Boeing 787 Dreamliner

[Kevin Teh 0]

@flightblogger First pictures: 787 Low speed taxi tests underway

 

@flightblogger Latest word: ZA001 just did a "sweet u-turn" in front of @futureofflight.

 

 

First pictures: 787 Low speed taxi tests underway

By Jon Ostrower | http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/

This morning, ZA001 conducted its first slow lap around Paine Field. Taxi tests began a little past 10 AM in Everett and are currently underway. The fleet of 787's remains grounded until a remedial fix is applied to the side of body before the aircraft can be cleared for its maiden flight, however Boeing can still proceed with these taxi tests on N787BA. A very special thanks to the person who sent these to me.

 

 

 

Its moving... but not flying until the fix is identified....

[Pieter C. 5]

Boeing to purchase 787 aft fuselage plant from Vought for $580 million

 

Wednesday July 8, 2009

Boeing said yesterday that it has reached agreement to purchase Vought Aircraft Industries' facility in North Charleston, S.C., that builds the 787's aft fuselage sections.

 

It will pay Vought $580 million for the plant and relieve the company of its obligations to repay advances previously made by Boeing, which will take over all of the plant's assets and inventory and assume full control and operation of the site.

 

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson said bringing the rear fuselage plant in-house "will strengthen the 787 program by enabling us to accelerate productivity and efficiency improvements as we move toward production ramp-up. In addition, it will bolster our capability to develop and produce large composite structures that will contribute to the advancement of this critical technology." The aft fuselage sections fabricated in North Charleston are made primarily of composite material.

 

Vought will continue to do work on other Boeing programs at plants in other locations, including smaller components for the 787 as well as structures and components for the 737, 747, 767 and 777.

 

Vought President and CEO Elmer Doty said that the "financial demands of [the 787] program are clearly growing beyond what a company our size can support." Vought temporarily ceased operations at the North Charleston plant last year because Boeing had fallen too far behind on the program to continue taking delivery of rear fuselage sections (ATWOnline, Nov. 12, 2008).

 

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. The move comes as Boeing reassesses when it will be able to operate the Dreamliner's first flight

[C.Foo 3]

787 New pic livery 1

http://paineairport.com/kpae2253.htm

 

787 New pic livery 2

 

The livery looks nice could be DL/UA 767 launch liveries gen2

[Pieter C. 5]

787 New pic livery 1

http://paineairport.com/kpae2253.htm

 

787 New pic livery 2

 

The livery looks nice could be DL/UA 767 launch liveries gen2

 

Foo,

 

I've moved your topic to this 787-topic !!!

 

Wow, everything is so sleek on the 787: just compare the APU with the 767 behind

[Kevin Teh 0]

More pictures over there at FlightBlogger...

 

It's ZA005 who will eventually wear the GEnx Engine

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/2009/07/unveiled-za005-leaves-the-pain.html

[KK Lee 5]

Not sure if anyone has posted this already.

 

http://www.lonelyscientist.com/

 

An ebook - "An Impossible Dream" by Hans van der Zanden regarding issues faced by aircraft manufacturer with large application of composite material on airframe (ie B787 & A350XWB). Approx 6MB PDF download is available on the site.

 

Rather interesting read, I am on page68 now.

 

The author is a promoter of aluminum reinforced composite materials. Existing honeycomb panel (e.g. aircraft gallery, carts) is a aluminum reinforced composites.

 

Bonding aluminum skin to fiber doesn’t offer significant weight saving, not easy to handle or maintain very thin aluminum skin, de-lamination risk between aluminum skin and fiber is higher than pure fiber, higher tooling cost, higher manufacturing cost, etc. Hence, 787, A380, A350 don’t use much aluminum reinforced composite materials.

 

[LeeTZ 1]

the livery looking good

[C.Foo 3]

No wonder I could not find it

You son of a pitch just joking

 

Foo,

 

I've moved your topic to this 787-topic !!!

