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                                                                                          - Jim Burton, Editor

RoundUp Editor's Aviation Notes

787 Status Report
( May-June 2011 )

 Boeing promised to deliver the first 787 Dreamliner by September as planned after three years of delays and to ship as many as 20 in year 2011 as mechanics rework finished planes to meet new specifications.  Dreamliners will need to be modified through next year in the “factory within a factory” set up in Everett, where Boeing builds all its wide-body jets,  CEO Jim McNerney said late in April.

 Fixes include replacing some fasteners to accommodate design changes made during the testing process for the plastic-composite jetliner.  The company has set a target to ship the initial 787 in the 3^rd quarter, and in “very confident” at least a dozen jets will reach airlines this year, McNerney said.

 “There’s no mystery to getting it done,” McNerney said.  “We understand the work statement, the fix, the work-around, the changes that have to be made, and it’s a matter of scheduling it and getting it done.”  Boeing has completed 95 percent of the tests required for certification to fly passengers in models equipped with engines from Rolls-Royce, McNerney said.  Trials for planes with General Electric engines are about 75 percent done, he said.

 Still ahead are tests for function, reliability and extended operations before the U.S. will certify the Dreamliner for passenger use, McNerney said.

  - Bloomberg

Boeing Will Add 1,200 Renton workers
(May 2011)

 After years of shrinking it Renton facilities, Boeing is hiring at its plant in anticipation of booming production lines for its workhorse 737 jet.  The plant’s work force will swell by around 1,200 people by 2013 to enable two planned hikes in output, said a Boeing spokeswoman.

 Boeing plans to assemble jets in Renton ever more rapidly into the middle of the decade, increasing production of the 737 by at least 21 percent.  The jets now roll out at a rate just over one per day, or 31.5 a month.  That’s to rise to 35 a month by January, and to 38 in Spring 2013.

 In Europe, Boeing’s rival Airbus plans even bigger increases for its A320 family of jets, which is cranking out planes at a pace of 40 per month.  Recently, Airbus announced an increase in planned that will likely speed up production to 42 per month, and perhaps 44.

 - Seattle Times

Australia Announces Order for a 5^th C-17
-         India Shows Interest
(May 2011)

 The Commonwealth of Australia has signed an agreement with the U.S. government to acquire a fifth Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter.  The transaction allows the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to expand its C-17 fleet as it faces an increased demand for humanitarian and disaster relief missions.

 RAAF C-17s supported relief efforts to earthquake and tsunami-affected regions in Japan under Operation Pacific Assist for nearly two weeks in March 2011.  The RAAF delivered personnel and more than 1 million pounds of cargo – including food and water, vehicles, disaster relief equipment, and pumps to help cool the Fukushima nuclear power plant.  Weeks earlier, the RAAF supported relief efforts to Christchurch, New Zealand, following an earthquake there, and to several communities in Queensland, Australia, that were affected by flooding.

 Due to the RAAF’s immediate need for an additional airlifter, the U.S. Air Force has approved Australia’s request to take delivery of its fifth C-17 in August.

 Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force was reported to be ready to place orders for 10 C-17s in a deal valued at $4.1 billion.  Discussions between the IAF and the U.S. Air Force, as well as the Indian ministry of defense and the U.S. Department of Defense concluded February 15, with Boeing accepting the detailed terms for 30 percent mandatory offsets clause.

 Boeing has delivered 230 C-17s worldwide to date, including 20 to international customers.  The U.S. Air Force – including active National Guard and AF Reserve units – has taken delivery of 210.  Other customers include the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, the Qatar Emiri Air Force, the Canadian Air Force, the 12-member Strategic Airlift Capability initiative of NATO and Partnership for Peace nations, and the United Arab Emirates Air Force and Air Defense.

 - Press report April 2011

Pay Day for McNerney, Albaugh 
(May 2011)

 Boeing Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney’s total compensation edged up 1.5 percent last year to $19.7 million, while Commercial Airplanes Chief Jim Albaugh’s compensation jumped 66 percent to $9.29 million, the company reported in proxy materials filed this Spring.

