Boeing 777x And The Folding Wingtip
Boeing 777x And The Folding Wingtip
Boeing 777x is set to become the largest twin-engine jet in the world after the success of the 777 and 787 Dreamliner families. In the new installment, it can accommodate around 400 travelers and one of the distinctive feature is it contains 108 foot wide foldable wings which will make it more efficient and cheaper to operate than its predecessors. Instead of aluminum, Boeing will the new wings out of carbon-fiber composites, which are stronger and lighter than the previous metal. But the talking point of these is will it fit into the airport. To counter this Boeing came up with the idea of folding wings but it was rejected earlier by FAA.
FAA stated ‘The hinge on the wing created a host of potential safety issues and has led to several crashes in recent decades when pilots accidentally tried to take off without properly configuring movable panels on wings. The same thing could happen with the new wingtips’. But according to Bloomberg, FAA has given its clearance on the design with a few regulatory cautions.
Boeing’s revamped 777 will have a folding wing tip
What now?
Since folding tips are first of its kind, existing aircraft design standards didn’t account for them. FAA started from the scratch on regulations. Now the organization gave their satisfaction to this idea as of last week.
FAA is set to provide 10 regulations with some of them are discussed below-
- A system to warn pilots if they are trying to take off with the tips folded.
- A process for replacing lights on the foldable sections of the wings.
- A locking mechanism that has been tested to show no amount of force could fold the wings in flight.
- The ability to stand up to wind speeds of up to 75 miles/120 km per hour while on the ground
