ZA001 was seen yesterday hooked up to fuel lines on both the left hand wing primary fuel panel, as well as the right hand wing surge tank and plug door, which is not normally used in service.
Aviation Week reports that, “After some delay Boeing’s 787 flight test team now plans to conduct ‘fuel pad’ testing on ZA001 after midnight on Wednesday.” [Early Thursday]
Along with this first load of fuel, Boeing will pump nitrogen into the fuel tanks from an external source to test the valves and piping of the system before conducting a complete fuel inerting system test with internally stored nitrogen, says a source familiar with the test.
The 787 is the first new commercial aircraft to be certified under FAA Part 25 requirements for fuel tank flammability regulations, that were derived after the TWA Flight 800 accident in July 1996.
Photo Credit Liz Matzelle
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.