 

Wow, everything is so sleek on the 787: just compare the APU with the 767 behind

[flee 5]

Boeing 787 wing flaw extends inside plane

 

 

 

 

By Dominic Gates

Seattle Times aerospace reporter

 

The wing damage that grounded Boeing's new composite 787 Dreamliner occurred under less stress than previously reported — and is more extensive.

 

An engineer familiar with the details said the damage happened when the stress on the wings was well below the load the wings must bear to be federally certified to carry passengers.

 

In addition, information obtained independently and confirmed by a second engineer familiar with the problem shows the damage occurred on both sides of the wing-body join — that is, on the outer wing as well as inside the fuselage.

 

More: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2009565319&zsection_id=2003750727&slug=boeing30&date=20090730

[C.Foo 3]

BA Presses Boeing for Break on Orders

Renegotiated Payments for Dreamliner Are Sought, Putting Funding Pressure on Plane Maker.ArticleComments (4)more in Europe ».BY DANIEL MICHAELS

British Airways PLC is pressing Boeing Co. to renegotiate installment payments on 787 Dreamliners the carrier has ordered -- a money-saving effort that highlights a new headache for airlines and plane makers amid the credit crunch and plunging air traffic.

 

BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in an interview in London he is seeking to delay cash payments that all airlines make to Boeing and its European rival Airbus as new planes are being built.

 

These so-called predelivery payments can total tens of millions of dollars per jetliner and have become very difficult for airlines to bankroll in the financial ...

 

The move is the latest in a series of setbacks for Boeing. Its 787 Dreamliner was originally supposed to enter service in May 2008 but is now running more than two years late after a series of supply and production glitches

 

From http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124889252624990979.html

[GeO 0]

Come on Boeing. Please rectified the problem. Now Airbus is ahead already.

[S V Choong 4]

Stumbled across this site:

 

Media tour of the Boeing 787 control centre

http://www.seattlepi.com/photos/gallery.asp?SubID=4796&page=1&GTitle=Media%20tour%20of%20Boeing%20787%20control%20center&pubdate=4/30/2009

 

You will find photos of the much anticipated Boeing 787 and a Boeing 747-8 on the assembly line.

[Kevin Teh 0]

Some updates about the program from flightblogger.

 

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/2009/08/cliff-notes-the-seven-key-item.html

 

Cliff Notes: Seven key items from today's 787 announcement

 

1. First Flight

Boeing says that ZA001 will fly by the end of 2009, an assessment that confirms previous reporting. Sources continue to maintain that a late November or early December time frame is targeted for the maiden sortie. ZA001 is currently prepped for the side-of-body reinforcement inside Paint Hangar 45-04. Vice president for airplane programs, Pat Shanahan, says Dreamliner One is "functionally ready to fly on all accounts" separate from the wing fix. All gauntlets are completed on both ZA001 and ZA002.

 

2. Fix Installation

The installation of the fix for each airplane is expected to take three months for each of the first six flight test aircraft. That timing includes the required preparation ahead of the physical installation. Boeing says they have already completed preparation on ZY997 and ZA001 with installation to begin within a few weeks. The pacing is driven by the size constraints inside the wing and center wing boxes. ZA001 will not fly until the fix is installed, tested and validated on ZY997.

 

3. Flight Test

The flight test program has been extended from 8.5 months to as much as a year if required. Boeing says that they've added "several weeks" worth of margin, but they have from 4Q09 to 4Q10 to complete certification of the 787.

 

4. 787-9

With the six to nine month slide in first delivery, Boeing has pushed back first delivery of the 787-9 to the end of 2013. The aircraft is currently in a sizing phase before freezing of the external configuration. Air New Zealand is the launch customer for the type and was supposed to get its first in early 2013. In addition, according to an American Airlines spokesperson, the airlines was supposed to receive its first in fall 2013 and has not yet received any revised delivery guidance.

