As Boeing continues to tackle the time consuming replacement of thousands of fasteners, 787 production remains frozen and is pacing a formal assessment of the program's schedule, including a timeline for first flight and delivery.Though a revised 787 schedule for the start of the flight test program is yet to be determined, Boeing is focusing its efforts for the remainder of 2008 on providing a clean bill of structural health to Dreamliner One.
Boeing declined to comment on the pace of the on-going schedule assessment.
According to sources familiar with the fastener replacement timeline, the expected completion of the fix for Dreamliner One should come by the end of December.
Yet, the on-going fastener replacement is reverberating down the assembly line. Everett, WA-based sources add that no production airframe movements are scheduled for the remainder of the year, resulting in final assembly start for Dreamliner Five, the first General Electric GEnx powered 787, being pushed into 2009.
However, late last week, ZY998, the fatigue test airframe, exited Building 40-24 for the paint shop. The move took place after dark, says one program source, adding that the improperly installed fasteners will be addressed after ZY998 leaves the paint shop.
To date, of the major aircraft structures, only the wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizers have arrived for Dreamliner Five at Boeing's Everett facility. The forward, center and aft fuselage sections are being held at supplier partners to conduct fastener replacement.
Vought, which is responsible for the fabrication of the aft fuselage, says it will take about a week per airplane to fix the problem. Vought adds that only shipsets five through 11 require new fasteners because shipsets 12 and on have yet to receive internal structure requiring fasteners.
For the center fuselage integrated by Global Aeronautica, the fastener situation is considerably worse, requiring "about ten thousand" fasteners that need to be replaced between Dreamliners Five and Six, according to one veteran engineer in Charleston.
The Seattle Times, citing sources familiar with the situation, reports that 2000 fasteners will need to be replaced on the aft fuselage and 3000 for the forward fuselage produced by Spirit Aerosystems.
Boeing's round-the-clock work schedule is almost entirely devoted to addressing this issue, as well as inspecting each aircraft for additional quality control issues says one 787 machinist.
To accomplish the task, insulation blankets were removed from the length of all 787 interiors to allow for access to the questionable fasteners. For Dreamliner One, many computer workstations, water barrels and some overhead bins have been installed in the cabin in preparation for the flight test campaign as well.
Another source working directly with the flight test aircraft says other improperly installed fasteners have been found that do not meet the initial problematic non-conforming criteria, but adds that the problems are being addressed concurrently with the existing fixes.
Dreamliners One through Four have had their engine pylons removed and returned to Spirit AeroSystems for fastener repairs. As a result, the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines from Dreamliner One have been removed and positioned behind the aircraft.
Boeing announced earlier this month that the 787 would not fly in 2008, initially citing the 57-day strike by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers as the cause, though the need to replace thousands of improperly installed fasteners has pushed major 787 milestones into 2009.
on November 24, 2008 8:56 AM | Reply
What exactly is the purpose of painting ZY998?
on November 24, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply
Jon,
Is there any clear indication when all of the flight test birds will be in the air? I believe there were to be four of them.
Once the full flight test fleet is up and running the customers can presumably expect certification within a year.
I'm struggling here to see certification before around March 2010 assuming a trouble free run.
The 787 is not just highly desirable for Qantas, an airline I follow closely, but urgently required for fleet upgrades and new route development for itself and its Jetstar subsidiary.
on November 24, 2008 2:32 PM | Reply
to have have something positive to say in a few days :
"ZY998 has been successfully painted"
on November 24, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply
What else is gong to wrong on this program? It seems like it is taking far longer and having many many more headaches than any other aircraft program ever developed by Boeing. What is going on over there?
on November 24, 2008 5:58 PM | Reply
Wow, 787 production is frozen before A350 design is frozen.
This is a chilling winter.
on November 24, 2008 6:57 PM | Reply
I'm sorry, but I saw the development and production hiccups being an issue 2 years ago. Just the entire way this thing was envisioned and all the incredible opportunities for things to go haywire. There is nothing wrong with doling out work to other suppliers but it was inevitable that hardly anyone from Boeing appeared to be "minding the store" so-to-speak. If they ever intended for this bird to fly on that highly speculative initial timeline then they needed to sink many more resources into watching the vendors and having engineering staff on location to catch problems immediately. Either senior mgmt was pre-occupied with other things or they were asleep at the controls. Boeing is supposed to be the champion of the JIT/lean manufacturing system but they obviously threw that book out the window when this program came along. How very sad that Boeing had such a tremendous opportunity to thumb their noses at Airbus and totally blew it.
on November 25, 2008 6:11 AM | Reply
The fatigue testing is done outdoors and lasts several years. As a guess I would say that the airframe was painted to protect it from the elements. The photos I've seen after it came out of the paint hangar show a mostly plain white paint job with a blue rudder.
on November 25, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply
> Boeing is supposed to be the champion of the JIT/lean
> manufacturing system but they obviously threw that book out
> the window when this program came along.
America is the champion for outsourcing ;-)
Lawyers and executive types don't build airplanes.
Boeing thought that for any job europeans take both hands
and a head an american should well be able to do it with
one hand and during lunch.
( The more interesting part in this is that they were
actually able to sell this, OK, nobody knows what arms
were twisted for that )
> How very sad that
> Boeing had such a tremendous opportunity to thumb their noses
> at Airbus and totally blew it.
Afaiks Boeing never had a chance at "nose thumbing" in recent
years.( and looking at the reasons for the USAF being so
keen on the KC45/A330 deal )
uwe
on November 25, 2008 11:58 AM | Reply
Just to make my point:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008413389_dreamliner20.html
From the referenced article:
Several specifications from Boeing provided ambiguous instructions and measurements that led mechanics to cut too shallowly the tops of the holes they were drilling.
uwe
on November 27, 2008 2:55 AM | Reply
This nutplate plating issue may seem like a big deal, but it's not. The main reason it even came up is because of the QA procedures that Boeing has in place to catch issues like this. The system worked.
Safety and reliability of modern commercial aircraft is all about process and procedure. People outside of the aircraft industry like to joke about all of the seemingly unnecessary bureaucracy and paperwork that goes into producing a commercial aircraft. But the resulting safety record of US commercial aircraft over the past few years cannot be argued with. It has been darn near perfect. I challenge anyone to show me an industry with a similar safety record.
on November 27, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply
I used to deliver parts to Boeing before the great leaning layoffs.
They had their own pipeline receiving system with a full cadre of QA inspectors.
Then (I guess) someone talked FAA into allowing parts manufacturers to inspect their own parts.
Boeing laid off inspectors and viola..
on November 27, 2008 10:38 PM | Reply
Who's Viola?
on February 23, 2009 7:21 PM | Reply
Hmm, very cognitive post.
Is this theme good unough for the Digg?