Some general questions about aircraft.?

Question

1. Will the a350 aircraft be delayed? It is scheduled to enter service in 2013. Will this be deferred?

2. Do I need type ratings before I fly fokkers or bombardiers or other small aircrafts?

3. If in case pilots are in excess, will the retirement age be brought back down?

4. What is the progress so far for the use of biofuel to power planes in the future.

5. In which year is a plane expected to be out of service if it has been delivered in say, june 2008? (How long does a brand new plane last if it flies 9 hours a day)

6. Is it that jet fuel is getting finished from the earth or it's just a normal raise of it's cost by producers?

Answer 1

1.) good question.. My crystal ball is a bit cloudy that far out

2.) Yes unless you have a APL

3.)NO...

4.)Were working on it, but.... do you want to eat or have biofuel?

5.)varies

6.) more vehicles are driving, swimming, and flying in the world today..currently there is a limited volume of production...and everyone thinks their use of that barrel of crude is most important....price goes up.

Answer 2

yes

yes

no

not much

depends on the plane...

not clear.

maybe so

Answer 3

ok i'll try to answer them al as best as i can..

1) it depends on if all the testing of the a350 is done in time and the FAA approves that it is safe to fly.

2) i'm not sure

3) i'm not sure

4)From what i've heard they are trying to find a good safe substitute for Jet A fuel and hope to find one by 2013 for the new A350

6) a brand new plane that flew around 9 hours a day would be somewhere around 30 years with quite a few repairs needed to be made such as regular checks for metal fatigue so i would say 2038.

hope i helped as much as possible

Answer 4

Sorry too many questions are asked here so I cant hope to answer them all.

Answer 5

1.  Don't know- your best source would be the business pages but right now it's too early to say.

2. All high-performance aircraft (Vne > 200kt IIRC) require type ratings.

3.  Not likely- the only country that has a mandatory retirement age for pilots is the USA and there is a fair bit of pressure to repeal it.

4.  Biofuel is a non-starter because (1) it takes more fossil fuel to produce than petroleum-based fuels, (2) ethanol is not suitable for aircraft, (3) other biofuels congeal at low temperatures and (4) I didn't like it when mom burned my food so I sure don't want to see the airlines doing it.  The most promising non-petroleum fuel source is produced using coal-to-liquid technology and is on the market now, having been approved as Jet A.

5.  Depends on the plane.  Most are designed for a service life of ~30 years but there are many in the air that are older than the pilots' grandparents.

6.  Supply & demand trumps all other factors.  There's enough proven oil reserves to last at least another century but it's getting more difficult (and expensive) to extract.

Answer 6

1) Not sure, sorry.

2) Depends what types of Fokkers or Bombardiers you are talking about.  If "small" you mean the old Fokker tri-wing WWII era airplanes, then no, you don't need a type rating.  If you mean something like the F100, then yes, you do.  A type rating is required for any plane with a max takeoff weight of more than 12,500 pounds or any turbojet powered airplane.

3) Nope, that decision was not based solely on supply and demand.  Unless there are major safety issues with pilots between 60 and 65 in the future (not likely), that decision CAN'T be overturned without major discrimination lawsuits.

4) New technology like biofuel won't be widely used in aviation until it is perfected and proven in other industries.  There are too many unknowns about biofuel right now.  Probably the biggest factor is that there's not enough biofuel production to be able to buy it cost effectively.  Once an alternative fuel is proven, cheap, and abundant, it will be adapted for widespread use in aviation.

5) That depends more on the technologies of the future.  If, in 20 years, an airplane of an equivalent size comes out that's 60% more efficient than today's planes, you'll see today's planes retiring quickly.  Otherwise, as long as maintenance costs don't become a limiting factor, planes can physically run for about 40 years in regular service.  Just look at the DC-9, DC-10, and 727.  Most of them were built in the 1960s.  Most of them have been retired in the last 5-10 years from airline service, and many are still flying in cargo service.

6)  Simple supply and demand.  Worldwide demand for petroleum products has spiked sharply this decade with new industrial markets emerging.  If alternative fuels reduce the demand for petroleum on a global scale, you'll see the price of gas/jet fuel start coming down.