737 MAX-9 preliminary report

[BlackBart]

Test pilot Tex Johnson and the old days -

[matthew1]

Holy smokes, I didn't know there was video/photo records of this.

Those (or similar) are the narrow/long high-bypass (turbojet?) engines the 737 was designed for. Now compare them with the monsters on them now that throw off the natural balance. That's why there's all kinds of crazy software running to keep 737s flying straight and level.

I've been part of groups programming fixes for fixes, and it's ugly under the hood. Kludge City. That was entirely low risk. If it didn't work in Production, Web pages wouldn't load for some users.

[BlackBart]

That was 1955, crazy. President Allan was on his yacht on the lake hosting the airline executives. I think the event was the hydro races on the lake, not sure.

That plane is in the Smithsonian air & space annex in DC.

Tex Johnson was a mechanic, engineer, pilot, and test pilot. He helped develop and test the Bell X-1 that Chuck Yeager would use to break the sound barrier.

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[abscate]

Pure turbojets on the 707, I flew on them as A kid in the 60s, they were horrifically loud.

I hope Boeing gets its act back together and starts using all the bolts again soon.i didn’t realize the market had swing to 2/3 Airbus, 1/3 Boeing in commercial. They got too fat off the DOD dime to compete, methinks

[BlackBart]

Boeing had its first “safety stand-down” at the Renton 737 plant. Hundreds of chairs in rows against a backdrop of a green 737 on the line.

“Good morning everyone. Let’s chat a bit about how we build airplanes.”

“First, I want everyone to check their tool pouch to see if you have your torque wrench on you.”

“Then, everyone say it with me -
Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty.”

[BlackBart]

Seattle Times -

"Boeing survived and thrived, sustained by an engineering culture steeped in designing superior aircraft built to demanding tolerances. Its airplanes were industry-changing. The 707 in 1958 replaced prop engines and led the early jet age; the twin-deck, 360-seat 747, the industry’s first wide-body, democratized overseas air travel in 1970. The 737, introduced in 1967, is arguably the most successful short-haul airliner in aviation history. This stubby, single-aisle original proved so reliable that it got stretched, repowered and redesigned repeatedly.

"By 2020, Boeing itself had in a way been stretched, redesigned and repowered in a series of corporate restructurings that each yielded its own defects. Since the mid-1990s, the company has bought out McDonnell Douglas, a domestic rival, moved its headquarters twice, shifted some assembly to the East Coast (which allowed the company to sidestep the unions) and changed chief executives the way you would planes in Atlanta.

"What got lost in all this shuffling is a corporate culture that once prized engineering and safety, replaced by one that seemed to be more focused on delivering profits over perfection. The Boeing community in Seattle has been vocal about attributing this slide to the acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, whose leaders took over Boeing’s top jobs and reshaped the culture around cost control."

[abscate]

The 707 was 6 years behind Britains’ de Haviland in delivering jets. The leader was the unfortunate benefactor of being the discoverer of metal fatigue in jet age flight ceilings and lost the market with multiple hull failures and deaths.

Reports of “ corporate culture shifts “ are usually shill pieces by yakkers in love with their voice. Not real business analyses

[foggydogg]

Sen. Tammy Duckworth ( Combat veteran pilot, WIA, double amputee ) has brought the 737 runaway train to a screeching halt - for now.
Juan is still angry.

[matthew1]

What a mess.

[BlackBart]

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/boein ... rol-issues