This post is an expanded version as one part of a cover story appearing in next week’s issue of Flight International Magazine. See more photos from the premier of the 747-8 Intercontinental.
SEATTLE — What originally began as a plan to sequentially develop an all-new jetliner and two jumbo variants, has turned into a concurrent push to achieve a three-front certification effort by the close of 2011.
Boeing is facing a challenge on three fronts as it aims to gain regulatory approval on the 747-8I, 747-8F and the 787 – the first time in its history it has attempted such a demanding target.
A mid-year certification for the jumbo freighter will be followed by a third-quarter sign off for 787, and closing the year with approval for the 747-8I, all while delivering a combined 25 to 40 of the new jets to Boeing’s patient customers.
Boeing has never received more than two type certificates in a single calendar year, receiving regulatory approval for the 737-100 and -200 in 1967, the 757-200 and 767-200 in 1982 and 737-600 and -800 in 1998.
The 747-8I, the next program to get underway, will require a two-aircraft approximately 600h flight test campaign, set to start in “early spring” around late March, with flight test completion in the fall, and a year-end certification, says Elizabeth Lund, 747 vice president and deputy program manager.
“The schedule is achievable, but aggressive,” says Lund, who inherited control of the 747-8 program following the ousting of Mohammed ‘Mo’ Yahyavi in August 2010. Pat Shanahan, serves in a dual role as 747-8 general manager, while overseeing airplane programs as vice president.
Delays on the 747-8F have stretched more than two years, with entry into service originally intended for late 2009. Manufacturing woes and flight test discoveries buckled the new freighter’s schedule, as Boeing was enduring years of delays on its flagship 787, originally planned for a May 2008 first delivery.
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.