 

5. 2nd Final Assembly Line

Boeing acknowledged directly that the current infrastructure in Everett is capable of a maximum production rate of seven 787s per month. The company now says it will officially need a second line in order to meet the goal of producing 10 787s per month. Front runners for the line second appear to be Everett and Charleston, though Long Beach and San Antonio are believed to be in consideration as well. A decision will come by the close of the year.

 

6. Flight Test Fleet

ZA001, ZA002 and ZA003, fully up to FAA spec for certification, have been transferred from inventory (potential to be sold) to a research and development expense of $2.5 billion. There's no word on where they aircraft will end up, however NA001 (1st 757) remains in Boeing's control. ZA001 and ZA002 were originally set to be delivered to ANA and ZA003 to Northwest.

 

ZA004 to ZA006 will be delivered after significant, though not cost prohibitive, rework following flight test. They aren't currently viable for airline customers but Boeing believes they will be operated by VIP customers eventually. ZA004 was destined for Northwest while the GEnx-powered ZA005 and ZA006 were to go to Royal Air Maroc.

 

7. The Tally

Today's disclosure of the schedule brings the total program delay to 29-32 months after first delivery was originally planned in May 2008. Delivery of ZA100 to ANA will take place somewhere between October and December of 2010.

[Pieter C. 5]

Chinese Airlines, Boeing In Talks To Delay 787

 

September 7, 2009

 

Chinese airlines are negotiating with Boeing to further delay taking delivery of 787 Dreamliner orders, a senior Boeing executive said on Monday, as they continue cost-cutting initiatives amid weak international air travel demand.

 

A sharp global economic downturn had pushed China's top three airlines -- Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines -- into a combined loss of more than USD$4 billion in 2008, forcing them to cut their capital expenditures.

 

Meanwhile, Boeing has also been struggling with a range of supply, manufacturing and design problems, made worse by a two-month strike at its Seattle-area plants last year.

 

"All of them have already delayed. It's a mutual decision, it's not one-sided," David Wang, president of Boeing's China operations, said on the sidelines of a business event.

 

"Based on our delay, we could have aircraft for them by the end of next year, but it's too early for them. Actually they are supposed to get some of the early positions, but they would rather have some of the later positions now."

 

Chinese carriers, including China Southern, have ordered nearly 60 Boeing 787s, Wang said, adding the Dreamliner is expected to make its first flight by the end of this year with initial delivery expected in the fourth quarter of 2010.

 

ORDER CANCELLATION?

 

The Chinese government has handed out cash aid to its ailing airlines and encouraged them to scrap or delay aircraft orders after the country's air travel growth fell into single digits in 2008 for the first time in five years.

 

China Eastern executives said previously that the carrier would cut the number of plane deliveries this year by nearly half to 13 from 29 and may consider scrapping its previous order for nine Boeing 787s.

 

Wang did not respond to questions about whether any Chinese carriers had scrapped orders for the 787.

 

But Airbus's China president told reporters in March that the European aircraft maker has had no order cancellations from China.

 

A few Chinese airlines have asked for delays in taking delivery of previous orders but none has cancelled, Laurence Barron said at the time.

 

Airbus runs a joint assembly venture in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, which makes aircraft in the A320 family.

 

(Reuters)

[Pieter C. 5]

Boeing Starts 787 Modifications

 

September 24, 2009

 

Boeing has started modifications on the company's long-delayed and hotly anticipated 787 Dreamliner plane, a senior executive said in a blog post.

 

"Modifications are indeed under way," Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, wrote on the company's Boeingblogs website on Wednesday.

 

"We've begun installing the reinforcements on the area within the side-of-body section on Airplane No. 1 and on the static airframe."

 

Tinseth said work would get under way shortly on additional flight test planes.

 

The revolutionary carbon-composite plane is now two years overdue for its first test flight, which is set for the fourth quarter of 2009.

