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Costly Airbus paint flaw goes wider than the Gulf

reuters.com

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Re: Costly Airbus paint flaw goes wider than the Gulf

#11

Post by ghshephard »

m0llusk wrote: post #2

Arguably this is a much greater problem than it at first appears because it exposes a serious and fundamental problem with our materials development processes. Currently development of new products is going faster than we can understand the qualities and limitations of those products. How exactly this happened and what is the best response is not clear. Because of how these materials are made a failure of the exterio…

I've read this paragraph a couple times - and what I find intriguing is how it's the sort of thing that GPT-3 can write based on the initial news statement. Every sentence in it is somewhat tautological. Maybe I'm just more suspicious, but I can envision a time (uh, maybe it's already here?) when forums like HN start to get peppered with AI commentary...

This sentence, though - seems to be without any basis: "Currently development of new products is going faster than we can understand the qualities and limitations of those products."

I would think that in 2021 we know far more about the "qualities and limitations" of products under development - through virtue of more sophisticated testing, more sophisticated test equipment, and advanced analytical capability.

Re: Costly Airbus paint flaw goes wider than the Gulf

#12

Post by Gravityloss »

m0llusk wrote: post #2

Arguably this is a much greater problem than it at first appears because it exposes a serious and fundamental problem with our materials development processes. Currently development of new products is going faster than we can understand the qualities and limitations of those products. How exactly this happened and what is the best response is not clear. Because of how these materials are made a failure of the exterio…

Well at least carbon fiber composites are not new, used in Formula 1 probably when most posters here weren't born. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_MP4/1

Re: Costly Airbus paint flaw goes wider than the Gulf

#13

Post by jaclaz »

timw4mail wrote: post #7

I'm not sure there exists a more complex set of requirements for paint than for aircraft. Extreme cold to surface temperatures, the requirement to flex with adhered surfaces without cracking, plus the desire for a paint job to last for years. It looks like conductivity is also desired, to some degree, to help the metal surfaces dissipate lightning.

Don't forget that besides the thermal effects, the plane hull contracts and expands due to external air pressure and internal pressurization.

Re: Costly Airbus paint flaw goes wider than the Gulf

#14

Post by sithadmin »

S_A_P wrote: post #6

I’m not even close to an aviation expert but I’m curious if we are reaching a point where aerospace tech is too complicated. Both major manufacturers are having issues with their latest generation of planes. I’m curious what someone with expertise thinks about Boeing and Airbus’ issues

You could basically make this statement every year since commercial airliners were introduced. For commercial air transport, the 'bleeding edge' (which I put in quotes because it's actually quite conservative, relative to the bleeding edge in other fields) has always suffered from minor (and sometimes major and deadly) product quirks. Military aircraft even more so.

This is also why there's a very strong industry preference for airframes that are 'tried and true' - e.g. 737 variants up until the MAX, A320 and A330, etc.

Re: Costly Airbus paint flaw goes wider than the Gulf

#15

Post by [deleted] »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #9
m0llusk wrote: post #2

Arguably this is a much greater problem than it at first appears because it exposes a serious and fundamental problem with our materials development processes. Currently development of new products is going faster than we can understand the qualities and limitations of those products. How exactly this happened and what is the best response is not clear. Because of how these materials are made a failure of the exterio…

> Arguably this is a much greater problem than it at first appears You can make the argument. Doesn't mean its true or has any relevance.

[deleted]

Re: Costly Airbus paint flaw goes wider than the Gulf

#18

Post by SmellTheGlove »

ghshephard wrote: post #11
m0llusk wrote: post #2

Arguably this is a much greater problem than it at first appears because it exposes a serious and fundamental problem with our materials development processes. Currently development of new products is going faster than we can understand the qualities and limitations of those products. How exactly this happened and what is the best response is not clear. Because of how these materials are made a failure of the exterio…

I've read this paragraph a couple times - and what I find intriguing is how it's the sort of thing that GPT-3 can write based on the initial news statement. Every sentence in it is somewhat tautological. Maybe I'm just more suspicious, but I can envision a time (uh, maybe it's already here?) when forums like HN start to get peppered with AI commentary... This sentence, though - seems to be without any basis: "Current…

Funny, I had a similar reaction. The wording is just strange. Like on Reddit when bots are trying to create fud.

Re: Costly Airbus paint flaw goes wider than the Gulf

#19

Post by lotsofpulp »

1cvmask wrote: post #5

It seems that victim blaming is not something specific to just Boeing. Airbus blamed Qatar airways and the hot weather till similar issues emerged with planes of Finn Air and Air France in colder climates. Whatever happened to the customer is always right? Guess it is easier to victim blame when you operate in essence a duopoly. Competition is critical to solve these issues in the long run.

> Whatever happened to the customer is always right?

The customer not being right.

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