Videos Courtesy Liz Matzelle
787 Flight Test Updates: Month
One, Month
Two & Month Three
It has been five months since ZA001 made its maiden flight on December 15, 2009 has surpassed 747 flight hours with its four Rolls-Royce powered 787s through May 18.
With five months of testing now under its belt, only Boeing knows if it is truly on track for first delivery and certification by the end of 2010, though with about 750 of the 2400 planned flight test hours (for Rolls-Royce certification) accumulated through a five months worth of testing, the goal looks tighter and tighter. While Boeing has not swayed from its projection of a year-end first delivery, ANA – launch customer for the 787 – is quietly making preparations for a further delay into 2011, with other industry sources saying the airline’s preparations angle closer to a springtime entry into service for the new composite jetliner.
On May 10, tracking by UBS Investment Research estimated that the 787 was only 20% through type certification and was as much as a month behind to a mid-September completion “due to extended downtime for both planned and unplanned maintenance on its four test aircraft.”
The most significant program milestone in the last two months was the granting of the expanded Type Inspection Authorization on April 21 which cleared the way for the certification operations with the Federal Aviation Administration. Earlier in the month, on April 7, Boeing declared the static structural tests successful following the high-blow and wing flex tests of late March. Additionally, on April 8, the 787’s Hamilton Sundstrand APS5000 APU completed ETOPS testing after logging 10,000 operating hours.
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.