A380 wing cracks
01-09-2012 | 06:15 PM
#11
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From: FAA 'Flight Check'
That looked WAAAY short. It appeared the nose had just barely crossed the threshold when the mains hit.
Where is DXB? Are these videos both at Dubai? If so, I am 99.99% convinced the night landing was 500 ft short of the threshold.
As to cracks: one of the big delays in the 787 was cracking in the fuselage/wing-join area.
The F-18A had bulkhead cracks where the vertical fins bolt-on shortly after entering service (one of the fixes is that cheesy plate on top of the LEXs; it diverts the LEX vortex away from the vertical fins).
ALL the Block 50 F-16s (the one that 'replaced' my "worn out" F-4G) had their wings replaced (whole fleet) less than a year after entering service. Fatigue cracks in a 9-G wing (turns out it wasn't designed for the flexing caused by carrying two 800 lb HARMs). All the F-16Ns (used by Navy Weapon School) were grounded, I believe within three years of delivery...for fatigue cracks (and they were the lightest F-16s ever built, with no gun, and no bomb-dropping hardpoints).
As 11Fan said, there are always gremlins that surface during the initial operating period.
I hated that thing. It always looked like it was held in place with silly putty too. If you look close - there are brackets inboard the vertical stab that fixed that problem too. Ever wonder why after so many Lots of Hornets and the fact that the LEX fence was required so early that they didn't end up molding into airframe eventually. Instead - even the Lot21s still had silly putty on them
USMCFLYR
01-09-2012 | 06:36 PM
#12
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When you have 400+ networked digital monitors, theres bound to be some delay at some seats, just from the network traffic alone. Add in compression and decompression and the image might be several seconds delayed at some seats...
Its pretty easy to spot when lost of people watch a game, there will easily be a 2-3 second delay between the fastest and the slowest in-seat monitor...
So, my guess top video filmed off a monitor that falls into the delayed category when filmed. Bottom video filmed from a monitor that was close to real-time.
As for the cracks: no different than 757 and 737 fuselages at every airline - go look up the ADs...
Cheers
George
Its pretty easy to spot when lost of people watch a game, there will easily be a 2-3 second delay between the fastest and the slowest in-seat monitor...
So, my guess top video filmed off a monitor that falls into the delayed category when filmed. Bottom video filmed from a monitor that was close to real-time.
As for the cracks: no different than 757 and 737 fuselages at every airline - go look up the ADs...
Cheers
George
01-09-2012 | 06:39 PM
#13
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From: Spares Pusher
They also (if I remember correctly) hit about 145% on the wing load test on the A380 but they beefed it up to compensate.
That said, like UAL T38 mentioned, the 787 has had wing issues as well so I'm not inclined to throw any rocks, living in a glass house and all.
That said, like UAL T38 mentioned, the 787 has had wing issues as well so I'm not inclined to throw any rocks, living in a glass house and all.
01-09-2012 | 09:31 PM
#14
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From: Seat 0B
01-10-2012 | 04:21 AM
#15
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From: FAA 'Flight Check'
I don't know - but did these cracks in the 37/57s you mention happen in the first 5 years?
USMCFLYR
01-19-2012 | 10:28 PM
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And again: That looked WAAAY short. It appeared the nose had just barely crossed the threshold when the mains hit.
Where is DXB? Are these videos both at Dubai? If so, I am 99.99% convinced the night landing was 500 ft short of the threshold.
As to cracks: one of the big delays in the 787 was cracking in the fuselage/wing-join area.
The F-18A had bulkhead cracks where the vertical fins bolt-on shortly after entering service (one of the fixes is that cheesy plate on top of the LEXs; it diverts the LEX vortex away from the vertical fins).
ALL the Block 50 F-16s (the one that 'replaced' my "worn out" F-4G) had their wings replaced (whole fleet) less than a year after entering service. Fatigue cracks in a 9-G wing (turns out it wasn't designed for the flexing caused by carrying two 800 lb HARMs). All the F-16Ns (used by Navy Weapon School) were grounded, I believe within three years of delivery...for fatigue cracks (and they were the lightest F-16s ever built, with no gun, and no bomb-dropping hardpoints).
As 11Fan said, there are always gremlins that surface during the initial operating period.
As far as the F-16N's... that's a huge spot of contention. They were grounded because of one engineer at NAVAIR. The consensus from everyone but him is that those airplanes should have never been parked. The Navy is still flying Block 15 F-16As and while there are cracks forming, General Dynamics designed the jet to transfer stress throughout the structure to accommodate. Falcon Up and Falcon Star are supposed to take the airframe out to 8000 hours, I may be off on those. Every engineer on the planet, including about 24 countries that fly the Viper all agree that the wear/tear is acceptable and manageable... however the way NAVAIR determines disposable life of an airframe is different from everyone else, and flawed. Unless of course you're talking about the Hornet, then they'll change their story and are looking at taking out to 10K or even 12K hours.
As far as the A380 cracks, there is an article in AW discussing that it's an L bracket that attaches the upper wing skin to the spar. Either they'll just replace the bracket with something beefier, or they miscalculated the structural loads going on.
