Progress has been swift for ZA001 over the last several days in Everett, clearing the way for the first of three gauntlet testing phases to begin Monday at 6:30 AM PT, FlightBlogger confirms.
With systems software integration testing (SSIT) complete on Dreamliner One, which was completed faster than initially planned, the factory gauntlet will take place in two ten hour blocks and could wrap up as early as the wee hours of Tuesday morning, opening the door for seeing ZA001 on the flight line by week’s end.
During this past weekend Aviation Week’s Guy Norris reported that final pre-gauntlet system checks were being conducted on the aircraft.
Major system check out
work now going con the aircraft, situated on the 767 line in Everett’s
Building 40-24, includes hydraulics, flight control and fire-detection.
Another team is meanwhile working its way around the exterior of the
airframe, checking to make sure the flight control surfaces are all
correctly trimmed and in-line, all panels and doors are adjusted and
trimmed, and that aerodynamic “smoothness” is as perfect as it can be.The 787 flight
instrumentation test system, which is the most complex and
comprehensive ever flown on a Boeing commercial product, is also due to
be tested today. Designed to monitor the performance of the aircraft
and its systems during flight tests, the evaluation will also require
participation by a test pilot on the flight deck.
Another source confirms that the external panels of ZA001 have been refitted, confirming the Aviation Week report that flight test wiring is “mostly closed up and connected.”
Mr. Norris also adds that the ballast tanks that were previously installed were removed to gain a, “definitive measurement of the 787’s operating empty weight (OEW).“
In addition, the first production standard aft fuselage structures touched down in Everett on Sunday afternoon for ZA100. The twin-mated barrels arrived with the highest level of integration to date with 96% completion.
Photo Credit Liz Matzelle
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.