Have a look-see at what all of the hubbub is about regarding the battery fires on the Boeing Dreamliner, all of which are grounded.
Fires are so scary on an airplane commercial pilots are trained to identify what kind of fire, and where it is, by the scent of the smoke from the fire. No doubt they all know well what a Li-ion battery fire smells like, since the battery is popular in carry on electronics and is tightly regulated for checked baggage.
IATA estimates that over a billion lithium cells are flown each year.[108] In January 2008, the United States Department of Transportation ruled that passengers on commercial aircraft could carry lithium batteries in their checked baggage if the batteries were installed in a device. Types of batteries covered by this rule are those containing small amounts of lithium, including Li-ion, lithium polymer, and lithium cobalt oxide chemistries. Lithium-ion batteries containing more than 25 grams (0.88 oz) equivalent lithium content (ELC) are forbidden in air travel.[115] This restriction is due to the possibility of batteries short-circuiting and causing a fire.
Serious business. The battery is so unstable that the cell-phones etc, that carry thse batteries have software to control it. That is why "installed" is safer. Uninstalled is dangerous. Now, given the problems of that battery, guess which kind Boeing uses on the new jets? Ones that run the risk of catching fire. And do. Even if installed.
Fortunately no one yet has died. And no doubt in ten years there will be a tell-all book about how close we came to disaster after corners were cut, management was lax and who knows what, on the China Syndrome theme.
(Update: Well, people have died, pilots:
Cargo airline pilots long have complained about the dangers of transporting lithium batteries. The batteries are suspected of causing or contributing to the severity of an onboard fire that led to the September 2010 crash of a United Parcel Service plane near Dubai, killing both pilots. The two pilots of another UPS plane barely managed to escape the aircraft before it was consumed by fire moments after landing in Philadelphia in 2006.)
No doubt they will beat this technological problem with technological breakthroughs. But how did we get to this point? We got to this point because USA has only one major airline maker. And it has its own bank, so it can extend, compliments of the taxpayers, vendor financing. When you can pay people to buy your heavily subsidized product (these batteries were developed in Universities, at taxpayers expense) you really do not have to listen too closely to your customers, especially when you competitors overseas are doing the same thing.
Now people argue gigantism, you really cannot have more than one airplane maker in a country, but this is nonsense. Boeing is 3000 subcontractors, small private companies that make the parts. Boeing merely manages the assembly, and that more and more they farm out.
Anyone inn USA trying to compete with Boeing will find they cannot get the same breaks from the FAA or the same vendor financing, for whatever reason. So start-up is unlikely, and if anyone wants an object lesson in trying to provide a better product in the big business/big govt marketplace (fascism), just review the stories of Tucker automobile and DeLorean. The strangest things happen.
World trade competition is not about labor rates, it is about management cost. If we continue this game we are playing, China will get the edge in management, and Boeing will continue to sink slowly.
The way to beat China is to deregulate airline manufacture. Eliminate all Boeing subsidies and the EXIM bank, which was created to make Boeing #1. There are plenty of Americans who would begin making planes, like Bill Boeing once did, and they will not only crush Boeing, but Airbus and anything China will put out.
We are playing a game unworthy of our capabilities. Let's strip down, oil up and kick some ass.
Update: this just in... although the batteries cannot be connected to a jet, the safety regulators have just said they can be carried as cargo. I am not making this up. Why, to transport the batteries to airplanes now grounded for using those batteries. Is there a thinking person in charge anywhere?
Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, a former US Airways pilot famed for his precision flying that enabled passengers and crew to survive an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York, said in an interview that he wouldn’t be comfortable flying an airliner that carried lithium ion aircraft batteries in its cargo hold.
Well, there is no way for you to know, now. It's permitted by safety regulators, so the "flame-on" prone batteries are now allowed in the holds. No wonder Sully isn't comfortable. He knows what an on board emergency is like.
