental Airlines hangar - reporters from the New York Times, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones, Aviation Week, Associated Press, and others. But probably the marquee event was a series of "live" reports direct from inside and outside the airplane, broadcast by CNBC, a national business news television channel.

As you might imagine, considering this all took place inside the airport's security perimeter, the trickiest part of the planning process was logistics. Enhanced security at EWR meant that everyone had to pass through checkpoints. Everything was inspected, and we were all "wanded" by security personnel.

Then, to add another wrinkle, Air Force Two, the Vice President's airplane, flew into Newark Airport at about the same time as our events. So we had extra security personnel around us. Air Force Two, which happens to be based on the 757-200 platform, ended up parked nearby - in fact, we could see its distinctive livery just beyond the Continental hangar.

Inside, the Worldliner was bathed in spotlights and looked fabulous. But I must admit, walking into the hangar felt like entering a sauna. Not that it was any better outside. Let's just say 90 degrees and mostly steamy. New Jersey in July can be pretty brutal.

Cooling down the airplane took a couple of hours and some heavy-duty tubing to force cold air in through a cabin doorway. It was still a bit uncomfortable when the media first arrived. Luckily our intrepid Boeing flight attendants were on hand with bottled water. And the reporters and camera crews were fairly good-natured about the situation.

As for the CNBC coverage, it exceeded all our expectations. Arriving at the hangar with Vice President of Business Strategy and Marketing, Nicole Piasecki, and 777 program communications manager Chuck Cadena, we all talked over the plan for the day with reporter Phil LeBeau. That plan would produce several great opportunities to show off the 777-200LR.

The CNBC crew set up a satellite truck to beam the reports back to the studio. And despite advances in video technology, this still meant running cables hundreds of feet through the hangar and up the stairs into the airplane.

First report was at 10:15 a.m., during CNBC's "Squawk Box" program. After a toss from the studio crew about a big order for Next-Generation 737s from Brazilian carrier GOL, Phil chatted "live" at the top of the air stairs with Nicole.

Inside the airplane Nicole pointed out that the Worldliner represents an answer to what passengers are demanding: more convenience and more time-saving. "We believe passengers want nonstop flights and greater frequencies so they don't have to wait in an airport all day long and they don't have to go through a hub," she told the nationwide audience.

Around lunchtime, a couple of hundred Continental Airlines employees streamed into the hangar. Everyone from ground crews wearing bright orange reflective vests, to flight crews and executives. The flight crews in particular were interested in exploring the crew rest areas. These are located above the passenger deck in the crown of the airplane's fuselage.

Comments throughout the airplane were mostly of the "wow" variety, as people craned their heads upward at the starry "sky." It's a custom-designed ceiling, lit from behind to resemble the stars at night.

That starry sky captivated the media, too. A reporter from the Newark Star-Ledger asked me later whether this would be offered to airlines as an option. The answer is yes. And the "stars" can be configured to correspond with the way the night sky looks in an airline's home country.

At a little after 1 pm, CNBC's Phil LeBeau took a novel approach to reporter involvement. With the permission (and help) of our airplane crew, he got up inside the left engine. Now, keep in mind, these are the largest, most powerful commercial jet engines in the world. They're actually about the same size around as the fuselage of the 737!

So the sight of the reporter standing inside this huge engine was enough to cause the studio anchor for CNBC's "Power Lunch" to exclaim, "Will you please get down from there? You're making me really nervous!"

LeBeau had some fun with that one, saying, "It's not like they're gonna turn it on. And if they do turn it on, this is my last report on CNBC!"

Well, he didn't get sucked into the engine, but just before he went on the air, he did manage to conk his head on the spinner cone in the center of the engine. That produced a few chuckles among the airplane crew.

Later in the afternoon, in the final report of the day, LeBeau walked viewers through the business class and showed the "huge" 15-inch screens set into the seat backs. With a remote control passengers can choose among a variety of movies and other entertainment on those long-haul flights.

What he didn't demonstrate, but what many of us on the event team certainly tried out, were the amazing business class seats. They have so many controls they should come with an instruction booklet. Not only can you lie nearly flat for comfortable napping, the seats even have lumbar adjustments and settings for extending the seat bottom and foot rests when you're sitting up.

