Boeing

If you've ever felt a little queasy watching your plane's wings flex under the strain of being at 10,000 feet, rest assured that they can bend a lot further. Just how much pressure modern airliner wings can take is demonstrated by the latest 787 Dreamliner news from Boeing. During a recent "ultimate-load wing up-bending test," the 787 was subjected to loads 150 percent greater than it can expect to endure during service with the wings flexed upward by approximately 25 feet (7.6 meters) over a period of two hours. Read More

Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird UAV has successfully completed a simulated mission test proving the unmanned rotorcraft’s ability to resupply frontline troops in rough terrain. The demonstration saw the A160T carry 1,250-pound sling loads over two 150-nautical-mile round trips operating autonomously on a pre-programmed mission. The demonstration proved the craft is capable of delivering at least 2,500 pounds of cargo from one simulated forward-operating base to another 75 nautical miles away in well under the required six hours. Read More

Just as consumer cameras continue the shrink, so too are cameras designed for military and other commercial applications. The latest is a compact 3D imaging camera launched by Boeing that is designed to be deployed on a wide range of platforms, including unmanned aerial and ground vehicles. The cube-shaped camera is one-third the size and uses one-tenth the power of most comparable cameras. Read More

Laser guns have been a staple of science fiction for decades, but in reality their use is generally restricted to sighting, ranging and targeting applications. But that is all set to change. For the first time an airborne laser (ABL) weapon mounted aboard a modified Boeing 747 has shot down a ballistic missile launched from an at-sea mobile launch platform off the central California coast. Read More

The 787 Dreamliner successfully completed its maiden test flight in December and now the interior design of Boeing's next-gen aircraft has been revealed. The officially released photo shows the partially decked-out interior featured on the third of six flight test airplanes. While certainly sleek, at first glance there's nothing overly radical about the layout, though Boeing says it will give passengers greater comfort with its "dynamic lighting, larger lavatories, more spacious luggage bins and electronic window shades whose transparency they can change during flight." Read More

Trying to sleep in an upright position on long haul flights can prove to be a difficult proposition for most of us, and a sleepless flight only compounds the jet lag that results from traversing time zones. With just about any International flight to or from New Zealand being a long haul affair it’s not surprising that the country’s international airline, Air New Zealand, is looking to make such trips a little more comfortable for passengers through a redesign of seating in economy class. The result is the holy grail of economy travel – a flat surface for adults to lie down and sleep! Read More

Commercial aircraft are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, but manufacturers and operators are taking steps to tackle the problem. Operators such as Virgin Atlantic have conducted demonstration flights using biofuel, and now KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has completed its first ever passenger flight powered by sustainable kerosene. Using a 50 percent biokerosene/50 percent normal jet fuel mix to power one of its four engines, a Boeing 747 carrying 40 select passengers last week circled the Netherlands for an hour in what KLM claims is the first flight of its kind in Europe. Read More

On August 10, Boeing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency were finally able to demonstrate that the US$1.1 billion Airborne Laser (ABL) program actually works. The ABL aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400, took off from Edwards Air Force Base and located, tracked and fired on a target missile. Although a surrogate high-energy laser was used – rather than the megawatt-class laser that will ultimately arm it – instrumentation on the target verified the hit. Read More

Expect to see more S-100 Camcopters taking to the skies following the announcement that Boeing and Austrian company Schiebel Industries (the S-100’s manufacturer) have joined forces to market and support the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The S-100 is an remote-controlled helicopter that can carry a wide variety of payloads, including a stabilized video system for surveillance and reconnaissance, and is well-suited to military and civilian applications. Read More