How Much Can The Boeing 787's Wings Flex?

The aircraft's distinctive wing flex is one of its defining features.Made possible with the use of carbon fiber material, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's wings have an incredible amount of flexibility. This flexibility allows load changes and wind gusts to be dampened, resulting in an overall smoother, less turbulent ride for passengers. But just how much can these wings flex?

Extreme testing results

In March 2010,?Boeing?completed its spectacular "ultimate-load wing-up bending test." In this test, Speed News notes that extreme loads were applied to the airframe, replicating 150% of the most severe forces an aircraft could expect to encounter in service. Wired notes that the?test aircraft?was essentially built to be?"tortured on the ground and never fly."?So what was the result of this extreme test?

Subjecting the?Boeing 787's wing flexibility to near extremes, Boeing flexed the Dreamliner's wings upward by approximately?25 feet (7.6 meters)?during the test. A video of this extreme test can be seen below:

With this number being on the extreme end of the?Dreamliner?wing's flexibility, we can safely say that typical flights with this type of aircraft (and essentially every other commercial jet) will experience much less flex. Even if the flex is much less, it's an?amazing sight to see, as?Simple Flying photographer Vincenzo Pace?can attest to - especially when these birds are banking on the Canarsie Departure.

Made possible by composite materials

The flexibility of the 787's wings is made possible with the use of?composite materials,?including CFRP, or carbon fiber reinforced polymer?(CFRP). Boeing notes that approximately 50% of the Dreamliner's wings comprise this composite material. Not only are wings more flexible, leading to a smoother ride, but they are also lighter- resulting in less fuel burn and greater efficiency, as Boeing explains:"[Composite materials] allow a lighter, simpler structure, which increases airplane efficiency, reduces fuel consumption and reduces weight-based maintenance and fees. They do not fatigue or corrode, which reduces scheduled maintenance and increases productive time."

A smooth ride

The 787's wing flexibility isn't just incredible to watch. Indeed, this aspect is also a massive benefit for passengers, and particularly welcome among those more prone to sickness caused by a bumpy ride. Analyzing various factors, including wing loading, gust alleviation, and wing flex, turbulence forecasting website Turbli crowned the Boeing?787-9?as the best aircraft to handle turbulence.

Turbli notes that the aircraft features one of the largest wing loading ratios for commercial aircraft: 750 kg per square meter. Wing loading is the total mass of the plane divided by the wing's surface area. "For comparison, the wings can take twice much weight per square meter than those of an Embraer ERJ-175," it adds.

Add to this the 787's incredible flex (an aspect ratio close to 11) and an advanced gust alleviation system, and passengers can keep the air sickness bag neatly tucked away in the seat pocket. This is likely a factor in its popularity.

A much-loved design

But how popular exactly is the Dreamliner? A quick look at data from?ch-aviation.com?spells this out plainly, with the aircraft clearly being a favorite all over the world. The website notes that 870 examples are presently active, with a further 137 inactive examples allowing the number delivered to exceed the 1,000 mark.

Of the active examples, more than half are accounted for by the mid-size 787-9 variant, with 484 aircraft across 47 operators. Meanwhile, there were also 319 active 787-8s and 60 active 787-10s in the world at the time of writing. The missing examples are accounted for in the form of 4 private 787-8s and 3 private 787-9s.

SAS To Offer More Than 5000 Weekly Flights In Summer 2023

Scandinavian Air Systems is launching several new routes to traditional and fresh destinations this coming summer alongside a boost in capacity.

Scandinavian Air Systems will launch 20 new routes in the summer of 2023, bringing its total to more than 5000 weekly flights to over 100 destinations. The new routes primarily focus on reliable beach destinations and boosting domestic and regional connectivity.

The new summer program announced by?SAS?includes more than 200 routes with new links from all three Scandinavian capitals. The carrier has indicated it will continue to increase the number of flights on major domestic, Scandinavian, and international routes to meet a rise in demand for travel. Erik Westman, EVP & CCO, Network and Revenue management, expresses his optimism for the upcoming season:

"We are pleased to present our program for this summer, and we are delighted to see a continuous increase in demand for travel. The summer offering includes several new destinations as well expanded capacity to already existing popular summer destinations."

