Weather The Storm

Sometimes, an airliner has teething problems. It's hardly a new concept; airliners are often the epitome of cutting edge technologies, often trying... more

by Alex Esguerra

Title

Weather The Storm

Artist

Alex Esguerra

Medium

Photograph - Black & White

Description

Sometimes, an airliner has teething problems. It's hardly a new concept; airliners are often the epitome of cutting edge technologies, often trying new concepts and hardware to give them an edge against the competition. As such, occasional kinks have to be ironed out. It's simply the way things go, sometimes.

The 787 was designed to be Boeing's most efficient airliner to date, and used many new approaches to attain that goal. 20% more efficient than the 767, one of the best known features of this long-ranged, mid-sized wide body jet (other than a rather dramatic wing flex) is a higher reliance on electricity to power it's systems. Of course, why that distinguishing feature of the Dreamliner is because of the problems that have been encountered. At least once, the entire 787 fleet was grounded while a fix to the battery system was developed .

But fixed it was, and the Dreamliner is back in the air reclaiming it's reputation. That's why I chose this particular image of a JAL 787. Rendered in black & white, I chose to accentuate the stormy environment in the background that the jet has been operating in during its flight. The monochrome also reflects the plane's somewhat unproven reputation at this point in time. But it in it's landing flare at SFO, reminding the viewer that the plane has successfully completed yet another trip. So like other airliner types that have weathered the storm of rocky beginnings, this 787 has chalked one more flight under it's belt, bringing the type one step closer towards the goal of a successful future.

Uploaded

March 13th, 2014