No one seems to know who exactly owns the plane and what its purpose is. Never painted, it's still in its green zinc chromate coating. To the uninformed, it looks like it's held together with duct tape. Probably our tax dollars at work, maybe. (www.thedrive.com) 更多...
That would be rubber shorts as well. I have a pair that I use when climbing steep roofs. If I slip on a steep roof, the rubber shorts naturally create much drag/friction to slow or sometimes stop my rapid decent, with or without my arm flaps deployed and flailing. If you tighten the bottom parts of both of the leg portions, they act an adult diaper. I've not tested that yet, but, I could be motivated by any amount of flattery.
Excellent question jptg63! The greater the amount of concentrated flatulence provided, the greater my commitment to quality adult diaper test data results. Those that also provide excessive flattery with the most odiferous flatulence will be elected to my Executive Committee, and, provided stipends comparable to that of the Royal Family.
The Boeing engineer is incorrect. The Top protective green coating as called is a protective coating sprayed on after fuselage assy in KA. Protects the aluminum clad panels of aircraft. IN WA. surface is washed off with fire hoses and scrubbed with scotch bright. This process finds defects and tool marks. Did the engineer get a degree from Harvard or Embry Riddle. Prob Embry Riddle. This aint KA city toto.
aluminum foil is not aircraft speed tape. aircraft speed tape comes on a roll that is 2 to 10 inches wide, 6-8 mm thick, 90% aluminum and costs $350 per roll https://www.grainger.com/product/29WR93?gucid=N:N:FPL:Free:GGL:CSM-1946:tew63h3:20501231
Sad thing is Santa Monica Airport is being piece by piece shut down based on apparent bribes from developers that want to replace it with high rises, etc. Very disgusted, and, that's being grossly polite.
Check out the Flightaware flight profile for N712JM yesterday 18 Jun 20... The flight profile was up and down from 8,000' to 200' multiple times at 115Kts... curious profile for a 3-hour flight.
Look at the altitude and speed returns for each flight. Lot's of possibilities as to what's being tested, but something for sure is aggressively being tested. Wonder if this has something to do with the Max return to service or a baseline comparison (I realize this a/c is not a Max). Since she's still green, and predates the Max a good bit, perhaps an unrelated coincidence. Interesting.
Clearly a lot of sensors/antennae taped all over the aircraft running to equipment inside. Possibly testing a jam proof navigation system based on sensing the Earth's magnetic field. The field is known and requires no space launches and maintenance upkeep. It could also be looking for disturbances in the field that could show areas of magnetic minerals or deep sea ship or plane wrecks yet to be discovered. Just brainstorming.
They must be testing a new way to get Nancy's party jet to California without detection! Probably testing new freezer space for he Chocolate ice cream containers!
It has the green coating that protects the unpainted skin. Boeing gets the skin sections with it covered for assembly. When the aircraft is finished being built, it goes to the paint shop and it is removed and painted. If you look at the pictures you see aluminum tape covering wiring or something for temp install for testing. Someone is useing this aircraft for testing something or other. Maybe something fixes on the 737-Max. Best guess from the pictures. Also, you can not trust what an engineer says. I have worked at Boeing and Lockheed building planes and even I know what that is.
The zinc coating could be used for testing abrasive substances in the air? It is odd. The mental illness int he military around testing can't be dismissed. I've watched a lot of the nuclear testing movies on YouTube, and you can practically see the wood those people are popping under the table, talking about nuking towns, and animals, and helpless Pacific islanders. You can only wonder what new disturbing ideas they are testing now that they can get away with it. It'll probably be provocative, and long term dangerous, but who cares.
I am not even going to try and comment on the rest of your rambling, but the coating is what is on all aircraft shells post manufacture. It is a protective coating only, has been tested more times than many can count, and that gets "washed off" as the aircraft is painted. It IS probably being used, instead of painting the craft, for 2 reasons. A: It has better adhesion quality than paint, when it comes to all the "body bandage tape" and B: paint would more than likely get damaged when trying to remove the tape from it, thereby having to go into paint works for a "touch up", thereby causing downtime.
Is there a possibility that whatever sensors they might be testing could be thrown off by normal paint? The zinc chromate might be used as a close analog to and without using a stealth coating if this is a testbed for equipment for new stealth bomber as mentioned in the article. Seems like they are using this 737 as a way of throwing off observers directly tying it to such. Civilian development techs in casual wear would make sense as not military personnel, being comfortable while testing I guess leads to better results.
I was thinking it would be definitely less reflective than a white or worse, silver coat of paint. No expert on this, just the less interference the better for results.
Somewhere in the world is a tree. That tree's sole function is to provide the oxygen that keeps your brain functioning. Find that tree and apologize to it.
Mr. Madison, what you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.
Wow... I sure woke you up. I guess you are fine with all that the military does. Wait until they are marching down your street then I guess.
The military industrial complex wastes BILLIONS of dollars every year 'testing' things. The nuclear fallout from their repeated 'testing' is why there are so many cases of cancer in certain areas in this country. I take a dim view of unaccountable military types 'testing' things. We the people should know what the military is doing, and where the money is going. The Pentagon has been under a law requiring audits, and they admit that an audit is impossible because so much money apparently just disappears. And all the suffering...
On a tour at the Boeing plant, the engineer giving the tour commented that the blue/green color was there to show if the surface had been subject to any abuse. Like tool damage, or anything rubbing up against the fuselage. In my mind, not having actual experience with plane manufacturing, I assumed that this use might have something to do with flying and abrasives (and I did say *could* with a question mark. Steady boys...)