 

(Reuters)

[Pieter C. 5]

Vietnam Airlines Unhappy With Boeing Delays

 

September 28, 2009

 

The head of Vietnam Airlines expressed concern on Monday about production delays to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner and said the group had not made up its mind whether to cancel any of the 16 aircraft it has ordered.

 

Vietnam Airlines has eight of the next-generation passenger jets on order and a leasing affiliate, Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Company, has ordered a further eight.

 

Production of the plane has fallen about two years behind schedule after a series of technical hitches.

 

"We are not happy about the constant delays. It affects our business plan," Vietnam Airlines President and chief executive Pham Ngoc Minh said.

 

"We expected to get our planes in 2009, then 2010, and now nobody can confirm to us which is the exact delivery date. I can be patient but it gives us a lot of headaches."

 

Asked whether Vietnam Airlines might cancel any of its 787 orders as a result of the delays, he said; "We have not yet made any decision".

 

He declined to say whether Vietnam Air would receive penalty payments for the delays.

 

The executive was speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony organised by Boeing rival EADS, the parent company of European planemaker Airbus.

 

Vietnam Airlines has ordered 10 A350s, the Airbus model designed to compete with the 787 but which is not due to reach the market until the middle of next decade.

 

The Vietnamese airline is the latest carrier to express disquiet over the 787 delays. The head of Oman Air last week hinted at possible 787 cancellations and said a decision would be made after its maiden flight which is due by the end of this year.

 

(Reuters)

[Pieter C. 5]

TUI Travel to cancel 10 of 23 787 orders

 

Wednesday September 30, 2009

 

TUI Travel said yesterday that it has engaged "in extensive discussions with Boeing" regarding its 787 order book and "both parties" have agreed that 10 of its 23 firm orders will be cancelled while 13 purchase rights will be added.

 

"This optimizes the flexibility around our long-haul capacity," TUI said in a statement, adding that it now expects to take delivery of its first Dreamliner in "early 2012." Manchester-based First Choice Airways, part of Thomson Airways following the 2007 merger of TUI's travel division with First Choice Holidays, originally was due to receive its first 787 in February 2009 and later postponed first delivery to March 2011.

 

TUI Travel additionally announced a number of financing measures that will enable it to refinance its £900 million ($1.43 billion) shareholder loan with TUI AG, which owns a 51.6% stake in the tour operator. The measures include raising approximately £440 million through issuance of a convertible bond and additional bank facilities.

 

"The financing measures. . .allow us to commence repayment of our shareholder loan in a proactive manner and will also allow us to continue to take advantage of attractive [merger and acquisition] opportunities," CEO Peter Long said.

 

The TUI Travel cancellations will bring the number of axed Dreamliner orders this year to 83. Boeing maintains that the delayed program's first flight "is expected" by year end

[Pieter C. 5]

Kenya Airways Eyes Airbus A330-200s

 

September 29, 2009

 

Kenya Airways is in talks with Airbus about buying several A330-200 planes after delays to Boeing's much-anticipated 787 Dreamliner, senior officials at the airline said on Tuesday.

 

The carrier's chief executive Titus Naikuni said on Friday the company was in talks with Airbus and that between six and nine aircraft were under consideration.

 

An official at Kenya Airways said the carrier, which is majority-owned by Air France-KLM and the Kenyan government, had started talks because some leases on its planes were about to expire, and that it was considering the A330-200.

 

A second official at the carrier confirmed the plans.

 

The airline had no immediate official comment.

 

Naikuni told reporters on Friday the discussions were at a very early stage, and that the carrier was also still in talks with Boeing. Kenya Airways had agreed to buy nine 787s.

 

Boeing is marketing its Dreamliner as 20 percent more fuel efficient than other planes.

 

Kenya Airways, which posted its first full-year pretax loss since privatisation in 1996 for the period ended in March -- due to fuel hedging costs -- wants to modernise its fleet of 28 Boeings and Brazilian-made Embraer jets.