When I say deregulation, I mean unregulation. Only a free market can keep us safe. Fascism is no replacement for freedom.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
Fires are so scary on an airplane commercial pilots are trained to identify what kind of fire, and where it is, by the scent of the smoke from the fire. No doubt they all know well what a Li-ion battery fire smells like, since the battery is popular in carry on electronics and is tightly regulated for checked baggage.
IATA estimates that over a billion lithium cells are flown each year.[108] In January 2008, the United States Department of Transportation ruled that passengers on commercial aircraft could carry lithium batteries in their checked baggage if the batteries were installed in a device. Types of batteries covered by this rule are those containing small amounts of lithium, including Li-ion, lithium polymer, and lithium cobalt oxide chemistries. Lithium-ion batteries containing more than 25 grams (0.88 oz) equivalent lithium content (ELC) are forbidden in air travel.[115] This restriction is due to the possibility of batteries short-circuiting and causing a fire.
Serious business. The battery is so unstable that the cell-phones etc, that carry thse batteries have software to control it. That is why "installed" is safer. Uninstalled is dangerous. Now, given the problems of that battery, guess which kind Boeing uses on the new jets? Ones that run the risk of catching fire. And do. Even if installed.
Fortunately no one yet has died. And no doubt in ten years there will be a tell-all book about how close we came to disaster after corners were cut, management was lax and who knows what, on the China Syndrome theme.
(Update: Well, people have died, pilots:
Cargo airline pilots long have complained about the dangers of transporting lithium batteries. The batteries are suspected of causing or contributing to the severity of an onboard fire that led to the September 2010 crash of a United Parcel Service plane near Dubai, killing both pilots. The two pilots of another UPS plane barely managed to escape the aircraft before it was consumed by fire moments after landing in Philadelphia in 2006.)
No doubt they will beat this technological problem with technological breakthroughs. But how did we get to this point? We got to this point because USA has only one major airline maker. And it has its own bank, so it can extend, compliments of the taxpayers, vendor financing. When you can pay people to buy your heavily subsidized product (these batteries were developed in Universities, at taxpayers expense) you really do not have to listen too closely to your customers, especially when you competitors overseas are doing the same thing.
Now people argue gigantism, you really cannot have more than one airplane maker in a country, but this is nonsense. Boeing is 3000 subcontractors, small private companies that make the parts. Boeing merely manages the assembly, and that more and more they farm out.
Anyone inn USA trying to compete with Boeing will find they cannot get the same breaks from the FAA or the same vendor financing, for whatever reason. So start-up is unlikely, and if anyone wants an object lesson in trying to provide a better product in the big business/big govt marketplace (fascism), just review the stories of Tucker automobile and DeLorean. The strangest things happen.
World trade competition is not about labor rates, it is about management cost. If we continue this game we are playing, China will get the edge in management, and Boeing will continue to sink slowly.
The way to beat China is to deregulate airline manufacture. Eliminate all Boeing subsidies and the EXIM bank, which was created to make Boeing #1. There are plenty of Americans who would begin making planes, like Bill Boeing once did, and they will not only crush Boeing, but Airbus and anything China will put out.
We are playing a game unworthy of our capabilities. Let's strip down, oil up and kick some ass.
Update: this just in... although the batteries cannot be connected to a jet, the safety regulators have just said they can be carried as cargo. I am not making this up. Why, to transport the batteries to airplanes now grounded for using those batteries. Is there a thinking person in charge anywhere?
Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, a former US Airways pilot famed for his precision flying that enabled passengers and crew to survive an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York, said in an interview that he wouldn’t be comfortable flying an airliner that carried lithium ion aircraft batteries in its cargo hold.
Well, there is no way for you to know, now. It's permitted by safety regulators, so the "flame-on" prone batteries are now allowed in the holds. No wonder Sully isn't comfortable. He knows what an on board emergency is like.
When I say deregulation, I mean unregulation. Only a free market can keep us safe. Fascism is no replacement for freedom.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
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