At the end of the afternoon I found myself more than a little reluctant to bid farewell to the Worldliner. And not only because by then it was comfortably cool inside and roaring hot outside on the tarmac.

I'd just spent a day touring the future of flight, and helping to share it with the world. Once inside that future, I didn't want to leave. Fortunately the future isn't far away at all. In just a few months this very airplane will go from being an "experimental" show plane to flying passengers around the globe.

But not before one more really big show later this year that's already generating a lot of media interest: a nonstop ultra-long-distance flight, aimed straight for the Guinness Book of World Records.

27 July 2005

A bird's eye view

Paul Bolds-Moorehead, stability and control lead engineer, 777 program
Karen Alberghini, stability and control engineer

Tim Nelson, stability and control engineer

We sometimes refer to "stability and control" as one of the few groups, other than the pilots, to have an airplane-level view. How does the airplane fly? How does it behave? What does it feel like?

Other organizations are responsible for things like materials. The structures group 'owns' the metal and composites and assembles the airplane. Payloads knows about interiors. Our Aero Performance teammates know metrics and how the airplane can do certain things, but not how it flies at the edges of the envelope.

And we have a holistic view and make sure the 200LR flies just like other 777s. Our job starts with flight test and validation. One of the first things we do is work with pilots in the 777 simulator to make sure we're ready for flight. It's all part of a comprehensive safety review to satisfy requirements on how the airplane handles for safe behavior. We also meet critical internal Boeing design requirements and FAA/EASA certification regulations.

The stability and control team gets involved with maneuver sets that can go to the edges of the envelope. For instance, we simulate an engine failure and see how well we can control the airplane within certain parameters. We go beyond the normal maximum operating speed or Mach number. We fly at high altitude and do full stalls exceeding maximum lift coefficient.

Our group makes sure handling qualities are acceptable - both predictable and responsive for a safe handling airplane. To increase safety, we test in areas and perform maneuvers beyond where the airplane would normally fly. These maneuvers are not unique to the 777; they're generic to stability and control testing. They help us determine the characteristics of a particular model.

If we find handling qualities that require further tuning, the flight controls team can help tailor the flight control system by tweaking the software instead of modifying the airplane structure or hardware. Fly-by-wire is unique to the 777 family and greatly improved our ability to tailor characteristics both before and during the flight test program. The 787 will have the same benefit.

One of the hardest things to do on remote flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in May and June was figure out what we were going to do next and be prepared. There are a lot of people who have to make decisions to get a test sequence put together for the next day. We're constantly trying to capture what we just did, look at the data and write the test summary. Then we have to get ready for tomorrow, all in a few hours. And by the way, we squeeze in a few hours of sleep, too!

Problem solving is probably the most stressful bit of our jobs, but it's the most rewarding, too. Working with the other groups and understanding more about what they do, how it affects us and how our work affects them can be challenging. Coming to a solution that works best for everyone and produces a great product is really the most satisfying aspect of our assignment.

21 July 2005

In the spotlight

Dave Ingebright, crew member on WD002

I'm writing from Auckland, New Zealand, where I'm accompanying WD002, the second 777-200LR Worldliner, on its World Tour. The stops along this tour last anywhere from one day to several days. We use these stops to show off this beautiful airplane to customers, government officials, media, and financial representatives around the globe.

Last week we were in Hong Kong and Singapore and then spent the weekend in Sydney, Australia, before arriving here. And the airplane sure attracted a lot of attention at each stop. It feels like we're "roadies" for a big-name concert tour, and the big name on this tour is Boeing.

Whenever a plane like this comes to a new airport, it draws a lot of attention. All of the airport workers who drive equipment -- toilet and water service trucks, fuel trucks, vans for airline control, etc., come out to look at the new Boeing plane.

In Hong Kong last week, while we were waiting to be towed to the Cathay Pacific hangar for the "official" show, we became so inundated with visitors that we had to station someone at the door for crowd control. It's always fun to explain how things work and show off the airplane. Everyone takes turns giving tours.

