Boeing certified the 747-8 passenger aircraft without use of a 3,300-gal. tail fuel tank, a restriction that is only likely to affect the nine VIP Boeing Business Jet orders among 106 the company has received for the four-engine jet. The lockout of the tank in the horizontal stabilizer cuts 300-400 nm off the airplane's maximum range. It was ordered because of an FAA certification requirement that Boeing demonstrate that the airplane will not be affected by the loss of a fitting in its wing-to-engine strut joint. During testing, flight-test crews experienced flutter when the aft tank was 15% (495 gal.) or more full. Boeing has not specified where the flutter occurred. "We are working on finding a solution," which is expected in 2013, says spokesman Jim Proulx.
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