Side-of-Body Installations Complete on First Boeing 787 DreamlinerEVERETT, Wash., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) has completed installing reinforcements within the side-of-body section on the first 787 Dreamliner.
The modification entails installing new fittings at 34 stringer locations within the joint where the wing is attached to the fuselage. Installations were completed yesterday.
Boeing expects to complete the installations on the static test airframe and the second flight-test airplane in the coming days.
"Completing this work is a significant step toward first flight. We continue to be pleased with the progress of the team and remain confident the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner will occur before the end of the year," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. "We will test the modification on the full-scale static test airframe later this month. As soon as we confirm the loads are being handled appropriately in the joint we will complete preflight activities on the airplane."
Once the modification is complete on the static test airframe, it will be refitted with strain gauges and instrumentation required for testing. Access doors, systems, seals and fasteners removed from airplane No. 1 to provide access are being restored in preparation for continued testing on the airplane. Boeing continues to install fittings on the fatigue test airframe and the remaining flight-test airplanes. Other airplanes will be modified in the weeks ahead. Overall, the work on modifying airplanes is progressing well, Fancher said.
"We have a strong and capable team that has performed exceptionally well," Fancher said. "I'm very pleased with the team's dedication to meet our commitment to fly before the end of the year."
After airplane No. 1 is restored, the flight-test team will perform another set of gauntlet and taxi tests to ensure that all systems are ready for flight. Fancher noted that with the exception of a single high-speed taxi test, all remaining flight-test activities have been successfully completed on the first flight-test airplane.
Photo Credit Boeing
on November 12, 2009 5:36 PM | Reply
"Fancher noted that with the exception of a single high-speed taxi test, all remaining flight-test activities have been successfully completed on the first flight-test airplane"
I suppose he means the RTO test
This has been one roller coaster of a program. Good luck with the static test
on November 12, 2009 6:32 PM | Reply
DX7:
Not necessarily, they need to test the landing gear and airframe at some maximum ground speed to ensure it can handle a pilot coming in and landing too fast, or rotating late on takeoff. Ie rolling along the ground at a greater speed than required to fly. Probably won't be done at max takeoff weight, unlike RTO.
If problems develop at high speed during this test, at the discretion of the pilot, the safest recourse may be to raise the nose and take off. (That's why you need the wing bolted on properly before you do the test)
That's what happened to the YF-16. Its first flight occured unintentionally, on 20 January 1974. It entered a ground-coupled oscillation during high-speed taxi trials, and the pilot elected to fly out of it. There's one really poor quality video of it on youtube, though I know better video is out there, I just couldn't find it easily.
on November 12, 2009 6:36 PM | Reply
All Right! This is exactly the news I look forward to when I log on in the morning. (^-^ This is fantastic. I saw that Jon already mentioned the first flight dates in his friend feed. This is going to be like June all over again...minus the cancellation at the last day. I can't wait to see her outside and moving on her own power again!
Good luck men and women at Boeing!!頑張れ！G(>
on November 12, 2009 6:42 PM | Reply
Hey Jon,
Does Boeing have a "plan B" should the unthinkable happen?
on November 12, 2009 8:28 PM | Reply
I can still hardly understand why they installed the wing fix on ZA001 before installing, testing and validating it on the static airframe. The computer modelling has proved wrong fo this.
If the fix does not work satisfactory that will be double work once again.
Can somebody explain?
on November 12, 2009 9:30 PM | Reply
First reports did not mentiom ZY997 and someone thought their crew was more tight lipped. Now we officially know that ZA001 was completed ahead of the test plane for reasons that must be interesting but remain unknown.[
I am sure they know what they are doing and they must be quite confident to progress in this manner.
Lets hope there is no need for a Plan B
.
on November 12, 2009 9:51 PM | Reply
"Plan B" would be a major redesign of the wing join, and I'm pretty sure that Boeing doesn't want to go there.
I'm guessing that the temporary fix is seriously over-engineered. It will probably hold even when the rest of the wing is tearing off. A second failure would be far more embarrassing than the first one.
Given that, I don't see a problem with installing the fix on flight test aircraft in parallel with Zy997. It's no loss; those planes weren't being used for anything else. If the fix works, then they've saved two or three months additional delay.
