Boeing began final assembly on Dreamliner Three (ZA003), the fifth 787 and the 3rd for flight test program. The aircraft, when painted, will wear the colors of Northwest Airlines. The rudder, which has been mated to the vertical tail, has already been painted red. Images of assembly are available on Randy Tinseth's blog and if you look closely at the first image you can spot the red rudder.
Here's a visual update on the 787 assembly line.
Original Image Courtesy of Boeing
Created by FlightBlogger to reflect current status
See previous assembly status from April 9, 2009
Boeing underscored the significant improvement in the condition of ZA003:
"We are receiving assemblies that are much more complete," said Jack Jones, vice president of 787 Final Assembly and Change Incorporation. Jones replaces Steve Westby, who retired from Boeing yesterday after a 31-year career. "The second flight-test airplane had a 50 percent reduction in the amount of incomplete work as compared to the first airplane. 'Traveled work' on this airplane is 65 percent less than on the first.
Program sources familiar with the status of assembly tell FlightBlogger that the level of completion has enabled assembly to progress as the fastest pace yet. Major systems, including the ram air turbine, arrived already installed in the center fuselage. In addition, the wings have already received their outboard flaps, most spoilers panels and both ailerons. All of which were installed within just days of their arrival from Japan.
Image Credit Boeing
When is the fatigue airframe (ZY998) due out of the shed?
Can anything be read into the fact that in Boeings release they say the following:
"The first airplane to fly is on track for "power on" in June."
Rather than saying that Dreamliner 1 is on track to fly in June??
RW - My guess is later this month for ZY998. I would imagine it will coincide with Dreamliner Four arriving for final assembly, because all four spots are filled right now.
Dan - I'm checking on that, and I will absolutely let you know if there's been a change.
Jon
Just checked it. Dreamliner one is still the one one set for power on in June and first flight later this year.
Jon
Shouldn't that rudder be re-painted dark blue? By the time ZA003 enters service in late 2009, Delta will long since have merged with Northwest. I doubt the new Delta would want to get their first Dreamliner in any other livery than their own...
Kind of like the old kangaroo on the first couple of Qantas A380 tails.
Looks can be deceiving, but ZA003 sure looks in far better shape sitting in position 1 than any of the other 4 airframes did. The wings alone show huge improvement. When they get the supply chain issues fixed one could easily imagine them opening a second line....such as the 767 line when that gets mothballed. Its truly amazing how quickly these things can be 'snapped' together.
John,
When they pull ZY998 out later this month we'll get a good idea of month over month progress on ZA001. I suspect it'll look better than it did on April 25th.
More interestingly...I'd like to see the progress on ZA002 and ZA003 later this month. If the supply chain issues are really getting better with each successive airframe, you ought to see 02 and 03 roll out of assembly in pretty rapid succession after 01 is completed. It would be a big sign of progress for Boeing to power up the first three flight aircraft within a month or two of one another.
Is it just me, or are ZA003's cargo doors not installed yet? If you look behind the empennage, about half way down the staging area, you can see the three curved panels. I can't imagine them being anything other than cargo doors. I was under the impression that the barrels came with the cargo doors pre-installed.
The panels you're referring to are fuselage panels for the 777.