I’m writing from Charleston, South Carolina this afternoon and it looks as though it’s going to be a very busy week. I’ll be reporting over the next several days from Global Aeronautica and Vought here in Charleston covering the progress for the 787 program on location. On Wednesday, I’ll be transitioning west to Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita, Kansas for the same purpose. It should be a very packed week with lots going on, with potentially a big story or two coming down the pike.
As a quick refresher, Spirit Aerosystems is responsible for the forward nose fuselage barrel of the 787 (Section 41), the engine pylons and the fixed and movable leading edge of the wings.
Vought fabricates and joins the barrel sections of the aft fuselage (Sections 47 & 48) and Global Aeronautica, a joint venture between Boeing (pending completion of the acquisition from Vought) and Alenia, is next door and acts as a major integrator of the center fuselage.
The center fuselage is the combination of four main structures. The first two are from Japan. The center wing box and wheel well (Section 45/11) and forward fuselage barrel (Section 43). The second two are from Italy. The fuselage crown over the center wing box (Section 44) and the aft fuselage barrel (Section 46).
Current and Future Blogging
In the here and now, I’ve finally surrendered and I’m giving Twitter a try. If you’re not familiar with Twitter it’s a microblogging platform that allows for 140 character updates using the web, text or email. It’ll make for live blogging of factory tours, air shows and major events that much easier to follow. Not to mention, comments/thoughts about the aviation industry. No individual postings on the blog, just live from me to the internet. You can subscribe and follow it directly on Twitter or through Friendfeed where I’ve integrated it as well. Let’s go ahead and file this under the beta category and see how it works out.
Looking towards the future, Apple announced its iPhone 3G today and a higher-speed connection will benefit this blog greatly. Some of you may know, my iPhone is my numero uno blogging tool after my laptop and lets me get those live shots directly on the blog with zero distribution time with mobile posting. New applications built directly into the phone will add an entirely new dimension which I’m looking forward to exploring. I’m still trying to find what works and what doesn’t for this blog, and the technology envelope could always use some more little pushing.
Musing
In closing, I wanted to pose a question to my B.A.B.E. post Friday. I want to turn this one over to all of you. What products do you think are missing from the market? If you were at the top of one of the big four, what would you do with oil heading for $150 a barrel?
As I sometimes say, Onward.
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.