"SAS will continue to add to our already extensive network during the coming months with several exciting new destinations. We look forward to a busy summer and to welcoming our passengers onboard.”

Where is it hot next summer for SAS?

SAS is adding flights to Spain from all three Scandinavian capitals to meet strong customer demand for particularly popular destinations. SAS' overall capacity to the Mediterranean for the coming year will exceed pre-pandemic levels for the first time next summer. The carrier will also add a fourth destination in Croatia with the launch of its new service from Copenhagen to?Zadar.

The?Star Alliance?carrier is significantly expanding its capacity to Italy for the summer. SAS will have up to 156 weekly flights between Scandinavia and Italy with the launch of four new routes to the Mediterranean hotspot. Passengers departing from Oslo, Norway, will be able to fly to Florence, Venice, and?Catania?on the island of Sicily near Mount Etna. For those on Norway's west coast, flights will depart from the UNESCO World Heritage City and European City of Culture of Bergen to Milan. SAS will also increase capacity by adding flights to destinations such as Milan, Bologna, and Rome.?Milan Malpensa Airport?will be served up to three times daily from Copenhagen, up to twice daily from Stockholm, and daily from Oslo. The expansion to Italy also includes more flights from Copenhagen to Florence and both Catania and?Palermo?on Sicily.

New destinations from Norway.

The airline, which acts as the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, will offer nine new European destinations and one new domestic route in Norway this summer. SAS is flying from?Oslo Gardermoen Airport?to the Turkish seaside resort of Antalya, Florence, Catania, Venice, Larnaca in Cyprus, and the German city of Stuttgart.?Bergen Airport?will see the addition of the previously mentioned service to Milan and a new route to Nice on the French Riviera. The western city of Haugesund will also see two additional new routes for the summer. SAS is launching a connection to its hub in Copenhagen alongside a domestic link to Norway's third-largest city, Trondheim. The airline will also increase frequencies between ?lesund and Copenhagen to provide better connections for passengers departing from the western part of Norway.

More flights are coming to Copenhagen.

SAS already has flights to an extensive selection of intercontinental and European destinations from its largest hub at?Copenhagen-Kastrup Airport. It is launching seven new routes from the Danish capital this coming summer. Destinations include reliable sunspots such as Porto, Larnaca, Antalya, and Zadar. In addition to the route to Haugesund, SAS will commence service to?Cornwall Airport Newquay?and JFK in New York. The New York City link is a notable addition, as the carrier already serves nearby?Newark Liberty International Airport?from Copenhagen. The airline will operate out of Terminal 7 at?John F. Kennedy Airport?alongside fellow Star Alliance members, including ANA, Avianca, Turkish Airlines, Egyptair, TAP Air Portugal, and EVA Air. This?new service will launch in February?with five weekly flights before rising to daily for the summer schedule.

SAS also continues to focus on domestic routes in Denmark and Sweden to provide better connections between the Danish and Swedish airports and significant European destinations. The recently announced summer schedule also includes additional morning departures from Aalborg to Copenhagen, adding up to eight flights daily. Additionally,?Aarhus?in Northern Denmark will see up to five daily flights to Copenhagen.

Stockholm sees four new destinations.

The Swedish capital is also due to receive additional routes this coming summer. SAS will offer four new routes from its hub at?Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Flights will take off for Antalya, the Mediterranean island of Ibiza, the Finnish city of Vaasa, and?Montpellier?in the South of France. The French airport had a notable incident earlier this year when?a Boeing 737 freighter slid off the runway?into a nearby lake.

SAS is further increasing the number of departures between Stockholm and Sweden's most significant domestic destinations, with boosts on routes to Lule?,?Gothenburg, and Ume?. The airline aims to continuously increase flights to major European capitals to provide travelers with the best connectivity. Passenger numbers are also up, with 1.67 million passengers traveling with SAS in November, an increase of 26% compared to the same month last year.

The airline's capacity also increased by approximately 20% in November compared to last year.

New routes and reliable staples

The airline will offer more than 170 flights to its long-haul destinations next year. In total, SAS offers nine intercontinental summer destinations. The United States is?an important market for the group, and flights will operate to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, and New York at both JFK and Newark. Further afield, the airline is flying to Toronto and?Shanghai?next summer. The complete list of new destinations and routes is listed below.