As for why ZY997 is taking longer, it could be any number of things. Given that some damage occurred in the test last May, they probably want to inspect and verify a lot of parts, as well as repair any damage. There will probably be more instrumentation to install around the fix. I don't think there's any particular issue with this taking longer.
What does leave me curious is the permanent fix, and how they plan to verify that.
on November 12, 2009 11:57 PM | Reply
I just read this article on the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574531651711236212.html
It reports that there is still a delamination problem surrounding the freeze bolts, but what I don't know if that was related to the original issue or new issue?
Bah, why did I find something like this! (>.
Anyway I think this bird is going to fly.
on November 13, 2009 2:10 AM | Reply
Jerry1t,
"I am sure they know what they are doing..."
Please tell me you are joking.
Diane hit it right on the head, in a diplomatic sort of manner.
To put it more bluntly, they needed to do the fix on ZA001 at the same time as the static rig in order to salvage any possibility of having a first flight occurring this year and as they couldn't do anything else with those aircraft during all this time, they had nothing to lose.
Many can say what they want about it flying when it is ready, but the boys at the top will be applying all the pressure they can to get it flying as soon as possible.
Having said that, I do not think they will rush it into the air before it is ready. Jimmy M. and the gang are smart enough to know that it would definitely be much worse for their new plane to not successfully complete its first flight (how is that for putting it delicately?) than to have said first flight further delayed.
on November 13, 2009 2:22 AM | Reply
Diane,
I do not believe Boeing was in a position to "over-design" the repair. Such an action would lead to this area being overly strong and either leading to a stress riser (fatigue problem) or that this could possibly lead to these higher than expected loads being transferred elsewhere, where they would be too high and cause damage in said new location.
As for verifying the permanent fix, what you "see" on the static rig is what you will get for certification. The "permanent fix" will be passed through a similarity analysis.
Some stress-guesser out there could explain it all more clearly and perhaps with more detail.
Cheers,
John
on November 13, 2009 2:28 AM | Reply
Hi Niyoko,
I cannot read the article from the Wall Street Journal.
Could you tell us a bit more about this problem with the delamination around the freeze bolts?
Any idea why no other news organization seems to have picked up on this issue?
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
john
on November 13, 2009 2:40 AM | Reply
From the article in question:
"The company acknowledged Thursday that delamination occurred in the composite material surrounding bolt holes, but said it won't affect the plane's first flight or require a repair. It said it routinely uses metal freeze plugs, which are installed after being frozen in liquid nitrogen and expand as they thaw.
"The freeze plug process is a standard repair we perform on both metallic and composite structure. We have extensive experience using these techniques. We have not seen any issues with these repairs that are inconsistent with our experience or the capability of these repair techniques," a Boeing official said."
on November 13, 2009 9:18 AM | Reply
I do not understand why Boeing would install the fix on the first test airplane before the static test airframe had it installed and had validated the fix. Seems a case of putting the cart befre the horse to me.
on November 13, 2009 10:07 AM | Reply
My only guess is that it would allow Boeing slightly overlap the gauntlet / taxi / RTO test etc on ZA001 while the ground test article airframe (ZY997?) is being prepped, then actually tested, allowing some schedule compression.
I'm just a lay observer (and an admitted Boeing fan) so again just an uneducated guess.
on November 13, 2009 1:14 PM | Reply
I think you have it, Diane. ZY997 is a repair + a fix. The flight test fleet is just a fix. The static test will quantify the validity of the repair + the fix. Doable, just more complicated because you are testing two things simultaneously and gathering data for both - one would think.
on November 16, 2009 5:47 AM | Reply
From the very same article,
"A work order written by one of the company's engineers, and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, says, "Noted conditions are structurally and functionally acceptable to Engineering for GROUND TESTING ONLY," and adds, "NO FLIGHT TEST IS ALLOWED.""
So how is it going to fly if it doesn't require a repair but has a "NO FLIGHT TEST IS ALLOWED" restriction attached to this damage?
Something does not add up!
on December 1, 2009 2:39 PM | Reply
Interesting article. Were did you got all the information from... :)
on December 10, 2009 4:12 PM | Reply
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