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Qantas grounds 737NG due to 'cracking'
Source: Buying Business Travel
Qantas has temporarily pulled one of its 737NG aircraft from service after discovering “cracking” near a wing.
Boeing issued a warning about the potential issue back in June, advising its customers to inspect the entire family of 737s, including the NG and Max versions, after discovering an “improper manufacturing process” on a part on the wings carried out by a supplier.
The potential fault affects an area near the “pickle fork”, which helps attach the wing to the plane, according to the manufacturer.
Regulators required airlines to inspect aircraft that had completed more than 30,000 take-offs and landings (or cycles) and those with more than 22,600 cycles to be checked within the next 1,000. Qantas said none of its 737s have reached that number.
Read more: https://buyingbusinesstravel.com/news/qantas-grounds-737ng-due-to-cracking/
15 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
They screwed the pooch on the NextGen 737's redesigns. The original 737 was a robust aircraft that has flown millions of miles w/o many incidents.
They need to go back to Bill Allen's standards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McPherson_Allen
William McPherson "Bill" Allen (September 1, 1900 – October 28, 1985) was an American businessman in the aviation industry who served as the President of Boeing from 1945 to 1968.
Life and career
Born in Lolo, Montana, he attended the University of Montana, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He graduated in 1925 from Harvard Law School, and joined the Board of Boeing Air Transport in 1930 while remaining an employee of his Seattle law firm, Donworth, Todd & Higgins. A year later he joined the Board of Boeing Airplane Company as corporate counsel.
Following the death of Boeing president Philip G. Johnson in 1944, Chairman Claire Egtvedt was tasked with appointing his replacement. Feeling that none of the company's senior engineers had a sufficiently broad background to run the company, he turned to Bill Allen. Considering himself unqualified to run an engineering company, Allen at first declined the offer before finally accepting. Allen served as the president of the Boeing Company from September 1, 1945, until April 29, 1968. He also served as the chairman of the Boeing Company from 1968 through 1972. While he was president of Boeing, he made the famous decision in 1952 to "bet the company", when he authorized construction of the Boeing 367-80 and again when he authorized the launch of development of the Boeing 707. He also participated in launching other planes of renown, among them the Boeing 727, Boeing 737, and Boeing 747.
In 1965, Allen received the Vermilye Medal from The Franklin Institute.
In 1966, Allen asked Malcolm T. Stamper to spearhead production of the new 747 airplane on which the company's future was riding. This was a monumental engineering and management challenge, and included construction of the world's biggest factory in which to build the 747 at Everett, Washington, a plant which is the size of 40 football fields.
In 1971, Allen received the Tony Jannus Award for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation.
In 1975, Allen was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.
In 1975, Allen was one of the first four living members inducted into the Fortune magazine National Business Hall of Fame. In 2003 an article in Fortune by Jim Collins ranked Allen #2 among "The 10 Greatest CEOs of All Time."
In the last years of his life, Allen suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He died in Seattle on October 28, 1985 at the age of 85.
Allen is profiled in Sen. John McCain's and Mark Salter's 2007 book, Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them.
</snip>
William McPherson "Bill" Allen (September 1, 1900 – October 28, 1985) was an American businessman in the aviation industry who served as the President of Boeing from 1945 to 1968.
Life and career
Born in Lolo, Montana, he attended the University of Montana, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He graduated in 1925 from Harvard Law School, and joined the Board of Boeing Air Transport in 1930 while remaining an employee of his Seattle law firm, Donworth, Todd & Higgins. A year later he joined the Board of Boeing Airplane Company as corporate counsel.
Following the death of Boeing president Philip G. Johnson in 1944, Chairman Claire Egtvedt was tasked with appointing his replacement. Feeling that none of the company's senior engineers had a sufficiently broad background to run the company, he turned to Bill Allen. Considering himself unqualified to run an engineering company, Allen at first declined the offer before finally accepting. Allen served as the president of the Boeing Company from September 1, 1945, until April 29, 1968. He also served as the chairman of the Boeing Company from 1968 through 1972. While he was president of Boeing, he made the famous decision in 1952 to "bet the company", when he authorized construction of the Boeing 367-80 and again when he authorized the launch of development of the Boeing 707. He also participated in launching other planes of renown, among them the Boeing 727, Boeing 737, and Boeing 747.
In 1965, Allen received the Vermilye Medal from The Franklin Institute.
