NAGOYA — Good morning from one end of the 787 supply chain. I arrived here Nagoya, Japan on Wednesday afternoon today after a quick flight from Busan. The next two days will include visits to the Japanese Heavies; Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Fuji. As quick refresher: Mitsubishi makes the wings, Kawasaki makes Section 43 forward center fuselage and Section 45 wheel well, Fuji makes the Section 11 center wingbox and integrates the wheel well to create Section 45/11.
All sections are delivered to the US via Dreamlifter. Section 43 and Section 45/11 are flown together to Charleston for integration with Italian Sections 44 and 46, while the wings make their way to Everett for the final join to the fuselage.
That being said, there’s a lot going on the 787 universe this week, so let’s get right to it:
Rolls-Royce Presents Trent 1000 Recovery Plan
The Seattle Times and Bloomberg reported on interviews with Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh on the state of the pending Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 investigation and resolution. Albaugh says that the company will begin pouring over Rolls-Royce’s resolution for the intermediate pressure turbine issue that caused the August 2 engine failure. Albaugh was optimistic that the RR solution would address the issue.
Airplane Six Just About Ready To Fly
Here in Asia, George Maffeo, vice president of 787 supplier management, told us that ZA006 is likely to fly “within the next week”. Program sources indicate that first flight of final dedicated 787 flight test aircraft – the second powered by GEnx-1B engines – is slated to fly on or around October 5. This date has been sliding backward and forward, so October looks to be the month for ZA006, just not sure exactly when.
Schedule Float Nearing An End
Parts for Airplane 28 have been
arriving this week in Everett from Wichita and Charleston, marking the
end of the 18-manufacturing day float in the 787 production schedule.
The float was intended to allow suppliers to further catch up and
deliver structural sections to a higher level of completion of assembly. Factory sources say one frequently missing item from 787 shipsets, passenger doors, have arrived installed on the center fuselage of Airplane 28.
Forward
fuselage Section 41 arrived from Wichita on Monday, followed by the
center fuselage from Charleston on Tuesday. The restart of deliveries
also marks a step increase in 787 production to just under three 787s
built per month.
Also, when the 787 line advances on Sunday to
make way for Airplane 28, Boeing will officially begin storing 787s by
the new K1 taxiway and Kilo North Ramp by Future of Flight. Five ANA (14,
15, 18), JAL (21) and RAM (19) 787s are expected to find their way
over for extended storage.
Airplane Eight Gets Its Motors
In other Trent 1000 engine news, Boeing’s eighth 787, ZA101, the second production aircraft slated for ETOPS ground testing, received its engines from Rolls-Royce earlier this week. Serial numbers 10018 and 10019 have been fitted under the wings of ZA101, which will eventually be delivered to ANA.
Max Energy RTO Tests A Wrap
All indications coming from outside and inside Boeing say the weekend’s max brake energy rejected take off tests were passed with flying colors, which is an ironic pun because ZA001 never left the ground during its two-day trials at Edwards Air Force Base in California. With the choice of two different carbon brakes from Messier-Bugatti and Goodrich, the tests were split between last Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Airplane 9 Gear Swings
In an indication of nearing completion, Airplane Nine, the lead production ETOPS aircraft, underwent gear swing tests on Monday evening.
Program sources say the aircraft has been outfitted with two zones of economy class seating. One forward zone with eight-abreast seating between doors one and two, and a second rear zone between doors three and four with 96 eight-abreast economy seats. Adding that the outboard seats are laid out with 32in of seat pitch, while the center seating is configured at 31in. Whether or not this will be one of the two the final configurations for ANA’s 787 remains unclear, however, it appears Airplane Nine will be delivered in a high density configuration for domestic operations. Though, what is going in between doors two and three remains unknown.
In other Boeing news…
747-8F Schedule Revision
All signs point to an announcement coming later this week or next week. Delay estimates range anywhere from three to nine months.
Re-Engining 737 Not Dead, Just Delayed Until 2011
In those same Seattle Times and Bloomberg articles, Albaugh has said that the 737 customer base has overwhelmingly voted in favor of a new narrowbody over a re-engined aircraft. Albaugh indicated that the decision could slip in to 2011, but the lack of enthusiasm and urgency from Boeing is a good sign of where the airframer’s head is at.
747-8F Flutter Fix Testing
RC522 has been flying the flutter track over eastern Washington the past week evaluating a new fix for the 2.4Hz structural flutter that has contributed to the significant delay in the 747-8F program’s first delivery. The fix called OAMS – outboard aileron modal suppression – provides structural dampening and seeks to restore the full range of stability and control of the aircraft at all weights and speeds.
747-8I Wing Body Join
RC001 is in the wing body join position inside Building 40-22 undergoing systems installation ahead of the final body join which will begin in mid-October.
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.