 Albaugh switched in August 2009 from the company’s defense business.  The airliner business, despite setbacks on the 787, was the company’s better performer last year, scoring twice as well in performance assessments that determine parts of the compensation package.

 The company as a whole performed 40 percent above its target level for 2010 “primarily due to strong operating performance and cash generation form Boeing Commercial Airplanes production and services businesses,” according to the compensation committee of the Boeing board.

 But executives got nothing in one component of their package because over the three-year period 2008-2010 the company fell short of the minimum threshold to trigger their long-term incentive program.  The proxy blamed that on “delays and performance issues on development programs, the unexpected economic downturn beginning in late 2008, and challenges with the current defense contracting environment.”

 Some elements counted in executives’ total compensation represent only the future value of stock and option grants or pension benefits that will vest in future years.

 Counting only the cash, stock and other benefits realized during 2010, McNerney’s “actual compensation” rose to 10.14 million from $9.07 million in 2009, the company said.

 -  Seattle Times

Super98 Progress
(September 2010)

Photo - J.Hennessy

Hard by the razed factory where they were built, Douglas, MDC, and Boeing twinjets are getting the promise of new life through a company called Super98 LLC.  

There, at Kilroy Center in Long Beach, a team of former MDC and Boeing engineering, manufacturing, support and marketing managers are offering to extend the service lives of DC-9s, MD-80s, MD-90s and Boeing 717s for the airlines through a number of performance improvement packages.  

Super98 was formed in 2007 in order to exploit the remarkable structural integrity and systems reliability of Douglas twinjets, and to enhance the fuel efficiency of the fleet through simple, and proven drag reduction modifications. The company has a license agreement with Boeing to use intellectual property, production rights for parts, and the integration of Boeing standards and quality protocols.

Super98 offers MD-80 bottom-line-enhancing, Phase I Package available in 2010 to lower operating costs by reducing aircraft drag. A follow-on Phase II Package, consisting of further drag reduction along with a potential for weight reduction, will provide a significant second step to increase the economic life of the MD-80. The Phase II package will be available in two parts, first in 2011 and second in 2012. 

 Airline fleet planners now have the option of continuing to schedule reliable twinjets, which are fully depreciated but still in the first half of their structural lives, or replacing these aircraft with new 737s or A320s which fetch more than $50 million, as they burn only 13% less fuel. 

DAC-MDC- Boeing Retirees is scheduling a progress report for you, probably at the March Luncheon meeting when we can say, “welcome back, old friends!”

The Tanker Saga Goes On
(April 2010)

 The third attempt to buy a new aerial tanker for the U.S. Air Force (Link) to replace the aging KC-135 (Link) fleet just keeps getting stranger.  Boeing looked like it would win the deal when Northrop Grumman and its European partner, Airbus, said they would not bid on it.  The partners said the proposal was biased in favor of Boeing.

 Now, there are reports that EADS (Link), parent of Airbus, has requested an extension of 90 days, presumably to take another crack at the contract.  Though many in Congress would prefer to keep to the original schedule, the Pentagon would like to see a second bidder.  And the European aerospace company certainly could use a win.

 EADS had a difficult 2009, due to the overruns in the A400M (military) transport program and lower sales of (commercial) airliners.  It is already finding trouble this year (2010).  The World Trade Organization will shortly announce the results of its investigation of complaints by Boeing and the U.S. that the European company benefited from illegal subsidies.  Indications are that the WTO will forbid “launch aid” where governments (in this case, France, Germany, and Britain) provide loans to help pay for the development of aircraft that are only paid back when the product is profitable.

 If the bidding for the tanker is re-opened, the Russian state-owned United Aircraft (Link) may also join the competition, based on the Illyushin –96 airliner.  The company would have to find a U.S. partner to be the prime contractor and also to do most of the military integration.  The chances of such a bid succeeding are remote – just consider the political uproar – but stranger things have happened in the world of defense contracting.