 

The airline is one of Africa's leading carriers. It is opening new routes on the continent and wants to increase the frequency of flights to some existing destinations, such as Zimbabwe and Zambia.

 

(Reuters)

[Pieter C. 5]

Bernstein flags 787 wiring issue, early A350 delay

 

Thursday October 1, 2009

 

New production issues related to wiring present yet another challenge to the 787 program and threaten further delivery delays, according to a new report from Bernstein Research, which also claimed that the early stage of the A350 program is behind schedule.

 

According to the analysts, Boeing is moving to a new model for wiring beginning with the 13th 787, while airplanes 7 through 12 are being rewired. ATWOnline confirmed the new wiring standard with a Boeing source. Dubbed "Net Change 5," it is aimed at reducing weight and improving maintainability.

 

"We understand that wiring that has been installed on airplanes 7 through 12 (or sections of airplanes 11 and 12) is now being completely removed to enable rewiring. . .which reduces our confidence in Boeing's ability to meet delivery date goals, although we see it as positive that Boeing has stretched the time between first flight and delivery to 12 months," Bernstein stated in the report.

 

It does believe the 787 will achieve first flight before year end but warned that "substantial challenges remain as the program heads toward first delivery [to ANA], planned at the end of 2010." Owing to uncertainty among customers, the manufacturer has suffered 83 787 cancellations this year.

 

While the program is running 2.5 years behind the original schedule, its likely main competitor, the A350, is off to a slow start, Bernstein claimed. Citing information from suppliers, it said, "the A350 schedule is beginning to slip at an early stage. . .and is now five to six months behind schedule." It noted that Airbus believes the time can be made up.

 

Since the 787 is so delay-plagued, Bernstein views Airbus as having an advantage in the battle for sales despite its early stage delay, explaining, "The company is learning from Boeing's experiences on the 787 and has pursued a more conservative design strategy." Nevertheless, Airbus's challenges are "still significant, with constrained engineering resources, a new composite material, and a new supplier network," the report stated.

 

Bernstein predicted that both companies will "face challenges in developing stretched versions of their base airplanes, with weight reduction likely to be a key issue." It noted that while the 787-9 should be the most popular version of the 787 family, the interval between 787-8 first delivery and 787-9 first delivery has moved from two to three years. It said Airbus will "likely have similar issues in weight reduction to move from the A350-900 to the A350-1000, although they are not yet as clear."

[Pieter C. 5]

Air Astana declares its 787 MOU 'inactive'

 

Wednesday October 21, 2009

 

Air Astana President Peter Foster told ATW that the carrier's MOU with Boeing for three 787s plus three options is "inactive" and that it is searching for alternative fleet solutions.

 

Speaking in Almaty, Foster said, "There is very little clarity on delivery dates," for the 787. The MOU was signed in 2007 and delivery originally was scheduled for 2014-15. Air Astana now estimates that its first Dreamliner could arrive as late as 2019.

 

"We need a decision quickly" on the future of KC's long-haul fleet, Foster said. Leases on two 767-300ERs will expire by 2012 and the airline will have to determine whether it wants to stay with the Boeing product or opt for the A330-200. Meanwhile, its four 757-200s fit nicely into the network. "Many of our routes are very thin [in terms of loads]," he said. KC just renewed its 757 leases and is "very likely" to add to that fleet.

 

It will take delivery of two E-190LRs in 2011 and plans to operate six by 2014. "We realized that E-jets could not replace turboprops completely" in a large country that has dozens of small, remote airports. "Our five 50-seat F50s do a very reliable job, but one day we will have to replace them," Foster said. A decision between the Q300 and ATR 42 could come next year.

 

KC plans to fly the E-190 to nearby international destinations. It also plans to add six new A320s in 2012-13. Meanwhile, it is building up its own maintenance center in Almaty to be able to do C checks next year. It currently operates four 757-200s, two 767-300ERs, one A319, seven A320s, two A321s and five F50s.

