On this, the final day of 2008, and the 590th since final assembly began on ZA001, the first 787 Dreamliner is preparing to leave Building 40-26 in Everett to begin a four month trek to the sky.Boeing's 787 Dreamliner program has had five first flight dates set, but a timeline for key program milestones has now emerged that outlines a grueling testing gauntlet to first flight in late April, sources tell FlightBlogger.
Starting on the evening of January 2nd, Dreamliner One will depart its home in Building 40-26 and make the short trip to an open slot on the 767 line in Building 40-24. ZA001 will occupy the spot currently held by ZY998, the fatigue airframe, which will be moved to the flight line prior to the start of fatigue testing.
ZA001 has been back on its own three legs since December 9 when the right engine was reinstalled, followed by the left engine the following day. The recently mounted twin Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s are new-build engines, not the ones originally re-hung earlier this year, having come off the line in September 2008.
As 2008 closes, Boeing has completed the incorporation of the center wing box and tank modifications, which set back the program significantly earlier this year. The modifications were conducted concurrently with the extensive fastener replacement operation.
ZA001 is expected to spend about a month inside 40-24 wrapping up final assembly operations and fastener fixes that have dominated the work on the aircraft recently.
Dreamliner One will undergo three gauntlet test phases that will eventually culminate in first flight by late April.
During the factory gauntlet, expected to begin in early February, the fight-test team will examine the onboard systems to verify their performance is as expected.
An industry source familiar with preparations for Dreamliner One's first flight says that Boeing has committed additional manpower resources to software suppliers to meet the new springtime schedule.
Following the factory gauntlet, ZA001 will undergo its aqueous wash in mid-February to clean the fuel tanks to remove contaminants like carbon dust and metal shavings, a key indicator of aircraft wing completion.
After the wash is complete four days later, ZA001 will return to the paint shop across the Boeing Freeway to receive a fresh coat of paint.
Around this same time, according to a report by ATW, fastener work on ZA002 will be completed, potentially signaling its readiness for ground vibration testing to validate aero-elastic computer models that will give ZA001 a green-light for its maiden voyage.
By the final week of March, ZA001 should be on the flight line in time for the intermediate gauntlet to begin. The 2nd gauntlet phase will see Dreamliner One's engines started for the first time to provide electrical power to the aircraft. This first engine test will mark the first time a commercial airliner has been started using bleedless engine architecture.
The final gauntlet will see Dreamliner One's systems running for eight days straight for extensive testing prior to moving under its own power for the first time.
Dreamliner Five Paced By Fasteners
With the fourth assembly position vacated in Building 40-26, Dreamliners Two, Three and Four will advance one position opening the body join station for Dreamliner Five. Only the three major fuselage structural sections are yet to be delivered for Dreamliner Five. The aft fuselage will likely be delivered to Everett from Vought during the first half of January.
Vought has been operating with a skeleton crew after it largely shutdown in November. Work at the Charleston, SC facility has focused entirely on preparing the aft fuselages of Dreamliners Five and Six for delivery.
Paced by fastener replacement, the Global Aeronautica integrated center fuselage section, remains in Charleston. In some cases, excessive fastener over sizing has forced the replacement of key titanium parts that need to be installed prior to delivery, says a Charleston-based source familiar with the issue.
As Boeing looks ahead to 2009 and the start of the 787 flight test program, progress on Dreamliners Two and Five are crucial for certification. Dreamliner Two will provide replicability of Dreamliner One's performance data and Dreamliner Five will kick off the certification effort of the General Electric GEnx powered 787s.
on December 31, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply
Can't wait!
on December 31, 2008 4:58 PM | Reply
Looking forward to seeing Dreamliner 1 finally coming outside to play!
on December 31, 2008 7:23 PM | Reply
Boeing was stung by Jon's exposee on the Airbus' dossier viz the 787, and to may, it put Jon's credibility on the line.
This new article could almost have been written word for word by Boeing's press corp themselves.
Is this an article to get "back in" with the guys at Boeing Jon?
on December 31, 2008 8:10 PM | Reply
Jon's credibility could not have been impacted by the scoop of the decade in relation to the Airbus dossier.
His acceptability might have suffered among the Boeing cheer girls but the best thing we can do for the Dreamliner is to expose it to the harsh light of reality, and then applaud when it rises free of all of the management issues that have held it to the ground.
This bird deserved better. It's hour at last draws nearer.
on December 31, 2008 9:22 PM | Reply
I thought Jon's expose was balanced and surely Boeing would be grateful that it was exposed.
Mike McInerney
on December 31, 2008 9:54 PM | Reply
Request to John: I'd like to see a chart where X axis is months (X=0 is the month initially announced as first customer delivery), Y axis is number of planes delivered or planned to be delivered. 4 curves on the chart: A380 original announced schedule, A380 achieved+current projections, 787 original announced schedule, 787 current projections.
You might need to normalize the Y axis values to account for the different planned maximum rate of deliveries of the two programs.
What this would let us see is how the delays in the 787 program compare to delays in the A380 program. Or looked at in another way, whether Boeing and Airbus organizations were equally overambitious when launching their programs.
Thanks,
JohnC
on January 1, 2009 11:03 AM | Reply
Any idea what time Dreamliner 1 will be making it's move on the 2nd? I'd love to be up there to take some photos :)
on January 1, 2009 12:53 PM | Reply
I'm curious as to why neither local Seattle paper (Seattle Times & Seattle PI), Snohomish paper (The Herald) or the local tv stations (King 5,KOMO 4, Kiro 7) are talking about this. I checked their websites. If this story is true,why aren't they reporting it? How did Jon get this "scoop"? Do you really expect Dodo 1 to have its first flight in April when the static plane is still being torn apart to replace all the bad fasteners? Dodo 1 isn't going anywhere until the static plane is repaired and all the tests are done. By the way,did they get that fillet relief problem fixed on Dodo 1 yet?
on January 1, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply
> Boeing was stung by Jon's exposee on the Airbus'
> dossier viz the 787, and to may, it put Jon's
> credibility on the line.
