Boeing Announces New 787 Schedule and Third-Quarter Charge
CHICAGO, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) today announced that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner is expected by the end of 2009 and first delivery is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The new schedule reflects the previously announced need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft, along with the addition of several weeks of schedule margin to reduce flight test and certification risk. The company projects achieving a production rate of 10 airplanes per month in late 2013.

“This new schedule provides us the time needed to complete the remaining work necessary to put the 787’s game-changing capability in the hands of our customers,” said Boeing Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney. “The design details and implementation plan are nearly complete, and the team is preparing airplanes for modification and testing.”

Based on the revised schedule and other assumption updates, the company has determined that the 787 program is not in a forward-loss position.

However, separate from the updated program profitability assessment, the company has concluded that the initial flight-test airplanes have no commercial market value beyond the development effort due to the inordinate amount of rework and unique and extensive modifications made to those aircraft. Therefore, costs previously recorded for the first three flight-test airplanes will be reclassified from program inventory to research and development expense, resulting in an estimated non-cash charge of $2.5 billion pre-tax, or $2.21 per share, against third-quarter results. This charge will have no impact on the company’s cash outlook going forward.

The 787 team working the side-of-body reinforcement has completed initial testing and is finalizing design details of new fittings that are expected to ensure full structural integrity of the joint. The static test procedure that uncovered the issue will be repeated and the results fully analyzed before first flight is conducted. Fatigue testing also will be performed on stringer components to validate the long-term durability of the modification.

The first 787 test airplane and static test unit have been prepared for the new fittings. Installation is expected to begin within the next few weeks.

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This is a breaking story and will be updated.

Delta 777-200LR ship 7107 at the Tech Ops ramp in Atlanta.

Having what some might call a day off of sorts. Flying this Delta
757-200 (N630DL) down to Atlanta to visit Delta Tech Ops for the day.
Should make for an interesting day.

Update – My first time on Wi-fi in flight!

FlightBlogger working all sources for details. All signs point to a significant announcement out of South Carolina tomorrow. KING5 in Seattle reporting Boeing is set to file permits for an expansion of Boeing Charleston. Likely related.

Update 12:13 AM:

A new 737-900ER for Continental Airlines departed Boeing Field on August 15th with something new under its wing. If you look closely, you can spot the new CFM56-7B Evolution engine on the left wing of N37434. The nacelle is elongated and the nozzle plug shortened to accomodate the new engine that Boeing says will improve fuel burn on the 737 by 1%. In conjunction with changes to the wing control surfaces, a redesigned anti-collision light, revised wheel well fairing and ECS inlet and exhaust changes, Boeing hopes to improve the fuel consumption of the 737 NG family by a total of 2% by mid-2011.

However, did the 7BE really make its first flight? According to CFM, which unveiled the Evolution engine in April, the engine isn’t supposed to fly on a 737 for more than a year. The first time the 7BE is expected to take to the sky is in February of 2010 under the wing of GE’s 747 testbed, followed by certification in July 2010 and first flight on a Continental 737 in October 2010.

So, what’s going on here? Just a test of the new nacelle and plug? Can someone shed some light?

UPDATE 2:10 PM: N37434 did fly with the revised nacelle on August 15th, but without the Evolution engine. We have about another year to wait before the 7BE is flown on a 737.

Photo Credit Joe Walker

If you happen to be a frequent watcher of Boeing’s flight line in Everett, you’ll know that even subtle changes in the landscape tend to spur discussion. Though, this week you may have noticed a BIG new addition to the parking lot of the world’s largest airplane nursery.

The “tent” appears to be AT LEAST 200 feet wide and 200 feet long, though that’s just an estimate on my part. The structure will be covered shelter to house ZA002 – and subsequent 787s – while the wing fix is installed on the side of body. Think of it as a massive operating room…like M*A*S*H 787.

Across the entirety of Boeing’s 787 global supply chain from Charleston to China, Nagoya to Naples and Winnipeg to Washington, executives, manufacturing planners and engineers are in the late stages in developing a document that will dictate the future of the planet’s most ambitious industrial undertaking.