 Indeed, the KD-135 replacement process is strange enough:  The attempt to buy a new aerial tanker has now been going on for almost ten years.              source:  BNet

Dreamliner Flight Test Milestones
(April 2010)

Photo Source - http://787flighttest.com/boeing-completes-ultimate-load-wing-test/

 On 19 March 2010, after 27 test days that began on 14 February, Boeing completed aeroclastic flutter testing and ground effects testing with its first two 787 (Link) test aircraft ZA001 and ZA002.  During this period, the aircraft reached a ceiling of 43,000 ft while maintaining a cabin pressure of 6,000 ft. and reached Mach 0.97 in a dive as part of clearing the primarily carbon fiber structure of any potentially destructive vibration.  This clears the way for the FAA certification campaign to begin to support the target of delivering the first aircraft this year.

 On 7 April, the company said it has met all the requirements during the ultimate load wing and fuselage bending test for the Dreamliner.  The test also confirmed the success of a redesigned side-of-body portion of the plane that last year resulted in another delay for the 787.  Loads were applied to replicate 150 percent of the most extreme forces the airplane is ever expected to experience while in service.  The wings were flexed upward by about 25 feet during the test.  The fuselage was pressurized to 150 percent of its maximum normal operating condition.            - from Flight

Airbus A400M First Flight
Video link

(newsletter #149 Nov 2008)  

Sculpture of Donald W. Douglas

Victoria Douglas Thoreson, daughter of Donald Douglas Jr. (search) together with  sculptor Yossi Govrin (search),  examine a wax impression that will be used in the casting of a bronze statue of Victoria’s grandfather, Donald W. Douglas (search).  The completed sculpture will be placed beneath an elevated DC-3 at the Santa Monica Airport next year.  (photo courtesy of MacDacWestRetirees Editor. All rights reserved.)

Fly DC Jets Site to Become Movie Studio?

 Boeing startled its present McDonnell Douglas-heritage employees, as well as its Long Beach-area aerospace retirees, in mid-September by announcing a plan to unload what remains of the former Douglas commercial jetliner assembly facility at Lakewood Blvd. and Conant Ave. to a group of investors hoping to turn the property into a movie studio.

The story broke in the business section of the Sept. 19 Los Angeles Times, with a front-page photo of investors Jack O’Halloran (search) and Jay Samit (search) walking through Building 80 with Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster (search). The article caught the several thousand Boeing employees working in the adjacent Buildings 800, 801 and 802 by surprise. “What about us?” was a common question. The company has remained relatively silent, but a source speaking off the record indicated there is no front-burner plan to empty out the buildings still in use.

What is known is the buyers hope to turn Buildings 80 and 84 – once home to the DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-80, MD-90 and MD-11 assembly lines – and the adjacent parking area into a movie production complex with an estimated price tag of $500 million. Plans are said to include as many as 40 soundstages, a giant water tank for simulated ocean photography, a permanent metropolitan city street set, personnel offices, production bungalows, commissary and a private hotel.

According to the Times, the investors are already in escrow for the 1.1 million-square-foot location. Leading the group is Jack O’Halloran, a boxer-turned-actor best known for his performance as Moose Malloy in the 1975 Robert Mitchum version of Farewell My Lovely (search). He also appeared in Superman and Superman II, The Flintstones and on various TV series. His associate Jay Sami is a former Sony America executive.

Their hope is to make a profit by renting out space to production companies that might otherwise leave California to film in Vancouver, Toronto or any of the states that now offer financial incentives to film companies to shoot elsewhere than at the busy studios in Hollywood, Culver City, Universal City and Burbank.

The City of Long Beach (search), which frequently makes its streets available for such shows as CSI Miami and Dexter, brokered the deal by introducing the investors group to Boeing officials. Mayor Foster said at the time of the announcement that city officials are “very enthusiastic” to see the Long Beach Studios, as it will be named, become a reality for the revenue stream it will mean for the city. An estimated 1,000 to 3,000 jobs are possible.