[Mohd Idham 0]

http://boeingblogs.com/randy/archives/2009/11/takin_care_of_business.html

 

 

We’ve taken a big step toward first flight of the 787 Dreamliner. The 787 team finished installing the side-of-body reinforcements on Airplane 1 on Wednesday.

 

Completion of the installation of reinforcements on the static test airframe and the second flight test airplane will take place in the coming days.

 

Once these installations (which involve new fittings at 34 stringer locations within the joint where the wing is attached to the fuselage) are complete on the static test airplane, the team will get ready to test the modification.

 

We’ve done a lot of static and fatigue testing at the sub-component level and we’re confident in the solution, but the final validation comes with that test. The static airframe will be re-fitted with strain gauges and other instrumentation for the test, which will take place later this month.

 

In the meantime we’re restoring the access doors, systems, seals and fasteners that had been removed from Airplane 1 so employees could access the fuel tanks and side-of-body joint. That should take several weeks.

 

The idea is that once we’ve analyzed the results of the static test and determined the modification is successful, we’ll be ready to put Airplane 1 back into preflight activities. That includes repeating some of the tests we successfully performed prior to the discovery of the side-of-body issue, such as some gauntlet and taxi tests.

 

Why do we have to repeat the tests? Well, as I mentioned, we had to remove some systems from the airplane to perform the modification, and we also completed some expected software upgrades. Repeating some key tests ensures that all systems are ready for first flight.

 

By the way we’re also continuing to work on the remaining four flight test airplanes and the fatigue test airframe.

 

So, I just have to say “hats off” to this extraordinary team of engineering and manufacturing experts. It hasn’t been an easy task - working in a fuel tank never is – and this group has done an amazing job of “takin’ care of business.”

 

[Min Chun 0]

787 First Flight Countdown Resumes

was suppose to be on 22nd Dec, and now it changes to 14th Dec

 

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=comm&id=news/FIRST120109.xml&headline=787%20First%20Flight%20Countdown%20Resumes

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/12/02/335687/flightblogger-787-first-flight-targets-14-december.html

Edited December 2, 2009 by Min Chun

[Tamizi Hj Tamby 1]

Boeing had announced that the 1st flight of the B787-8 Dreamliner is planned on December 15th!

 

Here's the news from FlightGlobal.com:

 

Boeing clears 787 to fly 15 December

By Jon Ostrower

 

 

Boeing has officially set 15 December at 1800 GMT (1000 PT) for the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner after receiving final approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration, followed by the flight readiness review and successful completion of high-speed taxi tests.

ZA001, the airframer's first 787 Dreamliner, spent six hours on 12 December conducting taxi tests at the company's Everett, Washington facility north of Seattle.

The tests saw chief pilot Mike Carriker and engineering test pilot Randy Neville at the controls of the first majority-composite airliner, as it conducted eight runs up and down the 2746m-long (9010ft) runway, gradually building speed.

The two final runs, one to the north and one to the south, saw the long-range twin-engine jetliner lift its nose off the runway before returning it gently to the runway about six seconds later.

Boeing says the tests reached a top speed of 130kts, though radio transmissions between the aircraft, operating at Boeing 001 Experimental, and the Paine Field control tower discussed a top speed of 135kts achieved during the day's taxi tests.

 

 

Boeing B787 Dreamliner site-Official site for the Dreamliner 1st flight

PICTURES & VIDEO: Boeing clears 787 to fly 15 December-FlightGlobal.com

[Mohd Idham 0]

Can't wait, can't wait.........

[Kenneth T 0]

Can't wait, can't wait.........

 

With the 1st Flight of the revolutionary B787 into the skies, im very confident that it will change the world aviation, good work to BOEING team.

Edited December 14, 2009 by Kenneth T