The document, known as Z18, the latest of 18 revisions to the 787 schedule, dictates all aspects of the fabrication, final assembly flow and customer delivery planning for each aircraft.

A preliminary version of Z18 has been examined by Boeing Commericial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson and is expected to be reviewed shortly by Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, senior program sources tell FlightBlogger.

Sources familiar with the schedule indicate that ZA001’s first flight is likely to be slated for the late November/early December time frame, with first delivery to Japan’s All Nippon Airways in the fourth quarter of 2010.

However, Boeing maintains that no decisions on the schedule have been made and the disclosure of the overall program timeline detailing first flight and aircraft certification will be announced by the end of September.

The development of Z18 is a closely held process that takes into account the short and long term production strategies, the ability of suppliers to ramp up and incorporate design changes, the capacity of final assembly operations, the requirements of airlines, as well as the financial considerations that impact the decision-making process.

Scott Fancher, 787 program vice president and general manager, was quoted in July as saying it was no secret that Boeing required a second final assembly line to support the production ramp up and meet the unprecedented demand for the aircraft.

Z18, as a result of this future requirement, could be the first program schedule that Boeing develops with provisions and planning for a second 787 assembly line in mind, no matter where it is located.

Fancher, who’s responsible for the implementation of the schedule will require more art than science, his role likened to that of an orchestra conductor, ensuring that each of the partners moves in unison at the required tempo.

INSIDE:

• The latest on the Alenia/Section 46 wrinkles
• What does Net Change 5 mean for the program?

Photo Credit Andrew Sieber

If ever a picture was worth 1000 words, this is it. ZA002 began taxi testing today following two days of minor, and now resolved, troubleshooting issues. Taxiing nearby Boeing’s newest commercial aircraft, was a B-17G, a flying testament to the company’s long history. This particular B-17G “Sentimental Journey” (c/n 32155) was actually built under license by Douglas in Long Beach and was delivered to the USAF in March of 1945. The aircraft was later stored in Japan then converted over the course of its life for various roles, including one as a tanker.

Photo Credit Liz Matzelle (via iPhone)

Oh yeah, and here are some videos taken by Matt Cawby of this afternoon’s taxi testing.

Yesterday, Boeing released a photo from the flight deck of RC501 during power on testing for the first 747-8 freighter, and I was struck by the (subtle) differences between the -8 and the -400 cockpits.

Many of the changes build on the 747 flight deck upgrades that found their way into later -400 models, including LCD displays to replace the CRT screens and consolidation of the back up instruments to a single unit.

The 747-8 maintains the same type rating as the -400, but adds HF datalink, new multifunction displays (MFD), a new LCD flight management computer (FMC) interface, cursor control knob like that on the 787, vertical situation display, as well as electronic checklists like those first introduced by Boeing on the 777.

The avionics will also enable RNP .1 navigation for precision approaches and departures.

Other subtle changes to the pilot interface include the removal of the center detent in the landing gear lever. Previously, crews would have to set the lever to ‘up’, then to ‘off’ once retracted. Crews need only to set the ‘up’ position to retract the landing gear after takeoff. As a result of the smaller landing gear lever, the autobrake selector has also been relocated to just above the first officer’s FMC, similar to the arrangement in the 777 and 787.

In addition, as a result of the additional multifunction display options, the Display Select Panel on the glareshield, which sits between the Electronic Flight Instrumentation System (EFIS) and the autopilot Mode Control Panel (MCP), reflects a 777-style arrangement to select a range of synoptic pages on the left and right inboard displays and lower center MFD.

Photo Credit Boeing
Graphic Credit FlightBlogger

Taxi tests on ZA002 planned for Monday were put on hold this afternoon for an unspecified reason according to Guy Norris of Aviation Week.

Boeing
suspended its attempt to taxi ZA002 just over an hour ago after
encountering unspecified issues, despite having boarded the aircraft
around midday Pacific time. The flight test team plans to have another
attempt tomorrow and is now holding time open on Wednesday Aug 19 as
additional margin for completing any system check out items not
completed on Tuesday.

When approached for explanation regarding the hold, Boeing says it doesn’t comment on the testing schedule for any of its 787s.

Video Courtesy of Matt Cawby taken August 14, 2009