The plan does have precursors: The now closed Rockwell facility in Downey and former Hughes location in Playa Vista have active film production, and the old Spruce Goose dome next to the Queen Mary in downtown Long Beach famously became the bat cave for Batman soundstage after the plane left town.

At the moment Buildings 80 and 84 are empty, home only to pigeons roosting in the rafters and the occasional homeless cat. But from the time Douglas opened them in the 1950s until Boeing closed them in 2006, they housed final assembly lines that produced 556 DC-8s, more than 2,300 DC-9s/MD-80s/MD90s, 646 DC-10s, KC-10s and MD-11s, and the final 156 MD-95s, renamed Boeing 717s.

Douglas Aircraft Company - 'The Globe'

(Long Beach, CA) On the left is a picture of the original globe that was mounted over the entrance to Bldg 7 on Lakewood Blvd. The entrance was later covered up, “but you could still see the light fixtures and the tile if you went behind the wall in a somewhat hidden area of building 7 ( I did check it our for myself when I was in building 7),” says Pat McGinnis. Below,  is the replica bronze globe before it was installed at the roundabout at the new Douglas Park (search) on April 3.

from the Editor

A DC-3 Monument

 It is not an exaggeration to say that Santa Monica (search) is the city that the Douglas Aircraft Company (search)built. Proximity to a coastline and the never-ending sprawl of Los Angeles helped, but Douglas was the primary employer in Santa Monica for 50 years and the reason homes were built and population expanded.

But today the Douglas legacy in Santa Monica resides only in the memories of those who were there sometime between 1920 and 1974. That is about to change. A monument park honoring the Douglas Aircraft Company will open this December at the south end of the Santa Monica Airport (search), adjacent to a new aviation museum.

The monument park, as imagined in the rendering below, will be built around an elevated DC-3 (search) that came off the Santa Monica assembly line in 1942. Primary construction funds are being provided by a challenge grant from the Douglas White Oaks Ranch Trust, which is administered by the Employees Community Fund of Boeing California, the successor to the old McDonnell Douglas Personnel Community Service operation and Douglas Aircraft Welfare Foundation.

Donald W. Douglas (search) set up the Douglas Aircraft Welfare Foundation, now known as the Douglas White Oaks Ranch Trust, in 1964 with the money received for the sale of the assets of the former Welfare Division, including the company stores and vending machines and 364 acres of undeveloped recreation land in what is now Simi Valley. Interest from the trust has been used in recent years to underwrite DAC-era historical projects and to fund college scholarships for the sons and daughters of employees.  

“We think it’s crucial to preserve the historical ties between the Douglas Aircraft Company and the citizens of Santa Monica. They were practically one and the same for so many years. The city, which is committed to keeping its heritage alive as well, will take on financial and physical responsibility for maintaining the site. It’s a renewed partnership,” said Beverly Hoskinson, ECF executive director of the Employees Community Fund who began her career with the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1957. 

The illuminated and elevated DC-3 that will be on display is courtesy of David Price (search), who operated the old Museum of Flying and is the man behind the new aviation museum set to open next to the monument park. Among the historic airplanes likely to be on exhibit is the "New Orleans" (search), one of the Douglas World Cruisers (search) which first circumnavigated the globe in 1924.

Former employees and others who would like to aid in preserving the history of the Douglas Aircraft Company are invited to make contributions also. “While the Douglas Trust and the city are covering primary costs, there will be additional enhancements and expenses that pop up. Contributions will be matched dollar for dollar by the Douglas Trust grant.

“We plan to honor all those whose contributions are received by Sept. 30 by creating a founders wall with their names,” said Hoskinson. Those who would like to participate can do so by making a contribution in any amount to the Donald W. Douglas Trust, P.O. 8113, Long Beach, CA 90808, or telephone (562) 593-2612 or (800) 606-3639 access code 00 (zero–zero). All contributors, in addition to being listed on the founders’ wall, will also receive invitations to the opening ceremony and commemorative pins created from the original Douglas logo die cut. 

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