I was assured that the plane was inspected for any damage to that coating and any indications were investigated. It makes sense to me. Seeing how the planes are basically built in a cave of towering buildings, a tool dropped from any height could do damage.
I guess it would make sense that the tape they are overusing on the fuselage could be easier to remove if the coating was left on, but there are quite a few solvents that could do as good, or better job removing tape residue I'd imagine.
So, trolling? Hardly. *shrug* But it did wake up a bunch of you. Good Morning Flight Aware!!! It worked better than coffee, apparently! You're welcome!
I was already awake after I spewed coffee from my nose reading your first comment. That teal zinc chromate coat is for shell protection after manufacture, for transport and a for assembly. They come straight from Spirit with that coating. Yes it makes it easier to spot fuselage distortion, but it is that colour due to it's chemical composition. And it was never intended to remain primary fuselage cover. Also it isn't the tape residue so much as it is actual paint removal. "Body bandage" can actually damage the paint when removed.
The Boeing engineer told me that planes never leave the factory in that green color. He said painting is part of the package. So I was really surprised seeing the picture. Obviously my limited knowledge of things Boeing are in error. I blame the expert (assumed) at Boeing for deliberately misinforming people. I guess if you want a 'naked plane', you can get a naked plane. The engineer specifically said the coating was for tool damage inspection, and about stopping corrosion.
Spirit? The airline?
As per 'tape', I remember being on a plane and someone pointed to the right wing, and laughed that there was duck/duct tape 'holding the wing together'. Others looked out at it rather panicked, and I said that duck.duct tape is what holds the universe together. I know it's 'special tape', but it *looks* like something from Home Depot. After landing, someone pointed out that 'It's still there! That's some crazy tape!' Yeah...
He only slightly misinformed..yes normally are painted to purchase company spec, and in this case Sierra Nevada/AECOM/USAF obviously knew they would be taping and untapping things to it, so left in in chromate teal. Boeing had purchased Wichita back in the 20's from Stearman Aircraft Company. As Michael pointed out, and I left the companies URL, Boeing sold off their Wichita and Oklahoma fabrication lines, Oklahoma division was purchased from Rockwell, in 05 t6o Canadian Firm Onex. Onex named it Spirit Aerosystems and in 06 purchased BAE's fabrication plants in Europe. Onex sold its shares in 2014.
The Boeing engineer was correct. They normally don't leave final assembly at the factory in that coating, but are painted to customer requirements. Fuselages, however, are built in Wichita, Kansas, by Spirit AeroSystems and are transported, with the green coating, by rail to Boeing's Seattle-area facilities. You will find plenty of photos of these airplanes-on-flatcars on-line. There was a notorious rail accident in Montana or Idaho a few years back in which some of the railcars left the tracks, spilling green 737 fuselages into a river. The unfortunate airplanes were immediately christened "Salmon-thirty-salmons."
Spirit AeroSystems is what used to be Boeing's Wichita factory, but it was spun off some years ago.
The Engineer is more wrong than correct as are many of the comments posted here. The Renton production site only has two paint hangars and prior to the current production line stoppage those two paint hangars can't paint 2 planes a day that rolled off the line. So, more aircraft fly away unpainted to several other locations. There are 4 paint hangars in Seattle at Boeing Field. 3rd party companies also paint 737's in Spokane,WA, Victorville, CA and New Iberia, LA. The TPC (Temporary Protective Coating)is primarily to protect the aluminum during the manufacturing process. I can assure you it does not help to identify skin defects. It hides many defects that are often found after the TPC is solvent (Alkasol 27) washed off the aircraft in preparation for paint. This BBJ 700 was originally built for DJC (Beijing Capital Airlines Company). Why it remains unpainted and what it's current mission is very interesting.
I believe you have errored. This craft was never built for Bejing Capitol. Wells Fargo owned it since being built, for a leasing company/aircraft merchandiser in Dubai. But this craft sat stored for 6 years, unwanted, then Wells sold it to Denmar technical Services (US govt) in March 2019.
I should note that a week after I left, there was an 'incident' there.
Apparently a 787-9 (?) actually ran over a human being on the tarmac as it was taxiing to take off on a test flight. The poor 'human' was wearing the required bright yellow jacket and matching pants, and had his radio, but it was either not working, or turned off. He was 'transported to the hospital' in bad shape. I bought one of their 'official yellow jackets'. I don't feel quite so safe after hearing about that. =8-O
So, the 'engineer' told me a line of crap, and they actually ran over someone! Not getting high marks from me.
Sure, I'm aware of Wichita being a 'finishing plant'. and I would assume that others also paint planes. But if you are going to pay that much for a plane, the least they could do is paint the damn thing. Or clear coat it? Whatever.
Boeing killed how many people because of a committee decision, and outright lies to people on special tours? Oh, okay...
I also toured the main plant, not the 737 plant. No one can get in there, the 'engineer' said. With so much being 'inaccurate', maybe he was 'inaccurate' about that too?
Boeing has a lot of issues. Treating people that want to take time out of their lives to attend 'in depth' tours, and be fed BS is an issue. Just saying. It was cool seeing the 'birth' of big planes. And the sashes on them of the intended final owner. But they need to do better to not piss all over their workers, and the public. Just saying.
But, those that want to slag me, SLAG ON!!! Party on!!!
And you accuse me of being negative. Amazing how easy it is to slam people you don't know.
I'm sure that the 'engineer' that did the tour was the shortest straw loser. But the tour was still fascinating, even with the 'misstatements'. Imagining working on a 777, running wires, riveting parts, installing windows. Knowing that plane will haul hundreds of thousands of people to all sorts of different destinations. Vacations, reunions, weddings, funerals, work, home...