Why would a journalist's credibility be "on the line" as a result of bringing home a tough, exclusive story? A scoop, in other words? That enhances a journalist's credibility (or at least it used to prior to 2000). Good, tough competitive companies don't begrudge the press their jobs either - they grin and bear it.
sPh
on January 1, 2009 6:47 PM | Reply
Darn it anyway, surely not another delay.
My buddy who works on the 787 line now tells me that there are problems with the Trent 1000. I wonder if it has anything to do with the modified HPT disc blades/clearance to case? Would anyone have any more detailed info? If this is so, Boeing could hang GEnx engines on for the first flights.
on January 1, 2009 6:54 PM | Reply
Just Wonderings' comments have an almost sinister ring to them.
My concern is the comments on 5 and 6.
Just what has been going on with QA?
All said, come the end of the month and there must be yet another revised EIS, and Just wonderings' musings beg the question about a revised first flight if there is any substance to his/her comments.
on January 1, 2009 7:02 PM | Reply
Ron,
Surely not more engine problems!
Yes, RR did major surgery to that engine to bring it closer to the fuel burn targets. Maybe they have dug a hole for themselves with such a radical redesign!
on January 1, 2009 10:11 PM | Reply
Andrew,I've been working on the 787 program since May '08. First started on the fatigue plane 998 but everyone got sent over to the static plane in July. Been there since replacing fasteners and fixing everything else that the vendors screwed up. I heard about the fillet relief problem from some of the gang that are working on Dodo 1. When I left for Xmas break on 12/23/08,there was still a ton of work that needed to be done on the static plane. Maybe the plane gnomes came by and finished it up later.........
on January 2, 2009 12:36 AM | Reply
sPn - No one grins about corporate moles unless they are yours.
The most apalling thing for me in this whole fiasco is the misguided attempt to compress the flight certification process on a radically new plane. Given the amount of work done out-of-house, and the lack of centralized oversight, one would expect an inordinate number of unknown unknowns. I rate all time lines as PR; let Boeing recover its credibility by fully sorting out this machine.
on January 2, 2009 3:08 AM | Reply
That is some very good news Jon! Keep up the great work! I can't wait to see the pictures of ZA001 being moved with the sun setting in the back ground. It should make for some great pictures.
on January 2, 2009 3:44 AM | Reply
The fact is that the 787 makes progress. It is a good news.
on January 2, 2009 12:10 PM | Reply
Websites for the local tv stations STILL haven't said anything about this story. I think Jon's story is BS. Check king5.com,komonews.com,kirotv.com,and heraldnet.com if you think I'm full of crap. Also fleetbuzzeditoral.com and aero-news.net have nothing on this "story". I even checked the website for Boeing and you know what? Zero. Zip. Nada. NOTHING. Wouldn't you think that a story about the 787 making a step towards first flight would be covered by SOMEBODY?! I'm going to be at work next Monday 1/5/08. If Dodo 1 has moved and 998 has gone to flight line,I'll admit I was wrong BUT if those planes haven't moved I'll say so.
on January 2, 2009 1:31 PM | Reply
"This first engine test will mark the first time a commercial airliner has been started using bleedless engine architecture."
I am pretty sure that bleedless engine starting on commercial airliners existed as far back as the Douglas DC-2 and was also used on other large commercial airliners like the DC-7 and Constellation...... yes, people actually flew commercially on aircraft that had piston engines. My first flight was on a TWA Super Connie.
on January 3, 2009 12:11 AM | Reply
No, I was up in Everett today... Dreamliner One was out of the factory, sitting, attached to a tug at 4:30pm when I drove by. It is true.
on January 3, 2009 5:32 AM | Reply
Bleedless architecture? I flew the little Bae 146 for 11 years. It had electric start-- in fact one could start all four (admittedly small) engines in less time than any two engines on the 737 or 767.
on January 3, 2009 5:36 AM | Reply
Is it only me wondering about this:
"An industry source familiar with preparations for Dreamliner One's first flight says that Boeing has committed additional manpower resources to software suppliers to meet the new springtime schedule."
They are almost 2 years late and still the software is not running properly or at least they have to commit additional manpower to meet the springtime schedule?
I thought they used the 2 years to bring all areas forward for an compressed flight testing?
This really makes me wonder whats going on at Boeing in the last years.............
on January 3, 2009 4:51 PM | Reply
Nice scoop Jon, as a certain blowhard above commented, none of the usual suspects posted anything about this
Speaking of which, hey "just wondering" - who's full of BS now?
on January 3, 2009 8:08 PM | Reply
JW may be asking why the local media were not onto this event, but looking at the state of 001, I can understand Boeing not trumpeting the event, which after all is just a logistics operation.
Moving it to the flight test area will get a bit more publicity I think.
on January 6, 2009 6:27 PM | Reply
By the time 787 flies, AB350 will have been in production and delivered its first planes to the customers.
on January 8, 2009 8:25 AM | Reply
AB350, I have to wonder, what is an AB350? A paper airplane that you are folding up perhaps?
With 787s being assembled, albeit with some difficulties in the global supply chain, I doubt that it is going to be another 2.5 years before first flight (since mid 2011 is when the A350-XWB will start flying).
on January 10, 2009 3:39 PM | Reply
I understand that the Trent 1000 engines cannot make the fuel burn targets even with the major HPT modification. This does not bode well for RR.