01-20-2012 | 05:45 PM
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PARIS — European air safety regulators on Friday ordered inspections of nearly one-third of all Airbus A380 jets after hairline cracks were found in a component of the wings on a handful of the 555-seat superjumbos in recent months.
The European Aviation Safety Agency said the order would affect about 20 of the 68 planes currently in service. The cracks have been found in a small number of L-shaped brackets that connect the wing’s aluminum skin to its structural ribs.
The inspection order follows the discovery of cracks in two different places on some wing brackets, which Airbus said it had traced to a bracket installation process that has since been modified. Airbus described both cracking problems as minor and said that while any damaged brackets needed to be replaced, they did not pose an imminent safety risk.
The first cracks were found late last year on the wing of a Qantas A380 that was being refurbished after experiencing a spectacular midair engine explosion in 2010. Airbus and the agency deemed those cracks — which extend from a bolt hole in the bracket — to be “noncritical” and advised airlines in early January to inspect and replace the parts during routine scheduled four-year maintenance checks. The first A380s entered service four years ago.
Only nine A380s have undergone the recommended inspections thus far. But in the course of those checks, two planes were found to have tiny fissures in a different section of the wing bracket.
It is these cracks that the safety agency on Friday deemed were more significant. “This condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity of the airplane” over time, the regulator said.
The agency ordered airlines whose A380s had flown more than 1,800 takeoff and landing cycles since entering service to make a detailed visual inspection of the wing rib brackets within the next four days. Less-heavily used planes, with 1,300 to 1,799 flight cycles, will have six weeks to complete them. A380s that have logged fewer than 1,300 flight cycles will be able to wait until the plane’s next scheduled four-year maintenance check, the regulator said.
Half of the A380s affected by the inspection order are operated by Singapore Airlines, which took delivery of the first superjumbo in late 2007. Seven others belong to the Dubai-based carrier Emirates and one is owned by Air France-KLM, according to the serial numbers listed by the safety agency. The remaining two are Airbus test planes.
Industry officials said that the required inspections could be completed in as little as 24 hours or could take up to several days, depending on local maintenance work rules and the number of brackets, if any, that needed replacement. Each wing of an A380 contains about 2,000 of the brackets, which are about eight inches long and are made of a metal alloy.
Fatigue cracking is unusual in relatively young aircraft. The phenomenon, which is more common in older planes that have experienced heavy use, has begun to attract closer regulatory scrutiny in the wake of a recent series of incidents involving aging Boeing 737s and 757s in the United States.
In one case last year, a tiny undetected crack in the metal skin of a Southwest Airlines jet widened into a five-foot hole in the fuselage during flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
The European Aviation Safety Agency said the order would affect about 20 of the 68 planes currently in service. The cracks have been found in a small number of L-shaped brackets that connect the wing’s aluminum skin to its structural ribs.
The inspection order follows the discovery of cracks in two different places on some wing brackets, which Airbus said it had traced to a bracket installation process that has since been modified. Airbus described both cracking problems as minor and said that while any damaged brackets needed to be replaced, they did not pose an imminent safety risk.
The first cracks were found late last year on the wing of a Qantas A380 that was being refurbished after experiencing a spectacular midair engine explosion in 2010. Airbus and the agency deemed those cracks — which extend from a bolt hole in the bracket — to be “noncritical” and advised airlines in early January to inspect and replace the parts during routine scheduled four-year maintenance checks. The first A380s entered service four years ago.
Only nine A380s have undergone the recommended inspections thus far. But in the course of those checks, two planes were found to have tiny fissures in a different section of the wing bracket.
It is these cracks that the safety agency on Friday deemed were more significant. “This condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity of the airplane” over time, the regulator said.
The agency ordered airlines whose A380s had flown more than 1,800 takeoff and landing cycles since entering service to make a detailed visual inspection of the wing rib brackets within the next four days. Less-heavily used planes, with 1,300 to 1,799 flight cycles, will have six weeks to complete them. A380s that have logged fewer than 1,300 flight cycles will be able to wait until the plane’s next scheduled four-year maintenance check, the regulator said.
Half of the A380s affected by the inspection order are operated by Singapore Airlines, which took delivery of the first superjumbo in late 2007. Seven others belong to the Dubai-based carrier Emirates and one is owned by Air France-KLM, according to the serial numbers listed by the safety agency. The remaining two are Airbus test planes.
Industry officials said that the required inspections could be completed in as little as 24 hours or could take up to several days, depending on local maintenance work rules and the number of brackets, if any, that needed replacement. Each wing of an A380 contains about 2,000 of the brackets, which are about eight inches long and are made of a metal alloy.
Fatigue cracking is unusual in relatively young aircraft. The phenomenon, which is more common in older planes that have experienced heavy use, has begun to attract closer regulatory scrutiny in the wake of a recent series of incidents involving aging Boeing 737s and 757s in the United States.
