Aircraft

^{By Guy Norris in Los Angeles}

Composite fuselage barrel sections developed to prove the manufacturing concepts for the Boeing 787 are to be used for training mechanics following the successful completion of initial testing.

One-piece barrels (OPB) 1 and 2, which were joined after manufacture to prove composite fuselage section joining techniques, were fitted with a mock-up vertical fin leading edge for radio transmission tests (pictured below). Boeing says the work was aimed at “looking at how much metal was needed for the antenna characteristics“ and that the tests "worked fine”.

Other tests are also scheduled for the completed barrels “that do not require full circumferential barrel section”, adds Boeing, which has completed eight test sections including both the structurally more complex contoured one-piece barrels such as the aft fuselage and nose (Section 41), as well as the simpler constant section OPBs.