At 9 a.m., our tow truck arrived and we began to set up the plane for the show. This involves assembling and mounting a five-foot-long model of the airplane, setting up some futuristic interactive kiosks, putting out information placards, vacuuming the carpet and cleaning fingerprints from the cockpit controls, the galleys and the bathrooms. We spent the rest of the day answering questions from airline executives and press people, giving out gifts, and smiling a lot.

Later in the afternoon, a group of about 30 young people showed up from Cathay Pacific's "I Can Fly" program. They were pretty excited about the plane. One of the pilots showed some video clips of our testing. Our guests circulated around the plane and we answered questions and gave out gifts of stickers and hats. During the next three hours about eight busloads from the Royal Aeronautical Society, a local group of aviation enthusiasts, arrived. They toured the airplane and asked more questions. Finally done at 8 p.m., we didn't get back to the hotel until nearly midnight.

The next day we flew to Singapore and arrived during an afternoon tropical cloudburst after a three-and-a-half hour flight. It's always interesting when we pull into a new place. After we taxi in, stop and park, a mobile air stairs is pulled up and soon there is a small group of people on the other side of the main door.

We can see faces peering in through the little window and I'm sure they can see the same thing from their side. Usually there is a customs and immigration guy and right behind him is our "handler," our local contact who makes all of the arrangements at the airport for equipment, fuel and whatever we need. Behind him and further on down the stairs are the local airport people and others that have come to see the airplane.

As we open the door, all of these people crane their necks to see what we look like. What I hope they see is a bunch of smiling Americans arriving on an exciting new airplane, ready to show it off!

19 July 2005

Birthday party 6 miles up

Kevin Nack

Base Manager

You never know what's going to happen during Flight Test. And it's not all business all the time.

Late in the evening of July 10, on the 777-200LR World Tour leg between Gatwick, England, and Hong Kong, China, we actually held a party.

Believe it or not, we were cruising over Siberia, Russia when we celebrated the birthdays of two Boeing engineers!

As you can see in the photo we took to commemorate the event, Walker Dixon and Jennifer Chang had a rather unique observance of their July 10 birthdays this year - at 35,000 feet. It was the crew's pleasure to help them celebrate!

15 July 2005

Fltviz

Frederic Lambert, senior simulation software engineer

Peter Ryer, senior flight visualization engineer

This is unusual to talk about in a written journal, but we're going to describe a powerful tool we use in flight testing that allows us to "see" with accuracy and detail exactly what the 777-200LR looks like during its test maneuvers.

This is a new level of software tools called the Desktop Tool Suite (DTS). DTS is a set of PC-based applications that communicate either with our validated engineering simulation or directly to flight test data. DTS can use stored data from completed flight tests, or it can use live, real-time data as a flight test is underway.

Take a look at a file that shows a typical flight test maneuver: a wind-up turn. You'll need a Windows Media Player v. 9 to run it. Get a player here. 300k Broadband Speed. 56k Lowband Speed.

As you can see when you run the video, we can tailor the scenery around the airplane, even the aircraft's paint job or livery. We have a VCR-like control for playback and we use a flight visualization tool we call "fltviz" to visualize the airplane. We're able to see around the airplane, or we can show any view you might want to see, inside and out.

Now that's all fancy and nice, but what you really want to see is the maneuver being tested. This is a wind-up turn and the software is actually showing us the airplane slowly turning. In this scene you're looking at the plane from the outside as it turns.

Another toolset of the DTS is the Displays Software. This allows users to see the pilot displays, such as the primary flight display. Seeing the pilot instruments from the back of the airplane gives the flight test engineers a sense of situational awareness as well as information from the displays that may not otherwise be available. In a nutshell, DTS increases system understanding. It's a set of visual software tools for aircraft simulation testing and analysis. DTS augments the tabular and strip charts data that is recorded and monitored on flight tests.

Remember, we can connect the DTS programs to live, real-time data from the airplane while a flight test is under way. Engineers in the back of the flight test airplane can use this application on their laptops and see what the airplane actually looks like performing the maneuver. This gives the flight test engineers amazing visibility as the flight conditions and maneuvers are happening. It helps them determine the maneuver's quality and if they think they see something that's not quite right, this software helps determine what may be wrong.

