February 2010 Archives

First flight of the third 787, ZA003, has been moved into March. We've got some open work to complete on the airplane and have decided to accelerate the installation of some flight test equipment that we had originally planned to install after first flight. As a result, we're taking some extra time to get in the air but we will be able to fly more often sooner in its flight test schedule, which will be an overall benefit to the program. This is considered a typical adjustment to the flight test program and a smart move overall.

This is a test where we actually instrument the airplane to actually go back and validate that we have made assumptions based on wind tunnel data, other information about what the actual load is going to be on the wing, on the tail, on the vertical surface. Then we plug those surveys, we actually instrument the airplane and go see if we are seeing those pressures or loads. The results of that test feed back to deciding "did we make the right assumptions in our model?" If not, do we have to make some small adjustments? It then leads up to the certification.

Well, you're right, the market space is getting competitive the more folks that get into it. We enjoy a enjoy 50% market share as new entrants come into it with Sukhoi and Mitsubishi, you know it's going to take some of that away and basically focusing on their indigenous marketplaces which we have difficulty penetrating because of the tariff implications that prevent us from an economic basis to sell in those regions. So its going to impact the market space, but we've been in the business for a great number of years in fact and we understand the challenges going forward.

In fact, the 747 is often believed to be the most profitable in The Boeing Company's history, however, that title goes to the 767-300ER which is being replaced by the 787.

That being said, as I write this I'm still in Southeast Asia due to be back in Washington, DC (via London) on Saturday afternoon. Though Mother Nature could not care less about my travel arrangements and plans to deliver 12-20 inches of snow to the DC area on Friday and Saturday making my East Coast return a pretty big open question. I'm currently trying to establish the best (time and cost effective) route to Seattle that may have to bypass DC altogether. Needless to say, it's a question that needs to be answered shortly.

Jon Ostrower: Can you talk about the future potential for the M170 product you're looking at to take on the G650 as a clean sheet design and where that stands and when we can hope to hear more about it?

David Dixon: There isn't a new program launched at this point. That said, Bombardier has launched 25 airplanes since 1989, so we're always watching the market and responding to what the market needs.

I put it to you this way, take a look at what that product is [G650] it's actually playing catch up, it's not a bigger fuselage cabin, it has other features, it goes a bit further but it is just coming up to the Global Express so I think they're [Gulfstream] is trying to come along side, rather than overtake.

But watch this space, we're always looking at the market and we've maintained our investments historically, so I would say there will be new airplanes whether it's going to be competing with the 650 or any others, I don't know.

Jon Ostrower: Looking beyond the 787-3, your customers have indicated a need for a medium range 787, somewhere in the trans-continetnal 3,000 to 4,000 mile range, do you see an opportunity now take the 787 to adapt it to that market?

Randy Tinseth: So the question is are we going to design a 787 with the range of a 757?I'll tell you, it's not in the plans today, but over the last week we did some changes at Boeing and one of those changes is we brought Mike Bair, who was my boss, to now lead our single aisle development efforts.

That type of airplane, whatever it might be, would fall under the Mike Bair regime as we go forward. No plans at this date, do we have customers that our interested in an airplane that has the same capacity and range as a 757? Yes. We sold 1000 of them. There is some need out there, the question is when do we build that, can we build that, does it make economic sense for us and for our customers?

"It will be interesting to see how 787 gets a door on a purely composite structure. Because first, it's a major change to an airplane even to design a door on a new build airplane. It's a big change because you have all these openings there where you need to reallocate all the stress to the structure, because you generate in the structure of the plane, and in the integrity of the aircraft, a weakness. So, we have see how those are going to do for new build."

• Boeing to have 30 787s in process by year-end
• Boeing doubtful on 787-3 prospects
• Embraer reaches 100th Phenom delivery, but falls behind schedule
• Embraer confirms E-190 an option for Harbin plant
• Embraer says E-Jets competitive against MRJ
• Airbus might launch A330-300 P2F conversion this year
• Goodrich wins MS-21 flight control system deal
• Goodrich to supply brake system for MRJ
• RSAF displays G550 AEW platform for first time