Empty Nest Syndrome

Two days after the last old Cathay frame, Line 1433 (RC553) B-LJC, flew away to Hong Kong, finally for the first time in almost three years leaving the KPAE flightline without a Cathay 747 sitting around like a bump on a log, Boeing does this (pic thanks to Matt Cawby).

It's like deja vu all over again. B-LJL, painted and engine-less, proudly carrying on the tradition. Fortunately, knock on wood, she and her two sisters are all supposed to be delivered by the end of the year, as soon as the new and improved GE engines are certified and ready.

So don't get too comfortable B-LJL...

A Tribute to an Overdue Delivery #5 : Line 1433

Cathay took delivery of long neglected line 1433 (RC553) B-LJC on Tuesday, going on three years after she rolled off the assembly line. Cathay is very happy with their 747-8Fs, and B-LJC should happily join in on the fun and profit. Here are some pictures to remember her by:

Both have now flown, but will 1437 find a home too?

Not goin' anywhere fast...

All three of these are now in service.

I believe the frame to the left is a United 787 now in service too.

Paperweight to tower, do you read me?

Preparing for first flight but ridin' dirty.

Up in the air on her B1.

New coat of paint.

Unfortunately, 1433 left in the still of the night, and I don't have any pictures of her delivery flight. But she should start showing up at airports all over the world in a week or two, so we haven't seen the last of her.

Two Deliveries, One Day

I'm not really sure which one is #53 and which is #54, but Cathay took delivery of line 1433 (RC553) B-LJC and Lufthansa took delivery of line 1480 (RC030) D-ABYK today. That's a lot of aluminum cleared off the flight line for one day. Pictures to come...

Thanks to Matt Cawby:

Don't have any pictures of B-LJC leaving unfortunately, as she left around midnight.

July Wrap Up

A slow month on the 747 production front. No deliveries, two first flights, and a couple new engine-less frames to sit around the KPAE tower. At least we had a couple new firm orders.

In August, we should see two deliveries: line 1433 for Cathay and line 1480 for Lufthansa. After that there might not be any deliveries until October. Through the end of the year we will probably see Nippon Cargo take three frames, Cathay should take three more (after 1433), and Cargolux might take one or two. That would put us around 20-22 deliveries for the year. There might be a few more (ABC? Korean Air Cargo? Line 1437?) but they'd be surprises at this point.

I caught line 1433 (RC553) B-LJC for Cathay returning from a B3 flight this afternoon.

A Cathay VP recently said he sees no need for passenger VLA (very large aircraft). Cathay, a large 747-8F customer, is a potential 747-8I customer, but that flame is looking dim after his comments.

B-LJC, Fresh

Line 1433 (RC553) B-LJC returned to KPAE today with a fresh coat of paint. She's scheduled to deliver this month. Photographed here leaving Portland thanks to Sabian404.

Lufthansa line 1477 (RC029) D-ABYJ entered passenger service with a trip to Hong Kong on the 12th, but oddly just started registering on Flight Aware and Flight Radar today. She's been christened "Hannover".

Poor line 1416. When will you spread your wings?!

Line 1433 B2 to Portland

Pics of line 1433 heading off to Portland International for a B2 and a paint touch up.

The Last First Flight

For a frame in the overdue category at least. Line 1433 (RC553) B-LJC for Cathay Pacific took off today for the first time, well over two years after rolling off the assembly line and starting her long slumber, stored in various places around KPAE in an unflyable state. This marks the last "old frame" that needed refurbishment to take to the air; all of the old frames have now flown, and as such it's sort of a milestone for the program. Boeing can start focusing all resources on new build frames, shaving off weight and optimizing performance. B-LJC should deliver towards the middle of next month, after some more test flights and a fresh paint job. Thanks to Roy Yang for the pics (which show a very dirty airplane).

Also, line 1482 (RC605) VQ-BRJ for AirBridgeCargo rolled off the FAL, as you can see in the top picture. Judging by my rough rollout date records, they're likely already producing new frames at the adjusted 1.75 per month rate.

Refurb complete

At least for the time being at KPAE, all 747-8 refurbishment is complete. Cathay line 1433 (RC553) B-LJC was moved over the the 200's isle looking ready to fly. At the same time, line 1435 is at the fuel dock, and looks ready to start flight testing the engine/computer/fuel tank improvements. Of course at some point in the future line 1435 will need to undergo a final refurb, and line 1421 is still under refurb in Texas. But it feels strange having no dormant frames laying around Everett after three years of backlog.

Speaking of dormancy, it looks like more frames are getting deferred, which gives me something else to track entirely. On top of NCA and ABC, Korean Air Cargo is now deferring deliveries until 2014, meaning more brand new frames will fly to the desert and sit. Here's a good rundown. 747-8 news in general has been a bit dire lately, but things will turn around; I've got a feeling.