And the amazing thing is that these applications run on standard laptops and operating systems. The data can be shared over a standard network and can be made available to engineers throughout Boeing. That's the key. We've taken a low-cost approach and have re-hosted our powerful software to use PCs. And now it's extremely portable. In fact, portable enough for flight test engineers to carry onto the airplane. And portable enough to go along on the world tour of the 777-200LR.

12 July 2005

36,000 measurements at 30,000 feet

John Corrigan

Lead Test Operations Engineer, WD001

I have the overall responsibility for day-to-day test planning on WD001, the first 777-200LR. And there are a lot of decisions my team and I have to make. What tests are we going to conduct each day? Where are we going to take the airplane to do the testing? Where are we going to position people?

With the runway construction we have going on now, we can't always return back to Boeing Field in Seattle because of the restricted runway length and aircraft weight. Sometimes I have to ask people to position themselves at Paine Field in Everett.

I put out the test schedules that people monitor. There is a three-week schedule, which is a look ahead to where we think we're going day-to-day with flight tests. It's a very fluid and dynamic schedule. A lot of things interplay that could cause it to change. Typically, it's things like weather. We conduct test flights that require calm winds or lots of wind, or multiple things, like turbulence or heavy rain. We may need special runways. It all drives how you do the day-to-day test scheduling.

Every day is different in the life of a flight test engineer. It's not an 8-to-5 type of job. On any day you're not really sure when you're going to get to go home, because you might be 30,000 feet over Montana at 4 o'clock and you're still two hours from home.

The most challenging time recently was the trip to Edwards Air Force Base in California. One of the reasons we go there is for take-off performance testing. We need very calm, quiet air in the morning hours. Typically when the sun comes up is the most calm. So we have to leave the hotel at around 3:30 in the morning to be at the airplane by 4:40 and start the engine by 5:15 to be testing the first take-off by 5:30.

We always define our take-off speeds at Edwards, so we have to find the speed the airlines will use for various conditions. We do it first for Boeing and decide what speeds we want to recommend. Then we bring down the FAA and repeat some of the testing to get the airplane certified. That is what goes into the aircraft flight and performance manuals.

We have an array of instrumentation that we use for data collection and analysis. We have roughly 36,000 measurements at any given second being recorded from all points on the airplane, both analog and digital. We tap into those data streams and we can pick the information off and record it. We know exactly what the airplane is doing during the flight. We're always recording, so if something unplanned happens, the data is there for engineering to review.

A flight can last anywhere from one to eight hours. And when it's over, we come back and talk about it, the lessons learned, and any anomalies we may have found. We ask, is the data acceptable? Do we need to repeat anything? Are we ready to go on to the next step?

If you can't handle change, Flight Test is not the place for you to be. But it's very fulfilling to get through a test program knowing that you've met all these hurdles and challenges.

Somehow you get it done and you end up with an airplane that is certified.

08 July 2005

To the ends of the earth

Eric Garday

Lead ground operations engineer, WD001

On WD001, we typically perform Stability & Control and Aero Performance testing. We run the airplane through its full paces and go anywhere in the world to get the conditions we need to meet the engineering flight test requirements. To put it bluntly, we test the airplane in the worst case scenarios, sometimes outside the envelope, to prove to ourselves first and subsequently to the FAA that the airplane meets or exceeds its design capabilities.

As ground operations engineers, our primary purpose is airplane configuration control.

This means we evaluate the test requirements and determine which components, hardware, and software are required for the conditions on any day's scheduled testing. This includes the airframe, engines and Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), which are typically the computers that receive inputs from the flight deck to control the airplane's systems. Basically, every piece of equipment that is new or uncertified on the airplane will be tested.

We continuously move in and out of different configurations. For example, on a recent trip to Edwards Air Force Base, the Lead Test Operations Engineer determined a set of contingency tests to make sure we acquired test data on any given day. Most of the Edwards testing needed calm air on the spacious runway. If the winds were beyond the acceptable limit, we would change configuration, sometimes two or three times a day, to acquire the data for a specified set of test conditions.

The testing we conducted at Edwards was the Minimum Control Speed (Vmcg) and it was for FAA certification. Certification testing requires the airplane configuration to be conformed by an FAA representative and the tests are evaluated by an FAA pilot and engineer.