In one case last year, a tiny undetected crack in the metal skin of a Southwest Airlines jet widened into a five-foot hole in the fuselage during flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
01-21-2012 | 06:19 AM
#20
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From: Legacy FO
PARIS — European air safety regulators on Friday ordered inspections of nearly one-third of all Airbus A380 jets after hairline cracks were found in a component of the wings on a handful of the 555-seat superjumbos in recent months.
The European Aviation Safety Agency said the order would affect about 20 of the 68 planes currently in service. The cracks have been found in a small number of L-shaped brackets that connect the wing’s aluminum skin to its structural ribs.
The inspection order follows the discovery of cracks in two different places on some wing brackets, which Airbus said it had traced to a bracket installation process that has since been modified. Airbus described both cracking problems as minor and said that while any damaged brackets needed to be replaced, they did not pose an imminent safety risk.
The first cracks were found late last year on the wing of a Qantas A380 that was being refurbished after experiencing a spectacular midair engine explosion in 2010. Airbus and the agency deemed those cracks — which extend from a bolt hole in the bracket — to be “noncritical” and advised airlines in early January to inspect and replace the parts during routine scheduled four-year maintenance checks. The first A380s entered service four years ago.
Only nine A380s have undergone the recommended inspections thus far. But in the course of those checks, two planes were found to have tiny fissures in a different section of the wing bracket.
It is these cracks that the safety agency on Friday deemed were more significant. “This condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity of the airplane” over time, the regulator said.
The agency ordered airlines whose A380s had flown more than 1,800 takeoff and landing cycles since entering service to make a detailed visual inspection of the wing rib brackets within the next four days. Less-heavily used planes, with 1,300 to 1,799 flight cycles, will have six weeks to complete them. A380s that have logged fewer than 1,300 flight cycles will be able to wait until the plane’s next scheduled four-year maintenance check, the regulator said.
Half of the A380s affected by the inspection order are operated by Singapore Airlines, which took delivery of the first superjumbo in late 2007. Seven others belong to the Dubai-based carrier Emirates and one is owned by Air France-KLM, according to the serial numbers listed by the safety agency. The remaining two are Airbus test planes.
Industry officials said that the required inspections could be completed in as little as 24 hours or could take up to several days, depending on local maintenance work rules and the number of brackets, if any, that needed replacement. Each wing of an A380 contains about 2,000 of the brackets, which are about eight inches long and are made of a metal alloy.
Fatigue cracking is unusual in relatively young aircraft. The phenomenon, which is more common in older planes that have experienced heavy use, has begun to attract closer regulatory scrutiny in the wake of a recent series of incidents involving aging Boeing 737s and 757s in the United States.
In one case last year, a tiny undetected crack in the metal skin of a Southwest Airlines jet widened into a five-foot hole in the fuselage during flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
The European Aviation Safety Agency said the order would affect about 20 of the 68 planes currently in service. The cracks have been found in a small number of L-shaped brackets that connect the wing’s aluminum skin to its structural ribs.
The inspection order follows the discovery of cracks in two different places on some wing brackets, which Airbus said it had traced to a bracket installation process that has since been modified. Airbus described both cracking problems as minor and said that while any damaged brackets needed to be replaced, they did not pose an imminent safety risk.
The first cracks were found late last year on the wing of a Qantas A380 that was being refurbished after experiencing a spectacular midair engine explosion in 2010. Airbus and the agency deemed those cracks — which extend from a bolt hole in the bracket — to be “noncritical” and advised airlines in early January to inspect and replace the parts during routine scheduled four-year maintenance checks. The first A380s entered service four years ago.
Only nine A380s have undergone the recommended inspections thus far. But in the course of those checks, two planes were found to have tiny fissures in a different section of the wing bracket.
It is these cracks that the safety agency on Friday deemed were more significant. “This condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity of the airplane” over time, the regulator said.
The agency ordered airlines whose A380s had flown more than 1,800 takeoff and landing cycles since entering service to make a detailed visual inspection of the wing rib brackets within the next four days. Less-heavily used planes, with 1,300 to 1,799 flight cycles, will have six weeks to complete them. A380s that have logged fewer than 1,300 flight cycles will be able to wait until the plane’s next scheduled four-year maintenance check, the regulator said.
Half of the A380s affected by the inspection order are operated by Singapore Airlines, which took delivery of the first superjumbo in late 2007. Seven others belong to the Dubai-based carrier Emirates and one is owned by Air France-KLM, according to the serial numbers listed by the safety agency. The remaining two are Airbus test planes.
Industry officials said that the required inspections could be completed in as little as 24 hours or could take up to several days, depending on local maintenance work rules and the number of brackets, if any, that needed replacement. Each wing of an A380 contains about 2,000 of the brackets, which are about eight inches long and are made of a metal alloy.
Fatigue cracking is unusual in relatively young aircraft. The phenomenon, which is more common in older planes that have experienced heavy use, has begun to attract closer regulatory scrutiny in the wake of a recent series of incidents involving aging Boeing 737s and 757s in the United States.
In one case last year, a tiny undetected crack in the metal skin of a Southwest Airlines jet widened into a five-foot hole in the fuselage during flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
), they didn't have to recertify the wing?
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