Quoting LVZXV (Reply 11):
In any case, Finnair were so shocked at the state of the MD-11(ER) they recently acquired from Varig (PP-VQI, now OH-LGG) that they chose not to get any more from said source and, with no others going begging on the market (that hadn't been snapped-up by cargo companies), they chose the A340s instead. |
There's an article about the major check (C4) on
OH-
LGG by Finnair in the Finnish general technical magazine "Tekniikan Maailma" (8/06). From it we read that amongs some of the items rectified were:
--an excessive exhaust gas temperature of two engines because of salt deposits in the engines. A coke wash was performed;
--dents in fan blades of two engines;
--a compressor blade damage in #3 engine;
--plastic parts of interior trimming had been painted with an undocumented paint, necessitating a grinding away of the top layer and repainting with a correct paint;
--a substantial amount of loose electrical wires that'd lead nowhere;
--a number of cable ties missing in the wiring;
--undocumented changes in wiring;
--undocumented gaps in the history of some of the engine parts;
--a reverser mechanism servo of an engine was originating from a wrong aircraft (the 747);
--one of the two artificial feel actuators of an elevator was non-serviceable, so it had simply been left disconnected;
--one of the fuel pumps was installed with its factory plastic protection on.
As for the operating costs of the
MD-11, Finnair's Colin Molloy explains in the article: "an
MD-11 consumes 12-14% more fuel than an A340, but carries more freight. (...) the capital costs of an
MD-11 are less than half of those of a B777 -- that buys a lot of fuel." Also, the
MD-11 is faster than the A340.
[Edited 2006-06-13 22:41:51]