Part of the ground operations engineer's function is to fly onboard the test flights as the weights engineer and safety officer. As weights engineer, or "weights," as we are called during the flight, we track fuel burn from multiple fuel tanks, high lift systems, and landing gear position and ballast. This is critical because as you burn fuel from a given fuel tank, or move the flaps and/or landing gear, the center of gravity (CG) shifts forward or aft.

Remember, we test at the extremes of the weight/CG envelope. This requires us to control the CG during ground and flight conditions. We can move weight, in the form of water, forward or aft with the use of the water ballast system. This system is comprised of 48 barrels, each capable of carrying 460 pounds, connected by tubing to a pump. A computerized system tracks fuel placement, fuel burn, people placement, ballast, flap setting, landing gear position and water barrel quantity. The information is processed to display the airplane's current CG. We move water or specify fuel tank usage to configure the CG within the specified test requirements.

Our primary objective in Flight Test is to maintain the highest degree of safety for every type of testing we conduct. Some tests are high-risk by nature. During the preflight briefing on high-risk flights, we discuss risk mitigation and possible scenarios. We go through evacuation plans and crew responsibilities. We prepare to handle those scenarios and have procedures to minimize the risk. As Ground Operations Engineers, we are trained for fire fighting, first aid, CPR and defibrillator use. We are there to ensure that if something should happen in flight or on the ground while the doors are closed, there is someone in the airplane to direct and help people in an emergency.

As I mentioned, we'll go to the ends of the earth to get the necessary data for airplane validation. In fact, right now as I write this I'm getting ready to leave for Iceland. The winds just kicked up there and we have to go and get some autoland conditions at limit winds!

06 July 2005

Home base, and around the world

Kevin Nack

777-200LR Flight Test engineering manager

In my job I get to oversee the people who control the test plan and airplane configuration. It means I travel to places such as La Paz, Bolivia, where you have a 14,000 foot runway elevation - a good place to test high altitude start behavior of the engines.

In fact, we go all over the world - wherever we need certain conditions of weather and altitude or lay of the land around the airport. We typically fulfill the role of base manager on most remote tests - Edwards Air Force Base, for instance - or wherever the airplane and crew might go.

A 'base' means we're going to be there with people, rental cars, motel rooms, and with situations where a manager has to handle personnel issues that might come up. When you hit the ground, there are advance people that make sure everything is set up and it's as smooth a transition as possible. The manufacturing side makes sure the infrastructure is in place to handle the airplane and that it's secure and its upkeep needs are met.

It depends on the tests, but last time we went down to Edwards we had 65-70 people. It's a unique location with a very wide and long runway and a very low population around the airfield itself. The dry lake bed at Edwards adds a lot of confidence for risk mitigation and safety. When we're doing engine-out take-off testing with a low-angle climb, we know that for 15-20 miles you can climb straight out and there's not a single person below that flight path.

The U.S. Air Force is very active at Edwards and that drives a good bit of our operations. During the week, Air Force operations get going around 7:30 or 8 a.m., so we start engines at 5:15, to begin testing at sunrise, right around 5:30. We gave a tour of the new airplane to the Air Force test squadron there and they were thrilled to see it. They're very supportive of us and we try not to interfere with their activities.

Of course we've got challenges, but we usually have advance parties check them out before we get there. We don't go to an international location unless we've had someone on the ground there first. Wherever we do go, we make sure the airport can handle our size of airplane and we check the load-bearing capability of the ramps and runways before we leave home.

Now, one of the reasons we may need to go to rather obscure places is for auto-land testing. We may need to find a place that either lacks wind or is very windy. We'll go to Colorado Springs, for example, due to its high altitude to test the unique approach behavior of the airplane at higher altitude airports. We may go to Iceland because they've got instrument approaches to runways at basically all four points of the compass. They've got storm systems moving through quite often and depending on the wind direction and strength, we can get all required testing done in one place and at one time - head, tail and crosswinds.

Everybody on our team has a unique reason to be here. The same things that make the job difficult are what make it rewarding. For an engineer, the job is unique because on a gray day in Seattle you can go out on a test flight, climb up above the clouds and be in the sunshine for a few hours.

Beyond that is the challenge and excitement of testing the newest technology in the world!