In 1966, Allen asked Malcolm T. Stamper to spearhead production of the new 747 airplane on which the company's future was riding. This was a monumental engineering and management challenge, and included construction of the world's biggest factory in which to build the 747 at Everett, Washington, a plant which is the size of 40 football fields.
In 1971, Allen received the Tony Jannus Award for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation.
In 1975, Allen was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.
In 1975, Allen was one of the first four living members inducted into the Fortune magazine National Business Hall of Fame. In 2003 an article in Fortune by Jim Collins ranked Allen #2 among "The 10 Greatest CEOs of All Time."
In the last years of his life, Allen suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He died in Seattle on October 28, 1985 at the age of 85.
Allen is profiled in Sen. John McCain's and Mark Salter's 2007 book, Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them.
</snip>
https://hackaday.com/2019/09/30/what-on-earth-is-a-pickle-fork-and-why-is-it-adding-to-boeings-737-woes/
THE ROLE OF THE PICKLE FORK
For those of us who do not work in aviation though it presents a question: what on earth is a pickle fork? The coverage of the story tells us it’s something to do with attaching the wing to the fuselage, but without a handy 737 to open up and take a look at we’re none the wiser.
Fortunately there’s a comprehensive description of one along with a review of wing attachment technologies from Boeing themselves, and it can be found in one of their patents. US9399508B2 is concerned with an active suspension system for wing-fuselage mounts and is a fascinating read in itself, but the part we are concerned with is a description of existing wing fixtures on page 12 of the patent PDF.
A cross-section of the aircraft wing fixing, in which we've highlighted the role of the pickle forks. (Boeing)
The pickle fork is an assembly so named because of its resemblance to the kitchen utensil, which attaches firmly to each side of the fuselage and has two prongs that extend below it where they are attached to the wing spar.
For the curious engineer with no aviation experience the question is further answered by the patent’s figure 2, which provides a handy cross-section. The other wing attachment they discuss involves the use of pins, leading to the point of the patented invention. Conventional wing fixings transmit the forces from the wing to the fuselage as a rigid unit, requiring the fuselage to be substantial enough to handle those forces and presenting a problem for designers of larger aircraft. The active suspension system is designed to mitigate this, and we’d be fascinated to hear from any readers in the comments who might be able to tell us more.
We think it’s empowering that a science-minded general public can look more deeply at a component singled out in a news report by digging into the explanation in the Boeing patent. We don’t envy the Boeing engineers in their task as they work to produce a replacement, and we hope to hear of their solution as it appears.
</snip>
THE ROLE OF THE PICKLE FORK
For those of us who do not work in aviation though it presents a question: what on earth is a pickle fork? The coverage of the story tells us it’s something to do with attaching the wing to the fuselage, but without a handy 737 to open up and take a look at we’re none the wiser.
Fortunately there’s a comprehensive description of one along with a review of wing attachment technologies from Boeing themselves, and it can be found in one of their patents. US9399508B2 is concerned with an active suspension system for wing-fuselage mounts and is a fascinating read in itself, but the part we are concerned with is a description of existing wing fixtures on page 12 of the patent PDF.
A cross-section of the aircraft wing fixing, in which we've highlighted the role of the pickle forks. (Boeing)
The pickle fork is an assembly so named because of its resemblance to the kitchen utensil, which attaches firmly to each side of the fuselage and has two prongs that extend below it where they are attached to the wing spar.
For the curious engineer with no aviation experience the question is further answered by the patent’s figure 2, which provides a handy cross-section. The other wing attachment they discuss involves the use of pins, leading to the point of the patented invention. Conventional wing fixings transmit the forces from the wing to the fuselage as a rigid unit, requiring the fuselage to be substantial enough to handle those forces and presenting a problem for designers of larger aircraft. The active suspension system is designed to mitigate this, and we’d be fascinated to hear from any readers in the comments who might be able to tell us more.
We think it’s empowering that a science-minded general public can look more deeply at a component singled out in a news report by digging into the explanation in the Boeing patent. We don’t envy the Boeing engineers in their task as they work to produce a replacement, and we hope to hear of their solution as it appears.
</snip>
I remember my first ride on a jet airliner and was fascinated by the fact the wings would "flap" slightly. The "pickle fork" is part of the system, placed at the wing root, that allows for that necessary flexibility. Pickle forks are supposed to have an inherent flexibility, but should never crack.
